Imagine this. You are Twelve years old. It is a hot Saturday afternoon. You have just finished mowing the neighbor’s yard. You have just earned yourself Ten dollars. Yes. $10.00. To buy yourself a Corgi toy vehicle based on Space:1999. You sit down for a cold glass of water. Not soda. Soda is a rare drink in this house that you sit. And before you go get on your bicycle to ride and ride almost three miles to the town, you turn on that small 7” Black and White (B/W) Television that sits on the kitchen table. One of the Five TV Networks is playing Mighty Joe Young. As it plays you almost forget what you were going to do next. The film captivates you, as …show more content…
A toy that is only $10? A 7” B/W TV? Only FIVE TV Networks? Well, that was my youth. And I was captivated by animation at an early age. From drawings that came to life to the art of 3-Dimensional figures that were moved ever so slightly for every frame of film that it existed on. And Mighty Joe Young was one of the first these stop-motion films and even television series that I watched religiously when they were broadcast on TV.
Stop Motion is an amazing art form. From the intricate details in some of the models that used to the sequences that are put on film. Simple clay can come to life just with the hands and creativity of the animator. 24 frames per second. That is Twenty Four times like, in animation with drawings, but with a figurine that would move ever so slightly. And when the film is played had the illusion of coming to life.
Mighty Joe Young wasn’t my first animated ape. King Kong. Yes, He was my first. How I came across the action, adventure, and science fiction stop-motion was during theme weeks on one of the three big TV networks. After school, I would finish my homework, grab a snack and depending on the weather, I would be in front of the TV at 4:30PM Sharp! It was the 4:30 Movie. I would learn later how much of these films would be edited for commercial break when I started buying the DVDs of the same movies I watched for my …show more content…
George Lucas employed a man named Phil Tippett. I won’t go deeply into his resume but he worked on the original Star Wars series. His work is breath taking. Working non stop on stop motion is grueling but at the same time fulfilling. He has been working on a film called Mad God, even used Kickstarter to fund some it. But got delayed as he was asked to return to work on that new Star Wars film, using his methods.
Another company that utilized a creator involved in stop motion was Tim Burton. Yes, he had other films but some of his work included stop motion to tell his stories. Be it in a short film, Vincent or long form like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride. The designs and characters just leaping out of his mind to create a world so detailed and one can admittedly say twisted, you need to sit back and enjoy the ride he takes you