Screen Novelties
Screen Novelties is a collective of film directors, specializing in stop motion animation. It was formed in 2003 by Mark Caballero, Seamus Walsh, and Chris Finnegan.
Their work fuses classic cartoon sensibilities with mixed-media elements such as puppetry and miniature model photography. They were among the first stop motion artists to adopt an entirely digital capture system and workflow, beginning in 1999 with the pilot films that would eventually become Robot Chicken. Screen Novelties was integral in the launch of both Robot Chicken and Moral Orel for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block. They also animated the stop motion SpongeBob SquarePants espisodes, It's a Spongebob Christmas! and The Legend of Boo-Kini Bottom.
Notable past work includes:
- Creating a stop motion animation version of the Flintstones for a dream sequence in The Flintstones: On the Rocks.
- Working with Ray Harryhausen, helping him complete his film The Story of The Tortoise & the Hare.
- Contributing whimsical puppet and special effects sequences for Cartoon Network shows Chowder and The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.
- Performing the restoration of the original Rudolph & Santa Puppets from the 1964 classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer [1][2]
Their offbeat short films enjoy a small cult following, especially "Mysterious Mose" which was made in their garage in 1997-98, using a hand-wound Bolex camera and an old 78rpm record as the soundtrack. The film mixes rod puppetry, stop motion animation, and silhouette animation.
Filmography
- Old Man & the Goblins
- The Boy with the Flip-top Head
- Graveyard Jamboree with Mysterious Mose
- The Story of The Tortoise & the Hare
- Monster Safari
- Zombie Brothers
- Monster High: Gaga for Ghouls
Television/film credits
Title | Year(s) | Notes | Client |
---|---|---|---|
The Flintstones: On the Rocks | 2001 | stop-motion sequence | Cartoon Network Studios |
Courage the Cowardly Dog | 2002 | "Perfect" (stop-motion sequence) | Stretch Films |
Drew Carey's Green Screen Show | 2004 | stop-motion animation | Warner Bros. Television |
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie | 2004 | stop-motion sequence | Nickelodeon Movies |
Robot Chicken | 2005-2012 | first 5 seasons | Stoopid Monkey ShadowMachine |
Moral Orel | 2005-2007 | seasons 1 and 2 | ShadowMachine |
Billy and Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure | 2007 | puppets | Cartoon Network Studios |
Robot Chicken: Star Wars | 2007 | Stoopid Monkey ShadowMachine | |
Chowder | 2007-2010 | stop-motion/puppet sequences | Cartoon Network Studios |
The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack | 2008-2009 | stop-motion sequences | Cartoon Network Studios |
The Electric Company | 2009 | animation | Sesame Workshop |
Family Guy | 2006 2009 2011 |
"Deep Throats" (stop-motion segment) "Road to the Multiverse" (Robot Chicken segment) "Foreign Affairs" (puppet sequence) |
20th Century Fox Television |
SpongeBob SquarePants | 2009-present | stop-motion animation | Nickelodeon Animation Studio |
MAD | 2010-2011 | additional animation | Warner Bros. Animation |
85th Academy Awards | 2013 | Sock puppet sequence | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |
Adventure Time | 2013 | LEGO title sequence | Cartoon Network Studios |
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 | 2013 | end credits | Sony Pictures Animation |
Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas | 2014 | Warner Bros. Animation | |
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water | 2015 | Bubbles character only | Nickelodeon Movies |
Harvey Beaks | 2015 2016 |
"Yampions" (stop-motion animation) "It's Christmas You Dorks!" (stop-motion sequences) |
Nickelodeon Animation Studio |
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie | 2017 | Sock puppet sequence | DreamWorks Animation |
Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus | 2019 | Puppet sequence | Nickelodeon Animation Studio |
Video game credits
Title | Year(s) | Notes | Client |
---|---|---|---|
Fortnite | 2018 | Stop-motion cutscene animation[3] | Epic Games |
Commercials
- Nike
- Hallmark Cards
- Mississippi State Department of Health
- Rotofugi
- CareerBuilder
- All
- Corn Pops
- McDonald's
- Ray-Ban
- Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge
- Honda
- Target Corporation
- GMC
- Hewlett-Packard
Awards and nominations
Won 30th Annual Annie Award in the category Best Short Film for The Story of the Tortoise & The Hare.[4]
Nominated for the 34th Annual Annie Award in the category Best Animated Television Commercial.[5][6]
References
- https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/23/arts/television/23rudo.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Rudolph and Santa, as Good as New
- http://www.screen-novelties.com/news/2006/12/rankinbass-puppet-restoration.html Rankin/Bass Puppet Restoration
- http://screen-novelties.com/work/fortnite-season-7-trailer/
- http://annieawards.org/30thwinners.html 30th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners (2002)
- http://annieawards.org/34thwinners.html 34th Annie Award winners and nominations
- http://www.screen-novelties.com/news/2007/01/tobacco-psa-nominated.html Candy factory commercial