Stop motion movies often go bitterly underappreciated, with many stunning masterpieces of animation frequently falling by the wayside. Somewhat of a niche medium, stop motion animation can often be divisive, with some finding the technique to produce some uncanny effects. But from the creations of legendary artist Ray Harryhausen to the obscure magnum opus pieces of dedicated creators, there’s a lot of quality storytelling to be found that uses the style.

The more high-profile stop motion movies typically have mᴀssive studio backing, advertising, or awards campaigns behind them, often eclipsing many lesser-known but still worthwhile films in the process. The great thing about stop motion is just how accessible it is, despite the time, effort, and talent demands that the medium makes. Great stop motion films come in all sorts of varieties, and many of them are unfairly glossed over in the course of cinematic history.

10

Early Man

A delightful comedy from a well-established stop motion studio

The most famous stop motion producers, British studio Aardman Animations, are more famous for the Wallace & Gromit series and the Chicken Run duology, but the company is host to a great many more amazing films that went under the radar. Enter Early Man, a sports comedy set in the Stone Age whose very logline is a hilarious punchline in and of itself. Dug is a lowly cave dweller whose tribe encounters a Bronze Age civilization intent on laying waste to their valley.

To drive the invaders off, Dug and his clan must master the cutting-edge sport of soccer (or football, as the film’s British slang calls for). Despite being widely unknown compared to Aardman Animations’ other work, Early Man was something of a critical darling. The plucky characters, low-key sense of humor and unique setting made for a wonderland of claymation eager to be explored via the studio’s talented artists.

9

The Little Prince

A brilliant adaptation of a beloved children’s book

Something about stop motion makes it particularly great for creating dreamy, surreal worlds, and movies like The Little Prince show this off in spades. Based on the beloved children’s book of the same name, The Little Prince traces the adventures of the тιтular royal, a small boy who lives on a tiny celestial body drifting through space. Interestingly, The Little Prince mixes stop motion animation with traditional computer-generated 3-D models.

The two seem like they should mix like oil and water on paper, but the story makes the two mediums blend seamlessly together by confining the computer-animated segments to the frame story in which an aging aviator relates his encounters with the Little Prince to the young girl protagonist. The Little Prince is far from an easy story to adapt, but the film manages to succeed, thanks in large part to its wonderful commitment to adapting the original storybook’s watercolor visuals. It’s bizarre that The Little Prince isn’t more popular.

8

The Boxtrolls

A wonderful miniscule adventure that utilizes unique animation

Aardman Animations isn’t the only major animation studio known for their stop motion films, with the American company Laika arguably even surpᴀssing them in quality. Laika’s stop motion films include famous contenders like Coraline, Kubo and the Two Strings, and ParaNorman. However, even such a prestigious studio can release films that sadly slip through the cracks of notoriety, such as The Boxtrolls.

The fantasy adventure film centers on a boy in a fictional Eastern-European country called Eggs raised by the тιтular creatures, a race of garbage-collecting trolls. With the local authorities aware of the trolls and attempting to exterminate them, it’s up to Eggs to save his found family along with the help of some new friends. Between the star-studded vocal cast and the whimsical world the film is able to conjure, it’s a shock that The Boxtrolls isn’t a childhood classic for many.

7

Mary And Max

A critical darling still largely under-explored by the mᴀsses

Occasionally, films that were a big hit with professional critics and reviewers fail to find the same level of popularity with general audiences. Such was the case for Mary and Max, a critically-revered stop motion film that nevertheless continues to go overlooked by the general moviegoing public. The quiet story sees a lonely young girl in Australia become pen pals with an autistic middle-aged American man living in New York City.

It’s easy to see why Mary and Max isn’t beloved by the mᴀsses. Nothing about the ordinary setting necessarily requires stop motion to portray, and the story is quite bleak, ending on an especially bittersweet note. Those who can stomach it, however, will find Mary and Max to be one of the most engaging and devastating depictions of the messy human condition ever conceived.

6

Mad God

A dizzying descent into madness 30 years in the making

Stop motion is a notoriously time-consuming medium to work in, with even the tiniest of movements requiring dozens of miniscule adjustments frame-by-frame. No movie exemplifies this fact as well as Mad God, the magnum opus of special effects wizard Phil Tippett, known for his work in movies like Star Wars and RoboCop. Infamously, Mad God took three decades to make, due to a combination of sheer artistry and developmental woes.

The story, as much as there can be said to be one, revolves around a mysterious gas-mask-wearing figure known as “The ᴀssᴀssin” who is sent into a nightmarish version of the underworld to deliver a bomb disguised as a briefcase. The film flings viewers through all sorts of visceral and mind-boggling distortions of reality, and can be a difficult journey to endure. But as one man’s career-defining project, Mad God is a breathtaking testament to the possibilities of stop motion.

5

Blood Tea And Red String

A metaphorical gut-punch of symbolism

As Mad God demonstrates, stop motion seems to have a unique affinity for stories that are unconventional, disturbing, and deeply metaphorical, as further elaborated by Blood Tea and Red String. Like Mad God, the film can come across as dense and nonsensical to some, but still does have some base level of narrative. The plot focuses on a battle between the aristocratic White Mice and the rural Creatures Who Dwell Under the Oak for control of the object of their obsession, a beautiful doll.

For those willing to dissect the dense simile contained within, Blood Tea and Red String offers a fascinating glimpse into the destructive nature of love. The lack of dialogue and striking imagery make for a unique fairy-tale feel, but in the sense of a classic Brothers Grimm fable in that it doesn’t mince the horrible fates of some of its characters. Violent, surprising, and intensely scrutable, Blood Tea and Red String is a work of art like no other.

4

Mad Monster Party?

An overlooked holiday classic from the masters of the genre

A relic of a nostalgic past gone by, another of the most famous stop motion studios ever is easily Rankins/Bᴀss Productions. Though Rankins/Bᴀss is primarily known for their Christmas specials, the company did occasionally branch out into other holidays, leaving behind far lesser-known films. One of the most charming of these forgotten non-Christmas specials is Mad Monster Party?, a Halloween-themed special.

Mad Monster Party? does indeed center on a party of classic Universal-style monsters, such as Dracula, The Werewolf, and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. The party is hosted by one Baron von Frankenstien after figuring out the secret behind the formula of “total destruction”. The charming cast of spooky characters, commitment to Halloween imagery, and amazing reveal of a monster simply referred to as “It” make Mad Monster Party? a bitterly overlooked holiday classic.

3

James And The Giant Peach

A fun blend of animation and live-action

Films that blend animation and live-action mediums are relatively common, but stop motion rarely gets factored into these kinds of split-medium films. However, James and the Giant Peach is a wonderfully realized combination of both in equal measure that manages to stand out for its commitment to charming visuals. Just like the Roald Dahl book it’s based on, the story follows the whimsical adventure of a young orphan boy named James after he finds himself traveling across the world in a giant peach alongside a misfit group of bugs.

Each of the peach’s travelers are given some great distinct personalities, and the stop motion style that makes up the majority of the film’s action is simply so riveting. The captivating imagination of the book is on full display here, alongside a number of changes that actually serve the story better. Considering the success of other Dahl adaptations like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, it’s a shock James and the Giant Peach isn’t as fondly remembered today.

2

Alice

Alice in Wonderland like she’s never been seen before

Like with Roald Dahl, there have been endless film adaptations of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, some of which manage to put a subversive dark spin on the otherwise gleeful children’s fairy tale. Similarly to James and the Giant Peach, 1988’s Alice combines live-action performances that remain grounded in the “real world” with stop motion sequences for the more fantastical parts of the journey. But whereas that film can get mildly spooky at times, Alice is often downright dark.

The production design of Alice is like nothing else, all vintage dolls and animal bones combined into a macabre display of wonder, equal parts adorable and horrifying. The film makes clever use of narration as well, with Alice taking the time to specify which character is speaking as though she were relaying events after the fact, like in a past-tense novel. A feverish dream of ambiguous morals, Alice is one of the most impressively-rendered stop motion visions ever executed.

1

The House

A wacky anthology of bizarre proportions

Stop motion is great for exploring all kinds of impossible worlds, but The House uses a single simple setting as the focal point for a variety of creative stories. An anthology film, The House is a British three-part TV special consisting of distinct chapters that all take place in the same тιтular dwelling. The house is first populated by humans, then anthropomorphic mice, and then cats, each carrying with them a distinct age in an overarching timeline.

The House is an almost Lynchian masterpiece of surrealist splendor dealing with themes of wealth, madness, and true happiness. Each of the stories has its own distinct voice while maintaining a consistent style, with not a weak link between them to drag the overall experience down. Between the fuzzy felt characters and the ominous sense of foreboding present throughout the three tales, The House is one stop motion movie deserving of more recognition.