Why hasnt claymation ever really taken off?

[Zorak Masaki]

Why is it that outside of Gumby, Robot Chicken, and Mr. Bill, claymation for the most part isnt really that popular? The only reason i can think of is that it may take too long to make (being stop motion) but i think its an incredibly innovative art form (even today) and would love to see a well-written claymation show take off into levels of popularity.

[Tobias]

There was also Bump in the Night, but yeah, Claymation never really took off because it's a longer process to film that traditional/CGI animation.

Some of the best animation (Nightmare before Christmas, Gumby, the Rankin Bass stuff) has come out of claymation, but I'm glad that it's not being overdone, as it'd wear out it's welcome as much as CGI films have.

[MonkeyFunk]

Depends what country you're talking about, really. Claymation is pretty big in the UK (Wallace and Gromit are the tip of the iceberg)

[Silverstar]

Why is it that outside of Gumby, Robot Chicken, and Mr. Bill, claymation for the most part isnt really that popular? The only reason i can think of is that it may take too long to make (being stop motion) but i think its an incredibly innovative art form (even today) and would love to see a well-written claymation show take off into levels of popularity.

Robot Chicken isn't technically claymation, it's stop-motion animation. The characters are poseable dolls, not clay. (RC has employed clay figures on occasion, but not regularly.) Mr. Bill wasn't claymation either, since there was no actual animation involved. It was just Walter Williams abusing a Play-Doh figure while providing the voices off-camera.

A more recent example of a clay-animated series would be MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch, which ran for a few seasons.

[Kagetsu]

My guess would be talent and money. Claymation is technically the same as stop motion, and is extremely tedious and time consuming. Not really something that is cost effective with todays "get ratings in three episodes or it's dead" networks. They also need model making and movement talent. it's not really something that just anyone can hackout. Stop motion people seem more involved with movie making,,,, where the money is. Strangely, it seems most film maker/directors got their start with stop motion of some kind or other in their college films. it's a small level way to make special FX.

[Hordesman]

Claymation is a term I've heard used by people not terribly aware of animation styles. It's an umbrella term for stop-motion.

The labor involved has kept it mainly as mainly the stuff of fine art animation, experimentation and Euro imports... as well as SFX. There were stop-motion shorts made for theatrical distribution but I don't think they took the industry by storm. And of course, there were tv commercials all over the place until a couple years ago.

But I don't think the streamlined process of tv animation production worked well. Rankin-Bass made a go at it, with farming out holiday specials to Japan. I do see technical improvements in the specials that followed Rudolph, but the real charm is in its imperfections and lack of gloss. Particularly with CGI around. LOTR wouldn't have looked as good if all the buildings were CGI rather than composited miniatures.

Digital production also helps. I consider myself extremely lucky to have done my thesis stop-motion film this way. I have such respect for people who had to produce stop-motion that they couldn't see until it came back from the lab. I shot tons of digital stills and just picked from different takes and such. Make no mistake, it was lots of work but it was much more hands-on. It's only in the digital age that you'll see the likes of these:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NrmUiSZjYMg&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3G8wozdMphk (one of my tests, doujinshi parody)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=MlJje2lmJJU (Larry Craig warning)

[Racattack!Force]

So claymation is just stop-motion, only with clay.

[Lavenderpaw]

^Yup.And who knows,maybe in another 5,10 years it might be more popular.

[Kagetsu]

So claymation is just stop-motion, only with clay.
Yep. The one most people probably see is the "Purple and Brown" thing that Nickelodian has between some commercial breaks, as well as the ever popular Wallis and Gromet. Chicken Run too though I did not like that movie, though I should have because it parodied 'The Great escape" and Star Trek.


Digital production also helps. I consider myself extremely lucky to have done my thesis stop-motion film this way. I have such respect for people who had to produce stop-motion that they couldn't see until it came back from the lab. I shot tons of digital stills and just picked from different takes and such. Make no mistake, it was lots of work but it was much more hands-on. It's only in the digital age that you'll see the likes of these:I'm going to try to look at your posts with more concentration after this very good response. I'm not sure how yet, but I'd like to hear more about your life. (That's as close as I can get to a complement)

[SpaceCowboy]

I remember Eddie Murphy producing an animated show called "The PJs" which used claymation, though I don't know how successful it was. It ran on primetime on Fox in the '90s but don't know if it got cancelled.

[Blackstar]

I remember Eddie Murphy producing an animated show called "The PJs" which used claymation, though I don't know how successful it was. It ran on primetime on Fox in the '90s but don't know if it got cancelled.

The PJs was canceled back in 2001. The last few episodes aired on the WB before the series was canceled altogether.

[DrTooth]

Claymation is a term I've heard used by people not terribly aware of animation styles. It's an umbrella term for stop-motion.


Wasn't claymation a term coined by Will Vinton Studios? Most of the time you'll see a Stop motion these days, they're puppets, not clay figures. Rakin Bass was Puppets, for example. Don't they use something a little more prefabricated now, especially with Wallace and Grommit?

[Doz Hewson]

Claymation, if memory serves, was a distinct clay animation concept, and also a registered trademark of WVS. Please remember that.

[Racattack!Force]

Claymation, if memory serves, was a distinct clay animation concept, and also a registered trademark of WVS. Please remember that.
So if we want to refer to stop-motion animation with clay, just call it Clay animation...or stop-motion.

[TheVofSteel]

I remember Eddie Murphy producing an animated show called "The PJs" which used claymation, though I don't know how successful it was. It ran on primetime on Fox in the '90s but don't know if it got cancelled.

I have the Christmas episode of that show on tape, from an airing way back in 1999, including old commercials:) Good show, I miss it. I didn't know it had a season on the WB until I read about it on Wikipedia. I only remember it from FOX.

[Racattack!Force]

I have the Christmas episode of that show on tape, from an airing way back in 1999, including old commercials:) Good show, I miss it. I didn't know it had a season on the WB until I read about it on Wikipedia. I only remember it from FOX.
That show currently airs on...I think...actually, I forgot the channel. But they still air reruns.