The Top 10 Best Stop Motion Movies
5. The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Speaking of Aardman Animation, there was no way in hell I was going to put together a list of stop motion movies without mentioning good old Wallace and Gromit. The duo are best known for their short television adventures, but they finally got a chance at the big screen in 2005. For those of you unfamiliar with their work, Wallace is a bumbling inventor who has his heart in the right place but often lands himself in hot water. Luckily, he’s got his faithful canine companion (and one of my favorite movie dogs), Gromit to watch his back. Their feature film debut had them taking on a dreaded were-rabbit terrorizing a giant vegetable competition. Of course, these two exterminators soon find themselves in over their head.
4. Mary and Max
This is easily one of the strangest entries to grace this list of movies. The film tells the tale of a young Australian girl with a troubled home life who becomes pen pals with an American with social and mental issues. The two form a close bond as they get to know each other and their friendship spans years of correspondence, with a few hiccups tossed in for good measure. Mary and Max is not nearly as fanciful as so many of the other films that have appeared on this list and instead focuses on the imperfection of life. People are flawed by nature and expecting them to be perfect is just setting yourself up to be disappointed. There are a few depressing parts in this film, but that doesn’t make it any less beautiful of a story.
3. Kubo and the Two Strings
Looks like Laika is earning a spot in the top three on this list with their 2016 fairy tale, Kubo and the Two Strings. The film is a fantastic adventure following a young boy who sets off on a quest to find the truth about his long deceased father. Over the course of it, he meets a samurai beetle (voiced by Matthew McConaughey) and a warrior snow monkey (Charlize Theron) who join him. It’s a truly magical film with a mesmerizing soundtrack and gorgeous animation. The amount of detail in every shot borders on overwhelming, especially when you consider the amount of effort that must have gone into it. Of all the films on this list, Kubo and the Two Strings is easily one of the most beautiful.
2. Isle of Dogs
Despite the rise of computer animated movies from incredible studios like Pixar, 2018 proved that stop motion movies aren’t going extinct anytime soon. Like Kubo and the Two Strings, Isle of Dogs is set in a fictionalized version of Japan. The film takes place in a world where Japan has shipped all dogs to live in quarantine on an island made of trash. As you might expect, people don’t take too kindly to man’s best friend being banished and a young boy sets out to rescue his four-legged friend. Some people called cultural appropriation on this film, but I found it to be a wonderful film that showed nothing but respect for Japanese culture (and a ton of adorable claymation doggos). Isle of Dogs was one of the best films of 2019, which makes it a perfect addition to this list.
1. The Nightmare Before Christmas
Look up cult classic in the dictionary and you’ll find a picture of The Nightmare Before Christmas. The film has single-handedly kept Hot Topic in business for years with its merch. By now I’m sure pretty much everyone and their grandmother have seen this film, so I won’t bore you with a synopsis of it. Rest assured though, it’s probably the most iconic stop motion movie of all time (and also a pretty spot on metaphor for cultural appropriation). Best of all, it’s a movie you can enjoy on not one, but two holidays (Christmas and Halloween). While it could be argued that other movies on this list might be “better” than this one, but it’s huge pop-culture influence alone makes it more than worthy of the number one spot when it comes to stop motion movies.
Honorable Mentions: The Little Prince
Netflix recently released their very own stop motion film called The Little Prince. Despite the fact that the streaming service is a bit hit or miss when it comes to feature films, this one is definitely a hit. It didn’t get a theatrical release, but I still wanted to give this movie a shoutout.
If you’re a fan of stop motion movies, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this list of films. Be sure to leave a comment below sharing what some of your favorites are. As always, I’ll be updating this list as new stop motion movies hit theaters, so be sure to check back from time to time to see how the rankings change in the future.