Stop motion is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames is played back. Any kind of object can thus be animated, but puppets with movable joints or plasticine figures are most commonly used. Puppets, models or clay figures built around an armature are used in model animation. Stop motion with live actors is often referred to as pixilation. Stop motion of flat materials such as paper, fabrics or photographs is usually called cutout animation.
Aardman Animations Limited, stylized as AARDMAN since 2022, is a British animation studio based in Bristol. It is known for films and television series made using stop motion and clay animation techniques, particularly those featuring its plasticine characters from Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run, Shaun the Sheep, and Morph. After some experimental computer-animated short films during the late 1990s, beginning with Owzat (1997), Aardman entered the computer animation market with Flushed Away (2006). As of February 2020, it had earned $1.1 billion worldwide, with an average $135.6 million per film. Between 2000 and 2006, Aardman partnered with DreamWorks Animation.
Bob the Builder is a British animated children's television series created by Keith Chapman for HIT Entertainment, and ran from 12 April 1999 to 31 December 2011 in the United Kingdom through the CBBC strand and later CBeebies. The series centres on the adventures and escapades of a general contractor named Bob who owns a team of anthropomorphised construction vehicles that go about their day helping out the residents of Bobsville; later featuring Sunflower Valley and Fixham Harbour in later seasons. They are also joined by work colleague Wendy, alongside their neighbours and friends.
Cosgrove Hall Films was a British animation studio founded by Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall, headquartered in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. Cosgrove Hall was a major producer of children's television and animated programmes/films, which are still seen in over eighty countries. The company was wound down by its then owner, ITV plc, on 26 October 2009. It was mainly known for its series Danger Mouse, The Wind in the Willows and Count Duckula.
HIT Entertainment Limited was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Sophie Turner Laing. Orton alone took over the company in 1989 after learning Henson intended to sell the company to The Walt Disney Company. HIT owned and distributed children's television series such as Thomas & Friends, Fireman Sam, Bob the Builder, Pingu, Barney & Friends, and Angelina Ballerina.
Pingu is an animated children's television series originally produced in Switzerland. It was co-created by Otmar Gutmann and Erika Brueggemann that centres on the titular anthropomorphic emperor penguin and his family, who live in the South Pole. The series aired on SF DRS for four series from 7 March 1990 to 9 April 2000, and was produced by the Swiss animation studio Pingu Filmstudio; with Swiss toy company Editoy AG, and later on, Pingu BV handling IP ownership of the series.
Claymation, sometimes called clay animation or plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine clay.
Rubbadubbers is a British stop-motion children's television series produced by HIT Entertainment, with animation production by Hot Animation. The series was broadcast in the UK on BBC2 and CBeebies from 2 September 2002 to 14 February 2005. Created by Peter Curtis, it focuses on seven friendly, sentient bath toys as they tell stories in imaginary worlds outside of their bathroom – the ringleader in the series being a pink frog named Tubb. In the US, the series was broadcast on Nickelodeon, Noggin and PBS Kids Sprout.
Thomas & Friends is a children's television series about the engines and other characters working on the railways of the Island of Sodor, and is based on The Railway Series books written by the Reverend W. Awdry.
Brambly Hedge is a series of illustrated children's books by Jill Barklem, recounting the adventures of a community of mice who live together in the tranquil surroundings of the English countryside. The writer described Brambly Hedge as a loving and caring society. The tales involve conflict resolution within nature or exploration, and/or the adventures of working together to achieve a common goal. There are no unkind characters or predators.
Chapman Entertainment Limited was a British television production company founded by Keith Chapman and Greg Lynn and based in London. The company focused on producing content aimed at pre-school audiences.
Keith Hopwood is an English pop and rock musician, singer-songwriter, composer, businessman and record producer, who served as the rhythm guitarist and backing vocals for the 1960s pop band, Herman's Hermits. Hopwood also served as a keyboardist, singer and guitarist for the post-Peter Noone outfit, Sour Mash, which recorded an unreleased album, A Whale of a Tale for RCA.
The Enchanted World of Brambly Hedge is a British stop-motion animated series based on the eight Brambly Hedge books by Jill Barklem. The show was produced by HIT Entertainment with Cosgrove Hall Films handling production for the first season and HIT's in-house studio HOT Animation handling the second.
Jackie Cockle is a British animator, producer, and director, best known as the co-founder of the stop motion animation studio HOT Animation. She is the creator and creative producer of the pre-school animation Timmy Time, creative producer of Bob the Builder and Brambly Hedge, director of The Wind in the Willows and more. Cockle, a graduate of the Manchester College of Art and Design, has won 3 BAFTA awards: one in the best animation category for Bob the Builder 30 minute special (2002), and two in the pre-school animation for Timmy Time - a production of the Bristol-based Aardman Animations.
Pingu in the City is an animated children's television series produced by Mattel Creations, NHK, NHK Enterprises, and Polygon Pictures. It is a spin-off/continuation based on the stop-motion television series Pingu by HIT Entertainment. The series first aired on NHK Educational TV in Japan from October 7, 2017 to March 30, 2019.
Jocelyn Stevenson is a British-American writer and producer, largely for children's shows. She has received the BAFTA Special Award.
Bob the Builder, also known simply as Bob, is the titular protagonist of the British animated programme of the same name. He is a general contractor with his own construction yard in Bobsville, Sunflower Valley, Fixham Harbour, or Spring City depending on which series.
