technique
Clay animation
Stop motion
Definition
A sub-type of stop motion in which animated subjects are built from malleable materials — typically plasticine or oil-based modelling clay — that can be directly sculpted and reshaped between frames. Clay animation is defined by its subject material, not by a distinct capture method; the frame-by-frame shooting process is identical to all other stop-motion sub-types.
Clay animation encompasses works in which characters, objects and environments are built from malleable clay or plasticine and reformed between each photographed frame. The defining property of the material — its direct deformability by hand — allows animators to sculpt expressions, gestures and secondary motion into the subject itself without requiring separate replacement parts or mechanical joints. The surface also retains fingerprints and tool marks that give clay-animated characters a tactile, handmade quality distinct from puppet or replacement animation.
Plasticine — a non-drying, oil-based modelling clay — is the industry standard for professional clay animation because it does not harden or crack under studio lighting and can be reworked indefinitely. Aardman Animations has used Plasticine for all its major characters since Nick Park's student films in the late 1970s; the studio's characteristic surface texture — faintly visible finger and tool marks — is a deliberate aesthetic retained across productions including the Wallace and Gromit series and Early Man (2018). Wire armatures are typically embedded in clay figures to hold poses and prevent sagging across a long shooting schedule.
The term Claymation is a registered trademark of Will Vinton Studios (Portland, Oregon), coined in connection with The Adventures of Mark Twain (1985). In common usage the word is often applied generically to clay animation, but the trademarked term properly refers only to Vinton-produced works. Other studios use the descriptive terms clay animation or plasticine animation.