Editing Cutout animation (section)

{{Short description|A form of stop-motion animation produced by moving two-dimensional pieces of material}}
{{original research|date=January 2016}}
[[File:Animacion CutOut clip.webm|thumb|Video about making cutout animation, in Spanish with English subtitles]]
 
'''Cutout animation''' is a form of [[stop-motion animation]] using flat characters, [[theatrical property|prop]]s and backgrounds cut from materials such as [[paper]], card, stiff [[Textile|fabric]] or [[photograph]]s. The props would be cut out and used as puppets for stop motion. The world's earliest known animated feature films were cutout animations (made in [[Argentina]] by [[Quirino Cristiani]]),<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bendazzi |first1=Giannalberto |title=Quirino Cristiani, The Untold Story of Argentina's Pioneer Animator |url=https://www.awn.com/mag/issue1.4/articles/bendazzi1.4.html |website=Animation World Network |access-date=19 October 2018}}</ref> as is the world's earliest surviving animated feature ''[[Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed]]'' (1926) by [[Lotte Reiniger]].{{citation needed|date=February 2015}}

The technique of most cutout animation is comparable to that of [[shadow play]], but with stop motion replacing the manual or mechanical manipulation of flat puppets. Some films, including ''Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed'', also have much of their silhouette style in common with shadow plays. Cutout animation pioneer Lotte Reiniger studied the traditions of shadow play and created several shadow play film sequences, including a tribute to [[François Dominique Séraphin]] in [[Jean Renoir]]'s film ''[[La Marseillaise (film)|La Marseillaise]]'' (1938).<ref name = wfp/>

While sometimes used as a relatively simple and cheap animation technique in children's programs (for instance in ''[[Ivor the Engine]]''), cutout animation has also often been used as a highly artistic medium that distinguishes itself more clearly from hand-drawn animation.

Cutout animation can be made with figures that have joints made with a rivet or pin or, when simulated on a computer, an anchor. These connections act as [[mechanical linkage]], which have the effect of a specific, fixed motion. Similar flat, jointed puppets have been in use in [[shadow play]]s for many centuries, such as in the Indonesian [[wayang]] tradition and in the "ombres chinoises" that were especially popular in France in the 18th and 19th century. The subgenre of [[silhouette animation]] is more closely related to these shadow shows and to the silhouette cutting art that has been popular in Europe especially in the 18th and 19th centuries. 

While many cutout animation puppets and other material is often purposely-made for films, ready-made imagery has also been heavily used in collage/[[photomontage]] styles, for instance in [[Terry Gilliam]]'s famous animations for ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' (1969-1975).

Lotte Reiniger, and movies like ''[[Twice Upon a Time (1983 film)|Twice Upon a Time]]'' (1983), used backlit animation, where the source of light comes from below. Animators like Terry Gilliam use light coming from above.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=IVkkDwAAQBAJ&dq=Prince+Achmed+ever+made+Reiniger+backlit+Gilliam+top-lighted&pg=SA5-PA52 Frame-By-Frame Stop Motion: The Guide to Non-Puppet Photographic Animation Techniques]</ref><ref>[https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/cinefamily-resurrects-lucasfilms-twice-upon-a-time-1983-123081/ Cinefamily resurrects Lucasfilm's “Twice Upon A Time” (1983)]</ref>

Cutout techniques were relatively often used in animated films until cel animation became the standard method (at least in the United States). Before 1934, Japanese animation mostly used cutout techniques rather than cel animation, because celluloid was too expensive.<ref>Sharp, Jasper (2009). "The First Frames of Anime". ''The Roots of Japanese Anime'', official booklet, DVD.</ref><ref name="Midnight">{{cite web|url=http://www.midnighteye.com/features/pioneers-of-anime.shtml|title=Pioneers of Japanese Animation (Part 1)|last=Sharp|first=Jasper|date=September 23, 2004|publisher=Midnight Eye|access-date=December 10, 2009}}</ref>

Today, cutout-style animation is frequently produced using [[computer]]s, with scanned images or [[vector graphics]] taking the place of physically cut materials. ''[[South Park]]'' is a notable example of the transition, since its [[Cartman Gets an Anal Probe|pilot episode]] was made with paper cutouts before switching to [[computer animation|computer software]].