Focus Features

Henry Selick, the director of Focus Features’ Coraline, is one of the pre-eminent stop motion animators currently working, a man assured of his place in history because of his achievements in this new film and in previous efforts such as The Nightmare Before Christmas. In our coverage of Coraline, we interviewed Selick and looked back at the history of stop motion and other major figures in the field, but also wanted to look ahead to the future. Who, we wondered might be the next Henry Selick?

In order to try and answer this question, we went in search of talented young stop motion animators who demonstrated a particular inventiveness, creativity and originality that set them apart from the pack. The animators that stood out were Kirsten Lepore, who created a fantastical world of food in Sweet Dreams; Carlos Loscano, who mixed 2D and stop motion to create effect in A Short Love Story in Stop Motion; Sean Pecknold, whose music video for Fleet Foxes’ “White Winter Hymnal” has a true magic to it; the mysterious PES, creator of numerous wild, crazy animations; and Riccardo Crocetta, whose chess claymation video has become a YouTube sensation. You can read interviews with all of them below.

Kirsten Lepore

Carlos Lascano

Sean Pecknold

PES

Riccardo Crocetta

Henry Selick, the director of Focus Features’ Coraline, is one of the pre-eminent stop motion animators currently working, a man assured of his place in history because of his achievements in this new film and in previous efforts such as The Nightmare Before Christmas. In our coverage of Coraline, we interviewed Selick and looked back at the history of stop motion and other major figures in the field, but also wanted to look ahead to the future. Who, we wondered might be the next Henry Selick?

In order to try and answer this question, we went in search of talented young stop motion animators who demonstrated a particular inventiveness, creativity and originality that set them apart from the pack. The animators that stood out were Kirsten Lepore, who created a fantastical world of food in Sweet Dreams; Carlos Loscano, who mixed 2D and stop motion to create effect in A Short Love Story in Stop Motion; Sean Pecknold, whose music video for Fleet Foxes’ “White Winter Hymnal” has a true magic to it; the mysterious PES, creator of numerous wild, crazy animations; and Riccardo Crocetta, whose chess claymation video has become a YouTube sensation. You can read interviews with all of them below.

Kirsten Lepore

Carlos Lascano

Sean Pecknold

PES

Riccardo Crocetta