Cutout Animation

stop-motion · animation · filmmaking · crafty

Cut from flat materials. Cutout animation uses characters, props, and backgrounds cut from paper, card, fabric, or even photographs. These flat pieces become puppets that animators carefully move between each photograph.

One photo at a time. Animators move the cutout pieces a tiny bit, take a photo, move them again, take another photo, and repeat hundreds of times. When the photos play back quickly, the flat pieces seem to dance and move on their own.

Among the very first. Some of the world's earliest animated movies ever made used cutout animation. The oldest surviving animated feature film is 'Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed' from 1926, made by animator Lotte Reiniger.

Still used today. Even though computers can create animation now, artists still love cutout animation because it has a unique, handmade look that's fun and charming to watch.