Claymation is arguably one of the most difficult film mediums in history. It requires incredible patience and precision, as each movement from the clay figurines must be photographed and stitched together. Even the slightest wave of the hand or blink of the eyes must be executed perfectly to ensure a seamless viewing experience for audiences.
There have been some great claymation films in recent years, one of the most popular being 1993’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and also 1996’s James and the Giant Peach, both produced by Walt Disney Studios. But for any film genre, there are great and examples and then there are just plain weird examples.
Chicken Run (2000)
This film actually has a pretty big fan base, but you can’t help but wonder if it’s because this film is just so weird. A bunch of chickens make multiple attempts to escape their evil owners after learning that the owners are looking to phase out their egg business and turn the chickens into chicken pies. Chaos ensues once the chickens learn of their fate and they must make a run for it. As if the storyline weren’t scary enough, everything is in clay animation, making this truly nightmare fuel for all ages.
Gumbasia (1953)
Art Clokey’s first claymation film is a short film, about three minutes long and will eventually lead to Art creating the Gumby TV show. The film is easily accessible on the World Wide Web, but fair warning, it’s pretty weird. The sound of drums banging away as the camera zooms in and out on different shapes of clay then on those different shapes coming together to make new shapes.
It’s not recommended viewing for people with trypophobia, but considering this was made over sixty years ago, the technology for the time is quite impressive.
The Adventures of Mark Twain (1985)
There’s a five minute scene in this movie where the creepy clay kids meet a creepy clay angel whose name is “Satan.” The kids willingly goes with Satan on what can only be described as an acid trip that starts with Satan gifting the children with an abundance of their favorite fruit, then goes on to have Satan invite the children to make people out of clay, which is very meta, and then, basically, Satan destroys everything in an earth shattering sequence and both the children in the film, and the viewers watching the film are left feeling very uneasy, to say the least.
Alice (1988)
Alice was created by Czech animator, Jan Svankmajer. It mixes both traditional film and stop motion film to create what some have called a masterpiece. But, if this film teaches us anything, it’s that art can be both brilliant and terrifying all at the same time.
Maybe it was the little girl, maybe it was the 80’s, maybe it was the fact that the claymation Alice doesn’t really have eyeballs, just black eye sockets, but this film will cause you to have weird dreams, and not in the fun way, like most re-tellings of Alice in Wonderland have been known to elicit.
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
This is probably the least weird claymation movie on the list, but it’s still pretty weird. If you’re going to put a dog in an animated film, you should really let the dog talk. The dog makes coffee, assists with science projects, dances the can-can, and is a master at chopping vegetables, yet he doesn’t utter a word throughout the entire film. It’s weird. Also, their house is completely booby-trapped with gadgets and inventions and as cool as that is, you can’t help but wonder how those two haven’t accidentally taken off one of their clay hands building that stuff.
Mary and Max (2009)
Mary and Max premiered on Sundance’s opening night in 2009 to rave reviews. Another example of brilliant, yet still creepy. Not only is the film in claymation, but it’s also in black and white, well, black, white, and red. The filmmakers use pops of red throughout the film, in places like flower gardens and on women’s lips. The story is pretty sweet, telling of a young girl and an old man who become pen pals. It’s the clay itself that really gives this film its the creepy feeling, it’s hard to describe, but everything just looks so…mushy.
The Boxtrolls (2014)
Focus Features tried their hand at claymation in 2014, creating The Box Trolls. The attention to detail that is given to this particular film is incredible and also super weird. The story centers around a young boy, whose only friends are cave dwelling, trash collectors. The boy learns that an exterminator is coming, which is bad news for his best friends, and he sets out on a mission to save every last one of them. In addition to being a weird story, there’s also a number of music montages in this one, all of which boast their own kind of weird.
Toys in the Attic (2012)
It’s described as a fantasy/thriller, and that is most definitely, an understatement. The entire film’s premise centers around what happens to children’s toys when they aren’t looking, which yes, sounds a lot like Toy Story, but this is like if Toy Story had half the budget and was directed by John Carpenter. Forrest Whittaker lends his voice to a strange looking bear who doesn’t know how to brush his teeth, and Joan Cusak voices a mouse who screams a lot. The screaming is really the only thing that makes sense in this movie.
Stage Fright (1998)
At least this one is honest with its title. Frightening is a word for it. Stage Fright tells the story of changing times. In this story, the world is discovering film, which is exciting for audiences, but a tough transition for actors and actresses. This film features a claymation man juggling a bunch of claymation wiener dog and an abusive actor/filmmaker with very pointy teeth, who sneaks up on people just to yell and intimidate them. Eventually, the mean film man gets what he deserves at the hands (paws) of the wiener dogs and justice is served, in a really weird way.
Plasticine Crow (1981)
This film was Russia’s first claymation film and was technically banned at the time of its release with the Soviet state citing “ideological nonsense.” Created by Aleksandr Tatarskiy, it is separated into three different parts; Picture, Game, and But maybe, but maybe…). Basically, it’s three short films rolled into one long form piece and none of the three parts really have anything to do with one another. The whole thing ends with a moral of the story which is, “Don’t stand and don’t jump, don’t sing and don’t dance where there is construction in progress or heavy load hanging.” So really none of this makes sense and it is super weird.
