ÿþ<html> <head> <title>Stop Motion Animation</title> </head> <CENTER><IMG src="genie.gif" WIDTH="100" HEIGHT="130"><BR></CENTER> <body bgcolor="#B22222" TEXT="ffffff" LINK="00FF7F" VLINK="000000"> <H3> <center> <FONT color=#191970>STOP MOTION ANIMATION</FONT> </center> </H3> <hr> <br> <blockquote> It wasn't too long ago that it looked like 3-D computer animation was going to replace stop motion. Despite all of these fears, not only has the technique survived, it is flourishing as never before. The ironic part is that this renaissance is being aided by the very same technology that threatened to destroy it. Thus, stop-motion filmmakers have taken to using computers not only to handle special effects like the live-action type, but also to handle such mundane and labor-intensive tasks such as movements. The history of puppet animation dates back to the dawn of movies and the films of Ladislas Starevich, the great Russian-French director. the technique was especially popular in Europe. It did not gain prominence in the U.S. until Hungarian director George Pal did his famous Puppetoons in 1940. Although the technique was subsequently used with considerable success by the likes of Ray Harryhausen, Rankin & Bass and Will Vinton, until recently it was never considered part of the animation mainstram. All this now seems to be changing, with the films of Henry Selick (Tim Burton's The nightmare Before Christmas) and Aardman Animations' Nick Park and Peter Lord (Wallace & Gromit et. al.) leading the way. Stop Motion Animation has always been a special category and deserves to be recognized as a flourishing form of animation due to its unique and complex craft. <br> <br> <CENTER><IMG src="cheeseman.gif"><BR></CENTER> <br> <br> <a href="index.htm">Return to the my home page</a> </body> </html>