Stop Motion is a technique of animation involving physical models as opposed to drawings or CGI. The models have to be moved into a different pose for every frame. This sort of thing can take a very long time to film.

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Stop motion animation can be thought of as just a series of still photographs. Objects or puppets are moved and filmed frame by frame to simulate movement. TV programs like The Wind in the Willows,

Paddington Bear, Postman Pat, The Flumps, Wallace and Gromit, and films like the original King Kong and Star Wars made heavy use of stop motion animation using miniatures and puppets. This was the only way to bring objects that cannot move by themselves to life on screen.

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The advent of computer generated imagery has removed stop motion animation from the mainstream but its unique effect and the realistic textures it brings (since actual materials are used in filming) means it will not die out anytime soon. It is still widely used in artistic films, shorts, and commercials.

Notable feature-length films all done in stop motion animation and released in the “CGI boom era” are:

• Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride (2005)

• Chicken Run (2000)

• Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

• Coraline (2009)