The Magical World of Stop Motion Animation

Shaun the Sheep, Coraline, and Isle of Dogs. Have you seen these movies before? If you have, you might be familiar with the concept of stop motion.

Stop motion animation drew in fans because of how inanimate objects could move freely in scenes. Creating this illusion required still images played at a specific speed or frame rate.

When the frame rate is high enough, the viewer can experience a fluid motion, resulting in a stop motion animation.

Unlike cartoons, stop motion animation is an engaging type of animation that gives off a realistic vibe to it. It brings characters to life and leaves a lasting impression on the viewer.

Most of the time, stop motion animations use materials from clay, but the options are limitless. Many stop motion animations have used items such as food, action figures, or even paper.

Today, we’re going to talk about 10 examples of stop motion animation videos we love!

#1. Sweet Dreams

Kirsten Lepore stuns and amuses with this playful yet touching stop-motion animation. She uses baked goods and veggies to tell a story about how opposites attract, and when they work together, something wonderful can come out of it.

Other than the materials she chose, we found the setting and scenery beautiful. The waves made out of blue and clear plastic gave a realistic feel of the ocean.

The soundtrack was also fitting and made the whole film light and fun to watch. It’s not your typical love story, but that’s what makes this animation a favorite of ours.

#2. Western Spaghetti

Western Spaghetti is an oldie but a goodie. You’ve probably seen it once as you were browsing through YouTube. It’s not that hard to miss! PES’ vibrant red logo and their intriguing thumbnail make people want to click.

Western Spaghetti isn’t a cooking video. It’s a play on a classic spaghetti bolognese. Instead of pasta, we get colored sticks, and instead of seasoning, we get chopped up dice.

The whole video is magical and excites our inner kid. When we’re looking for some inspiration, this video is something we love to watch. It’s pretty addicting, right?

#3. Honda Origami

Origami is a well known Japanese art of folding paper. It’s pretty darn difficult to do — hence we totally respect Honda for churning this masterpiece.

The simplicity of the material, the vibrant colors, the seamless transitions. We can’t get enough of this stunning animated commercial.

Sometimes less is more, and you can show so much with just a simple material such as paper. Dive into the wonderful world of origami in Honda’s commercial. At one point, we were totally lost in the beautiful animation. We swore we heard a crumple!

#4. Target Australia

If we could describe this video in one word, it would be: dreamy. Target Australia hit the right spot when they released this commercial.

They made a whole new world out of clothes, fabric, and bedsheets — transforming a bedroom into an endless realm of different dimensions.

This is a great example of maximizing space. The use of different colored fabrics and materials make it seem like the stop-motion animation was done in various places when they only used one spot.

Tonight, we’ll be dreaming about going into different worlds when we’re engulfed in our bedsheets, thanks to Target Australia.

#5. The PEN Story

This touching yet tedious video definitely inspires us every time we watch it. The use of 60,000 pictures, 9,600 prints, and an additional 1,800 prints is insane. When you take a look at the video, the pictures almost blend in together — creating a cohesive movie.

The vintage vibe it gives, in the beginning, is just one of the quaint qualities it gives. What shocks us even more, is the process. We bet it took a long time and a lot of effort to get those pictures. The results, however, are so worth it.

The PEN Story is a great example of the use of photographs to create one cohesive stop-motion animation.

#6. King Kong

Who doesn’t know King Kong? The terrifying giant gorilla who climbed the empire state building.

We’ve seen movies but seeing David Allen’s stop-motion animation in 1972 is something we found fascinating. It gave King Kong a less terrifying feel and more of a theatrical one.

At one glance, he kind of looks like Curious George. The whole thing was actually for a Volkswagen commercial. It’s pretty clever if you ask us. We’re sure this was an iconic commercial back in the day. Even to this day, it’s still a classic stop-motion animation to look at.

#7. Negative Space

Negative Space is a stunning short film you must have on your watch list. It shows a father-son relationship through the illustration of packing a suitcase.

The character design seems almost too simple and a bit messy — but that’s the art of it!

We think this is a beautiful short film that tugs on the heartstrings. Who knew a little bit of clay and a camera could evoke so much emotion. We won’t lie that we were a bit teary-eyed after watching this.

#8. Cooking Dorayaki

Doraemon is an iconic mascot in Japan and all around Asia. So when we saw this video’s thumbnail, we had to click. The video is simple — how to make dorayaki.

However, instead of the usual flour and red bean filling, we find toys and bells as the main ingredients!

Similar to PES’ videos, this one uses unusual items for ingredients. It’s just as fun to watch. The image of Doraemon getting smashed on the head is definitely never leaving our imagination, though.

#9. CREAM

CREAM is quite creepy in terms of their character and animation, but once you get the hang of it, the story is quite comical. Similar to Negative Space, this is also a short film.

We chose this as one of our favorite stop motions because of the unique character design and use of clay to create novel features.

The film itself is about something so mundane — waiting at a doctor’s office, but it becomes something completely different with stop-motion.

#10. FANTASIA

The last stop-motion animation we love isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s definitely not as cute as the ones we mentioned earlier, but if you have a strong stomach, we’ll find that you’ll like this as much as we did.

The use of clay to create strange and almost inhuman movements definitely caught our eye.

After going through that list, we concluded that stop-motion animation is endless. There are no rules to what you can or can’t do. In the end, it’s completely up to you and your imagination.

Just remember this little tip from us if you’re thinking about crafting your own stop-motion animation — a little clay goes a long way.

So, are you interested in creating your own stop motion video? or have you ever created ones? Let us know your thoughts below!