Graphics Reference
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It's easy for stop motion, and animation in general, to make an audience
laugh, but can stop motion work in others genres, such as tragedy or with
profound subjects?
JD - Stop motion can do tragedy. If King Kong breaking the jaw of the T-rex can make my wife wince, all
things are possible. Perhaps though, the reaction to tragedy would always be somewhat removed, like
watching monkeys or dwarves doing Shakespeare - quaint. Music would play an important role.
Profound is another matter. I've no doubt that stop motion can be profound, in that it can put forward
illuminating ideas.
TB - I don't think it's a question of 'can animation do tragedy?' It's more a question of 'Can I write a
good story that is tragedy driven?' Any genre can be done in animation, provided that the audience is
engaged by the story and characters, and isn't more than an hour or so. I'd like to see more tragedies and
dramas, more adult-driven themes. At least in America, there are too many stories using animation that
rely on the unlikely hero with the second banana comedy-relief sidekick. Enough! My current fi lm project,
The Labyrinth , is a tragedy. Parents won't take their fi ve-year-old to see it, but I'll take my siblings to see it.
Of course, none of them are fi ve anymore.
KD - Yes, I cry at the end of Screen Play . I can't watch Watership Down , I've never seen Bambi … maybe I
have issues with death??
RC - Any genre, just done well. Fantasy obviously allows animation to excel in certain ways. If the
audience is caught up in the story, they'll experience the emotions if properly handled. Disney's Dumbo
was just a set of drawings, yet you'd have to be a pretty cold bird not to feel his pain when his mom's
dragged away from him and he's alone. Or when he visits her in 'jail'.
DC - I'd like to see animation tackle any theme it wants. Its not all cartoons and silliness! There are many
emotional moments in animated fi lms but it's still treated and thought of as a kid's medium or lacking in
serious fi lm weight.
AW - I've never seen such tragedy in stop motion. But it is possible.
SB - Animation probably does comedy and horror best. In the right hands it can cover all areas, as long
as it doesn't get pretentious and overly arty.
KP - I've seen some stop motion short fi lms that affected me emotionally, although few of them are
mainstream. It's easy for stop motion to make people laugh, no question. Aardman has created some of
the funniest short fi lms and features that I know. What I haven't seen yet is a stop motion feature that
can resonate with the same emotional impact as say, Disney's Beauty and the Beast . The emotions stirred
up by the music and performances are brilliant and hard to top. Nightmare before Christmas comes closest
to representing truly powerful characters which I've personally responded to emotionally. Ultimately
what brings tears may vary from audience to audience, and it'll always be the story and empathy
with the characters that does it regardless of the medium used. I'd love to see stop motion match the
emotional wallop of Snow White and Dumbo or the horror of Pinocchio , and it's capable with the right
story. For sheer tragedy in a stop motion performance, Kong is still king, particularly for the era the
original fi lm was made and its place in fi lm history.
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