Small Prophets' homunculi combine stop-motion puppets, live-action plates and restrained CG

Animation Magazine's 22 October 2026 craft feature returns to the handmade homunculi in Small Prophets. Direct interviews with animators Ainslie Henderson and Will Anderson explain that these are not generic CGI creatures and the programme is not an all-stop-motion series. It is a live-action comedy whose prophetic figures were built and animated as practical stop-motion puppets, then integrated as visual-effects elements.

The three homunculi appear at different growth stages, so the production needed seven complete puppets. Henderson says Mackinnon & Saunders took on that fabrication work; Glen Southern developed the forms through character design and digital sculpting from Mackenzie Crook's sketches. Henderson animated the jar-bound figures and gave the King, Queen and Seraph distinct movement. When the King escapes into the live-action room, Richard Pickersgill helped build a separate rod-operated puppet so the scene could move between stop motion and live puppetry.

The composite was planned on the live-action set. Actors performed to empty jars; the team photographed clear and darkened water to isolate reflections, and a reference cube recorded camera placement. Henderson later animated the puppets on green screen. Anderson matched that camera and assembled the final image with the practical performance, CG cloth or adornments, lighting effects and photographed ink textures. The result is recorded in the catalogue as live action / stop-motion VFX, preserving the boundary the makers themselves describe. Apple TV's official trailer is now linked in Watch.