Mackinnon & Saunders is a British traditional stop-motion animation studio. It is based in Altrincham in Trafford, Greater Manchester. The studio both produces its own animations and creates puppets for other studios' productions.
The studio was founded by Ian Mackinnon and Peter Saunders, who had previously worked at Cosgrove Hall Films on such films as The Reluctant Dragon, The Fool of the World, and The Wind in the Willows. [1] [2]
Films they have created puppets for include Mars Attacks! , Corpse Bride , Frankenweenie , [1] Fantastic Mr. Fox , [2] and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio . [3] [4] Television series they have created puppets for include Postman Pat , Fifi and the Flowertots , and Pingu . [2]
Animation is a filmmaking technique by which still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets (cels) to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animation has been recognized as an artistic medium, specifically within the entertainment industry. Many animations are computer animations made with computer-generated imagery (CGI). Stop motion animation, in particular claymation, has continued to exist alongside these other forms.
Stop motion is an animated filmmaking 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.
The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is given each year for the best animated film. An animated feature is defined by the academy as a film with a running time of more than 40 minutes in which characters' performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique, a significant number of the major characters are animated, and animation figures in no less than 75 percent of the running time. The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature was first awarded in 2002 for films released in 2001.
Guillermo del Toro Gómez is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and makeup artist. A recipient of three Academy Awards and three BAFTA Awards, his work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales and horror, with an effort to infuse visual or poetic beauty in the grotesque. He has had a lifelong fascination with monsters, which he considers symbols of great power. He is also known for his use of insectile and religious imagery, his themes of Catholicism, anti-fascism, and celebrating imperfection, underworld motifs, practical special effects, and dominant amber lighting.
Steven Soenksen, better known under his pen name Gris Grimly, is an American illustrator and author who mostly writes darkly whimsical children's books. Originally from Nebraska, he spent many years living and working in the Los Angeles area.
The Coachman, also known as The Little Man (L'Omino), is a fictional character and a major antagonist from Carlo Collodi's 1883 book The Adventures of Pinocchio, in which he appears in chapters XXXI and XXXIII.
ShadowMachine is an American animation studio and production company for film, television, commercials and music videos.
Pinocchio is the boy-puppet from the 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Italian author Carlo Collodi.
Pinocchio is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan village. He is created as a wooden puppet, but he dreams of becoming a real boy. He is known for his long nose, which grows when he lies.
Motion Theory was an American production company founded on 1 May 2000 by Mathew Cullen and Javier Jimenez. The company was located in Marina Del Rey in Los Angeles, California, United States. The company produced hundreds of projects and was awarded multiple Grammys, MTV Video Music Awards and AICP Awards for its commercial and music video production work. Its director roster included Mathew Cullen, Bo Krabbe, Guillermo del Toro, Jesus de Francisco, Christopher Leone, Clement Oberto, Daniel Reisinger, Lucas Borras, Marlind & Stein, Chris Riehl, Vanessa Marzaroli and Syyn Labs. Motion Theory's notable work includes commercials for Audi, HP, IBM, Samsung, Nike, NFL; and music videos for Adele, Weezer, The Black Eyed Peas and Katy Perry. Motion Theory held the Guinness World Record for the most internet memes in a music video, 51 featured in Weezer's Pork and Beans. The video was directed by Cullen and produced by Javier Jimenez and Bernard Rahill.
Patrick Nolen McHale is an American animator, artist, screenwriter, director, and musician.
The following is a list of unproduced Guillermo del Toro projects in roughly chronological order. During his decades-long career, Mexican filmmaker and author Guillermo del Toro has worked on a number of projects that never progressed beyond the pre-production stage. Some of these projects fell into development hell and are presumably canceled, while some were taken over and completed by other filmmakers.
The Mexican animation industry is a part of Mexico's domestic film industry. It utilizes primarily the flash, CG, and traditional animation formats, typically produced on a small budget. There studios included Ánima Estudios, Animex Producciones, Huevocartoon, among others. It began in 1915 with the first animated film of the country, Mi Sueño, and continues decades later.
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is a 2022 stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson, with a screenplay by del Toro and Patrick McHale. Matthew Robbins and del Toro's modified Pinocchio story, drawing from the 1883 Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, was strongly influenced by Gris Grimly's illustrations for a 2002 edition of the book. The film reimagines the adventures of Pinocchio, a wooden puppet who comes to life as the son of his carver Geppetto. Set in Fascist Italy during the interwar period, the film stars the voice of Gregory Mann as Pinocchio and David Bradley as Geppetto, alongside Ewan McGregor, Burn Gorman, Ron Perlman, John Turturro, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, Tim Blake Nelson, Christoph Waltz, and Tilda Swinton. Pinocchio was the final film credited to Gustafson before his death in 2024.
Pinocchio is a 2022 American musical fantasy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay by Zemeckis and Chris Weitz. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Depth of Field and ImageMovers, this film is a live-action remake of Walt Disney's 1940 animated feature film of the same name, which is itself based on the 1883 Italian book The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. It stars Tom Hanks, Cynthia Erivo, and Luke Evans with Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Keegan-Michael Key, and Lorraine Bracco in voice roles. The story follows a wooden puppet named Pinocchio, who is brought to life by a blue fairy (Erivo) after being crafted by an old Italian woodcarver named Geppetto (Hanks). While the role of Pinocchio's conscience Jiminy Cricket (Gordon-Levitt) attempts to guide Pinocchio in matters of right and wrong, Pinocchio encounters a host of unsavory characters in his efforts to become a real boy.
The House is a 2022 British stop-motion animated anthology film written by Enda Walsh and telling different stories forming a trilogy spanning different worlds and characters but set inside the same house. Each story deals with themes of madness, wealth, and the pursuit of true happiness.
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is the soundtrack album to the 2022 stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film of the same name. Based on the 1883 Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, and Gris Grimly's design from his 2002 edition of the novel, the film, directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson, stars Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Burn Gorman, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, Tim Blake Nelson, Christoph Waltz, and Tilda Swinton. The score is composed by Alexandre Desplat in his second collaboration with del Toro after The Shape of Water (2017). The album featuring the original score and songs were set for release digitally on December 9, 2022 and in physical formats on December 16 by Columbia Records.
Mark Gustafson was an American animator and film director, best known for co-directing Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022), which won Best Animated Feature at the 95th Academy Awards.