Netflix's slate of 2022 stop motion animation feature films proves that the technique can't be killed off and replaced by CGI. Where cinema becomes increasingly accustomed to computer-generated effects, stop motion is starting to be seen as more pain-staking and, thus, a more authentically earned form of art. With Netflix's plans to release three big stop motion projects in 2022, it goes to show that the technique, despite its difficulty, is far from obsolete.
Stop motion has come in and out of cinema, like a lot of film trends. It faced a huge resurge of popularity in the 1990s and 2000s in Hollywood thanks to the likes of Aardman, Henry Selick and Tim Burton. In the 2010s the technique was seen heavily utilized in works aimed at children, and since then it has been more infrequently used. Even Burton has neglected stop motion, which he arguably built his career on. Stop motion is slowly creeping back into the limelight, though, with Netflix's 2022 slate helping it along.
Three big projects involving the technique are set to release on the streaming service, and with big names attached. Henry Selick returns to stop motion, directing Guillermo del Toro, perhaps qualifying him as the new Tim Burton.
This line-up of releases surely means that stop motion can do something that CGI can't. The look and feel of stop motion films are unlike any other, immediately setting them apart from computer-generated pictures. Shang Chi's bad CGI), thus lacking this unique charm.
Stop motion, though its place in cinema has perhaps lessened over the years, still remains strong. Competing with such a technique as giant as CGI is no easy feat, but the slow and steady filtering of stop motion pictures ensures its durability. It's a testament to its profound effectiveness that stop motion animation still survives and thrives today.
