The Top 10 Best Stop Motion Movies
There’s Nothing Quite as Fun as Stop Motion Movies.
There’s nothing quite as whimsical as stop motion movies (also known as “claymation”). Animation is no easy task on its own, but stop motion movies take that meticulous patience and attention to detail to the next level. Just to give you an idea of the amount of work that goes into them, there are 24 frames in every second of film. Most stop motion movies do double shots of each frame, but that still makes it about 12. That means the animators have to work for hours just to capture a minute of actual film. That isn’t even taking into account the individual figures, expressions, backgrounds, and all the other incredible details that go into making stop motion movies. It’s turly awe-inspiring to think of the work that goes into these films. That’s why this week, Stars & Popcorn is counting down the best stop motion animation movies of all time. The only rule is that these have to have been theatrically released feature films. So, no made for tv Christmas specials (sorry Rudolph). As always, leave a comment below about what you think of the picks!
10. Chicken Run
Kicking off this list of stop motion movies is one of the craziest escape films I ever saw as a kid. Chicken Run follows a group of chickens living on a poultry farm destined for a grim fate. That is until a daredevil of a rooster ends up in their coop after a stunt gone wrong. The chickens think he has the ability to fly and beg him to teach them how so they can escape. Of course, chickens can’t fly and he dashes their hopes. However, that doesn’t mean he’s going to turn his back on them and instead sets about helping them plan a “great escape” from their farmyard prison. Chicken Run was made by Aardman Animations, one of the most beloved stop motion animation studios in the world. Trust me, this won’t be their only movie on this list.
9. The Corpse Bride
It would have been next to impossible to put together a list of the best stop motion movies without mentioning Tim Burton once or twice. Now, he’s best known for another claymated film, but let’s start with the one he actually co-directed. The Corpse Bride is about as Tim Burton as you can get. A man accidentally proposes to, well, a corpse which sets him off on a spooky adventure into the underworld. Like most Burton films, this one stars Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter as the two leads and is heavily inspired by his love of gothic visual elements, which makes it a perfect movie for his hardcore fans. Still, it doesn’t hold a candle to his more famous film, but it’s better than Frankenweenie.
8. Coraline
Laika studios is making it’s first of many appearances on this list of the best stop motion movies with their adaptation of the Neil Gaiman classic, Coraline. The film follows a girl who takes a twisted Alice in Wonderland inspired journey to an alternate world. At first, everything seems quirky and magical, but things quickly take a turn when young Coraline discovers things aren’t as funfilled as they seemed at first. While Coraline is definitely a family film, it’s one that will give smaller kids full-blown nightmares with some of its twisted imagery (which is why I probably love it so much). Still, this is a beloved cult classic that kicked things off for Laika, which makes it more than deserving of being on this list. If you haven’t seen it, you definitely need to check out Coraline.
7. ParaNorman
Laika makes yet another on this list of stop motion movies (and it won’t be the last) with their second film, ParaNorman. I know that there is a rabid fan base for Coraline out there, but I was always a bigger fan of this coming-of-age zombie flick. The film follows a young boy who has the ability to see and speak with ghosts. This eventually earns him the title of the “local freak” in his small town. That is until a witches curse raises the dead to terrorize the town. It’s a wonderful film about embracing your gifts no matter how strange or weird they might be. More than that, ParaNorman teaches audiences to never judge a book by its cover and preaches tolerance and inclusion. If I ever have kids, this is one Halloween flick I’m definitely going to have them watch.
6. The Fantastic Mr. Fox
I’ve never been the biggest fan of Wes Anderson movies. It’s not that I don’t like his films, but his aesthetic never spoke to me like it did with so many out there. That was until he started making stop motion animation movies. For some reason, his timeless style just seems to fit perfectly. That’s why I was so enthralled with his tale of a mischievous group of animals that waged war on a trio of evil farmers. It features the actors we’ve all come to know and love from Anderson films such as Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, and Owen Wilson, along with a ton of other A-listers. It’s a quaint little film that takes a lot of influences from Aardman Animations’ films but with that special Anderson magic that seems to fit so well with claymation.