In director Robert Morgan’s new feature film Stopmotion, a talented stop-motion animator becomes consumed by the grotesque world of her horrifying creations — with deadly results. The movie, which mixes stop-motion and live-action and stars Tom York, Carolinn Springall, Stella Gonet and Therica Wilson-Read, will be released by IFC Films in select theaters this Friday and will debut on Shudder in May.
The BAFTA-nominated filmmaker (Bobby Yeah, The Cat with Hands) explains that as a kid, he found stop-motion animation “disturbing and frightening.” As he told EW.com, “I’ve never thought that stop-motion is a cutesy kid thing … I’ve always thought it was an uncanny, slightly occult process, building little puppets and then doing this strange ritual on them which brings them to life.”
We were thrilled when the U.K.-based Morgan answered a few of our questions via email recently. Here is what he told Animation Magazine about his haunting new movie.
Animation Magazine: Congrats on the amazing movie, Robert. Can you tell us about your inspirations for this story?
Robert Morgan: I have a background in stop-motion animation. The initial idea was to make a film that features a stop-motion animator as the lead character, as I’d never seen stop motion depicted as a vocation in a film before. The other inspiration was an experience I had when I was making a short film (Bobby Yeah) where project sort of took on a life of its own and I had the sensation that I didn’t really have much say in what it was going to be. It was as if the film had its own consciousness … These two ideas formed the basis of Stopmotion.
When did you start working on the movie and how long did it take to complete?
I started writing it properly around 2012 with my good friend, Robin King. Robin also has experience in stop-motion animation so he totally understood the concept and he was invaluable in shaping it into a coherent story. We were both working on other things in the meantime so the film probably took around five years to write because we kept stopping and starting. Then it took another five years or so to get the financing to make it (plus COVID happened in that time and put it on hold for a couple of years). So, it’s been about a 10-year journey! Then, the main live-action shoot was 25 days with some stop motion done in parallel, then a load more stop motion was shot during the editing process. The whole film (pre-production/production/post-production) took about a year.
What did you love about the process of making it?
The main thing I loved was the collaborative aspect — working with so many great talented artists from every department — actors, designers, camera department, etc., and seeing their own creativity feed into the film and to watch it slowly come alive.
What were your biggest challenges?
Time and money is always the biggest challenge. Getting everything done in the timeframe, and having to make very quick decisions about what to compromise on and what not to compromise on.
What do you love about the medium of animation, especially stop motion?
I love its tactile, hand-made feeling. And I love how it feels like an occult art. Bringing inanimate objects to life is stop motion’s unique quality. This is what I love about it.
What is the creepiest movie you have ever seen?
That’s a difficult question, there are so many. There’s this relatively obscure underground horror film called The Last House on Dead End Street, which really gives me the creeps. It feels like it was made by genuinely dangerous people and it really has the quality of a nightmare. It’s another film about filmmaking and in some distant way it sort of influenced Stopmotion, but my film is way more safe-feeling than that one!
Who are some of your animation idols?
Jan Švankmajer, Walerian Borowczyk, Charley Bowers, Ladislas Starevich, Roland Topor (although Topor wasn’t an animator, he did — among many other things — design for animation and his work was always amazing).
What do you hope audiences take away from the movie?
I just hope they have a memorable experience that stays with them. I like to be haunted by films, so this would be my hope — that it continues to rattle around in people brains after they’ve seen it.
What is the most memorable reaction you have got to the movie so far?
I heard that a member of the audience fainted during a screening at Sitges Film Festival and an ambulance had to be called. That’s quite memorable.
What is your take on the state of animation in 2023-2024?
Honestly, I don’t pay that much attention to the current state of things. I mostly watch older films. Stop-motion seems to be in a very healthy place though.
What’s your next project?
I’m currently writing a couple of things, but it’s too early to talk about it!
Stopmotion opens in theaters through IFC Films on Friday, February 23. The film will be available to stream on Shudder later this year.
