Presenting episode 113 of the Skwigly Animation Podcast!

In this episode we welcome back director Robert Morgan, whose live-action/animation hybrid horror feature film Stopmotion is released on Shudder this month.

Ella Blake is a stop-motion animator who is struggling to control her demons after the loss of her overbearing mother. Suddenly alone in the world, she embarks upon the creation of a macabre new puppet film, which soon becomes the battleground for her sanity. As Ella’s mind starts to fracture, the characters in her animated film take on a terrifying life of their own, and the unleashed power of her imagination threatens to destroy her.

Starring Aisling Franciosi as haunted stop-motion animator Ella Blake alongside Stella Gonet and Tom York, Stopmotion is written by Robert Morgan with Robin King and recently enjoyed a festival run where it picked up the award for Best Director at Fantastic Fest and the Special Jury Award at Sitges.

Filmed in live-action combined with Robert Morgan’s signature brand of nightmarish puppet design and uncanny stop-motion animation, the film expands on a multi-award-winning legacy of (mostly) animated horror shorts that also include The Man in the Lower Left Hand Corner of the Photograph, The Separation and Invocation. Morgan’s body of work also includes contributions to YouTube phenomenon Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared and the feature films The ABCs of Death 2 and To Dust, as well as the tribute films Belial’s Dream and Tomorrow I Will Be Dirt, created for Arrow’s BD releases of cult horror classics Basket Case and Schramm respectively.

Also discussed: Festival reports from Anima Brussels, Animation Dingle and Cardiff Animation Festival, an overview of some of the exciting projects coming out of the Irish animation sector, 25 years of Cartoon Saloon, the BFI’s upcoming Stop-Motion season curated by Justin Johnson, Ren & Stimpy reboot leaks and the bizarre fate of Coyote Vs. Acme.

Presented by Ben Mitchell and Steve Henderson
Interview conducted by Ben Mitchell
Edited, produced and music by Ben Mitchell