As early as 1902, artists exploring the new medium of cinema began developing a variety of special effects including crude but effective stop-motion techniques. Stop motion animation feature films as we know them today have origins in hundreds of short films created by filmmakers worldwide, and coalesced into their currently recognizable form in the works of Willis O’Brien.
O’Brien’s efforts began around 1915 and resulted in the landmark achievement of King Kong, his 1933 masterpiece for RKO Radio Pictures. The world was never the same. Kong has inspired generations of animators including Ray Harryhausen, Jim Danforth, Randall William Cook, Travis Knight, and many others.
Monsterama’s special event this year has become a celebration of the entire storytelling medium of Stop-Motion animation rather than focusing on a single artist. We will be discussing the works, the filmmakers, and the craft, as well as screening films, exhibiting art and artifacts, displays, and providing demos on creating puppets, as well as animating them. In addition we’re featuring a pantheon of guest actors who have appeared in iconic films featuring the craft of Stop-Motion!
The recent critical and box-office success of Laika Studios’ Wildwood has inspired a groundswell of interest in stop-motion and hand crafted effects, and we want to honor that spirit and proliferate it. See you at Monsterama’s Celebration – The Magic of Stop-Motion Animation!