Cutout animation

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Scene from Yuriy Norshteyn's upcoming feature film, The Overcoat

Cutout animation is a technique for producing animations using flat characters, props and backgrounds cut from materials such as paper, card, stiff fabric or even photographs. The world's first surviving animated feature was produced using a form of cutout animation.

Today, cutout-style animation is often produced using computers, with scanned images or vector graphics taking the place of physically cut materials. The South Park TV series is a notable example, the first episodes were indeed made with actual paper cutouts. One of the most famous animators that are still using cutout animation today is Yuriy Norshteyn.

Examples of cutout animation

• The Adventures of Prince Achmed, the world's first surviving animated feature film (from 1926), used silhouette animation in front of painted backgrounds.

• Monty Python's Flying Circus is famous for its animated sequences created by Terry Gilliam.

• Angela Anaconda uses black-and-white photos of people over CGI-like artwork.

• South Park's cutout style is more traditional, as is Blue's Clues.

• Joel Veitch uses this animation style in his website rathergood.com.

• Strange frame relies primarily on an innovative cutout style combined with both traditional and 3D elements.

• Cutout Pro's Stickman can be used to create cutout animations.