| I thought we could have a new thread to review or recommend stop-motion anime we've watched, highlighting good films or just ones that may have great technical merits even if the plot is lacking. The idea is that visitors can get an idea of what they could watch. This will make it easier to find new, interesting stuff, especially if we can provide youtube links as well. My Little Goat https://myanimelist.net/anime/42899/My_Little_Goat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tziv1jD3msM My Little Goat is a horror short about goat kids and a wolf. It's also an allegory on the human world, social rejection and acceptance, and the different kind of masks people wear, disguising their true nature. It was directed by Tomoki Misato, whose work in general has been excellent, mixing humor and sentimental moments. Even in this horror short there's quirky humor. He's also excellent at making realistic expressions. The way the characters move their bodies is pretty exceptional, and the team has a good grasp on how people move when they're distressed. What's great about it is that in older stop motion animation characters felt a bit rigid, but here the bodies twist and turn as they struggle in a small shed. |
| Straw-saurus Neo https://myanimelist.net/anime/29475/Straw-saurus_Neo This is a cute short animation about a space saurus. It features a number of lizards, pterosaurs and some kind of dragon, all made with plastic straws. The story isn't the main focus, but it's quite exciting to see the creativity that went into making these animals. There's a bit of hunting, a flamingo eating fish and a lizard eating a fly, with some fighting as well. Fun for 5 minutes. |
| Koneko no Byouki https://myanimelist.net/anime/43682/Koneko_no_Byouki A song aired in the Minna no Uta program in 1963. A pleasant surprise. Many MnU songs of the 60s suffer from out of tune vocals, but here we have a professional chorus. The animation is about a sick kitten who is attended to by all the dolls and teddies in the nursery. It's a simple plot, but good for the 2 minutes. The main thing here is the quality of the animation, the kitten moving in the basket expressing distress and the teddies leaning over in sympathy. Such small movements but they express the characters' feelings really well, which makes the short cute and touching. |
| Some Minna no Uta songs. None of these are groundbreaking, but just 2-minute shorts with cuteness overload: Boku wa Kuma https://myanimelist.net/anime/7518/Boku_wa_Kuma A clumsy teddy bear spends his day watering a plant, playing the guitar, drawing pictures and sweeping the floor. He's cute and all, but never leaves the room. Is he some kind of hikikomori???! Gingham Check no Kotori https://myanimelist.net/anime/55886/Gingham_Check_no_Kotori A well-dressed lord-bird and a ladybird in a cage. Look, there is the outside! But we never leave. Yet the bars are so far apart, that surely they both could get out. Wait, is this a theme in MnU stop motion? Hiyoko Buta no Theme Part 2. https://myanimelist.net/anime/42786/Hiyoko_Buta_no_Theme_Part_2 A pig and a bird dancing. Just a bit of silliness. But it's cute and hey, they go outside! |
| I.m https://myanimelist.net/anime/56239/Im https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1AJ411N7f4/ Another mixed technique video, this one was featured in Minna no Uta. I take it that the stop motion segments are real life and other kind of animation is the realm of imagination. Which is quite clever, it makes me think about the nature of reality. Maybe the choice of animation style has some significance. Is there less freedom in stop motion animation compared to drawing, and if so, is it an analogy of our relationship with the imaginary, doing things in reality as opposed to thinking? Back when every frame was drawn by hand it took a lot more effort to draw everything, but then that effort also allowed for creating things that can't be done with clay figures. Or is it more about the difference between 2D and 3D, both having their own limitations? Now that animation is done with computers, the speed at which it can be done is increasing, and stop-motion is suddenly the slow technique, having more restrictions in what can be done with relatively small models. |
| Junk Head is a 2017 dystopian sci-fi movie. It's really impressive in how the setting is created, the world seems very real and the characters have all kinds of habits and interactions that make them feel distinct. The story is set to continue in Junk World, coming out in 2025. I felt unusually invested in the adventures of the main character, and pretty rare for a stop-motion, there was also dialogue. The setting and the main monster reminded me of Alien 3, which I had mixed feelings about, but overall it was a lot of fun simply wondering what kind of creatures would be shown next and how they'd act. https://myanimelist.net/anime/39833/Junk_Head https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyCCWHhH6R4 |
| This is my best recommendation https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=2046055 I never forgive the MAL mods for deleting it and the other Licca chan stop motion works https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=2043081 |
| I've now watched most of the Chinese stop-motion titles we've found. For the most part I didn't enjoy them much. From the 50s to the 80s there was some poorly made propaganda with valiant soldiers saving villagers from robbers etc., and the point of these films was too much on the nose. But a lot of it is just average, like in all anime, regardless of the style or genre. Many of the titles didn't have much of a story, but were otherwise fine. Partly it could be because it's mostly films made before the 90s, so the narrative pace was different, but in general I think the Japanese films from that era are more enjoyable. There are many anime with length between 15 and 20 minutes, and in most cases the story could have been told in 10. But here are 3 titles I enjoyed: Huan You Diqiu Bashi Tian https://myanimelist.net/anime/43840/Huan_You_Diqiu_Bashi_Tian https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8f8e8TJHHc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=713GiNmf18w Around the World in 80 Days as a puppet animation. The story has enough twists for a long movie. Bonus points for the Passepartout puppet that looks like Eric Idle, like in the miniseries from the 80s. I especially enjoyed the cinematography, it does feel like a proper movie with so many camera angles, not just everything shot from one position. Miao Wu Shi Shui Jiao De? https://myanimelist.net/anime/43411/Miao_Wu_Shi_Shui_Jiao_De https://vk.com/video184256195_456241361 This 10-minute clip is about a puppy who goes searching for the mysterious animal that goes "meow". What could it be? Obviously it's made for children, but considering that it was somewhat entertaining and the animals are cute. Nu Ta https://myanimelist.net/anime/48420/Nu_ta This was the most impressive of these three, a complex allegory about life in a totalitarian capitalist society. It's been a while since I saw this, but I remember it left me thinking about the message for a while. |
| Poron Guitar https://myanimelist.net/anime/29925/Poron_Guitar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ynaAmPc2MQ or https://vk.com/video184256195_456240215 (slightly better quality) I wish to highlight this Gakken short movie for its incredible cinematography. It reminds me of Italian neorealist cinema. There are some very clever camera runs, angles, viewpoints, zooming and panning that is very unusual in stop-motion movies, and it's even more amazing considering this was made in the 50s. The setting also could be 1950s Italy, or at least somewhere in Europe (also the characters move their hands as they speak). The story is simple and lighthearted. It's nice enough, but not perhaps the main selling point, but as such it's also in line with the lighter live-action movies of the era. Also some very pleasant classical guitar music with dancing to go with it. |
| Effendi De Gushi https://myanimelist.net/anime/43447/Effendi_De_Gushi https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL06Q401fM8nD0t3X7awrc7eCGJRSyXMHs (18 episodes out of 14 on the list because some are duplicated) https://vk.com/video/playlist/-215715880_65 Another Chinese puppet anime, this time a proper series about a character that's known widely in Islamic folktales from the Balkans and Turkey to China. No subs available, I'm afraid, but in most episodes you can get the story from the actions of the puppets alone. The main character is known as Afandi, and the stories are apparently collected from Uyghur sources. More generally he's known as Nasreddin. He has a donkey as a companion, and the stories often involve him in a major role. Some more information on the character and his popularity in China here. The tales are comedic, and the animation also has funny elements, like the way the characters roll their eyes in amazement or exasperation, the tiny beads just moving around the face. If I had to choose one episode as an example, I recommend episode 11, the donkey pooping coins is pretty hilarious. |
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