Stop-motion animation is one of my favorite art forms, wholly unique and the product of painstaking work. The sheer effort it takes to produce the art is often underappreciated, as are its realistic look and almost pure artistry in bringing a technically unmoving object to life. But few are as proficient as stop-motion artist Animist, who makes a variety of videos animating figures from Japanese media, including Dragonball Z, Hamtaro, and Pokémon.
An animist is one who believes that every material object has a soul, a definition that Animist puts in the description for all their videos. You really can feel their craftsmanship bring these figures to life in a way that imbues them with soul. And there’s arguably no better display of this than their stop-motion Kirby videos:
From trying to open a can of tomatoes to Sephiroth using him as a basketball to accidentally smooching Waddle Dee on his non-existent lips, Kirby is full of life, a true figure of Promethean clay with a spirit of his own. The making-of videos Animist features are just as impressive as the end product, showing the minute details that go into making every shot perfect. Worthy of your time and respect, if you have any left at all.
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Written by Amelia Fruzzetti
A writer and Nintendo fan based in Seattle, Washington. When not working for NinWire, she can be found eating pasta, writing stories, and wondering about when Mother 3 is finally going to get an official localization.
