#stop-motion movies

[adamwatchesmovies]

Chicken Run (2000)

Chicken Run is stuffed so full of jokes you’ll be laughing non-stop. It doesn't matter if you're young or old. Actually, parents (or non-parent adults) are likely to enjoy this film even more than children. Only they will truly appreciate the clever wordplays and sight gags found in this stop-motion animated film from the team that brought us Wallace and Gromit.

Sensing that their time in the chicken coop is coming to an end, Ginger (Julia Sawalha) has been continuously attempting to find an escape route for her and her fellow hens. Hope comes in the form of Rocky Rhodes (Mel Gibson) a laid-back smooth-talking rooster that crash-lands and offers to teach the chickens to fly.

The impeccable comedic timing, wildly hilarious antics and slapstick humor will delight children, but young viewers are unlikely to appreciate the high-quality voice acting. Mel Gibson is perfect in his role. In fact, several jokes have been written specifically with him in mind. There’s plenty to make you chuckle in the form of posters on the walls, actions by the background characters and a great use of props. All of those would’ve been more than enough, but that extra touch of looking at the cast and asking “now that we have these extra ingredients, what other side dish can I make to compliment what we already have?” is what makes this a great film. I see that extra effort you made at the screenplay level, Karey Kirkpatrick. I appreciate it.

The pun-filled dialogue is a treat for the ears. We're not talking groaners that will have you slapping yourself, but delightful plays on words. Every opportunity to sneak in more humor has been taken, whether it’s using human-sized objects as something completely different for the miniature chicken society, or taking advantage of the side characters’ quirks to expand on this bizarre world where chickens have teeth and the humans don’t notice. Speaking of which, Mrs. Tweedy (Miranda Richardson) and her moronic husband (Tony Haygarth) are great villains you love to hate and see get their comeuppance.

It almost goes without saying when discussing Aardman’s productions, but it's worth repeating: Chicken Run is a great-looking film. The distinct character designs combined with the meticulous stop motion animation make every frame desktop wallpaper-worthy. The visuals are so exciting they're likely to distract you from the puns or sly jokes that get tossed into the mix, giving this film great rewatch value. Maybe the second time around you’ll notice the spot-on The Great Escape parody scenes.

You’ll be laughing consistently and right up to the end of Chicken Run (quite literally, there are some gags during the end credits). If there’s a flaw to single out, it’s that you can sort of see where it’s headed fairly easily. You’ll be having such a good time you won’t mind and the film still contains plenty of surprises for you. You can’t go wrong with Chicken Run as a feature to watch by yourself or with the whole family. (On DVD, February 2, 2018)

[kristipetersenschoonover]

A look at MoMA’s CRAFTING DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO exhibit

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

[lilithism1848]

[pixiexbites]

[cinematicjourney]

Wendell & Wild (2022) | dir. Henry Selick

[furiouskettle]

SONBOY!!!!!

Guillermo del toro’s Pinocchio was WELL worth the wait!!! I adore this interpretation of the character so so so much.

[gebo4482]

From Picasso To Sonny Rollins: Pablo Lobato On Designing The Characters Of ‘Wendell & Wild’ (Exclusive Artwork) (cartoonbrew.com) #1

Artist: Pablo Lobato

[livingdeadgrl666]

a Tim Burton film🖤👾

[andi-o-geyser]

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio versus all the other iterations that have come out recently really exemplifies the issue that at a fundamental level the desire to roll out A list actor filled cash grabs of live action remakes of old movies does not understand the nature of media. Certain forms of art- and I feel that I cannot stress this enough- do not mesh well onto a different form of art. Sometimes they can, and it’s wonderful, but very often I’m finding that a lot of remakes are missing the point of how animation is its own medium, stop motion is its own medium, video games and books and even television vs movies are all their own mediums. You really have to know when you’re making something if this is the right form of it, because if not it ends up looking cheep despite the millions of dollars spent to create the whole fucking thing. And a little bit of love and creativity doesn’t hurt either. I think studios to a large degree underestimate how much the creator’s passion imbued in a film translates through the screen to an audience, because we really can feel it. Sure, we all watch shitty TV and moves once in a while, but when something actually moving comes around there’s never any doubt of how masterful it is. And you just don’t ever really get that with soulless billion dollar remakes. Anyways Guillermo del Toro fucking rocks and everybody should go watch Pinocchio. 

[soupy-sez]

THE CAT WITH HANDS (2001) dir. Robert Morgan

[beif0ngs]

Everyone’s got demons. My demons have names.

[horygory]

The ABC's of Death 2 (2014) - D is for Deloused by Robert Morgan

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Clash of the Titans (1981)

[honeygleam]

blood tea and red string (2006) dir. christiane cegavske

[allsystemsblue]

Exclusive: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Movie is a bit gothic, a touch monstrous, and more philosophical than you might imagine. “It tackles very deep ideas about what makes us human,” he tells V.F. in this first look: http://vntyfr.com/m3o9fxv