Stop Motion: Celebrating Handmade Animation on the Big Screen

‘What stop motion does best is present real objects magically brought to life in a very imperfect situation; the hand of the artist is there, the electricity of someone touching, massaging and torturing themselves to get life out of an inanimate object.’
– Henry Selick

Throughout the history of cinema, stop-motion animation has enthralled, captivated and thrilled audiences. There’s King Kong, the creature designed and crafted by Willis O’Brien that inspired Ray Harryhausen to make his own models. Or the exquisite work by Eastern European auteurs, who employed animation as the ultimate ‘Trojan Horse’ to escape censorship as they explored life in politically oppressive regimes. As an aesthetic form, stop motion continues to be championed by some our greatest living directors, from Tim Burton and Guillermo del Toro to Wes Anderson and no less accomplished leaders in the field such as Peter Lord, Henry Selick, Nick Park and The Brothers Quay, who have all devoted themselves to an art form that requires patience, vision and a desire to transport audiences to extraordinary worlds – from ones that resemble our own to other, more fantastic creations. Over the next two months, we will journey into these worlds – often accompanied by their creators – highlighting the very best of this breathtaking artform.

Justin Johnson, season programmer