The Stop-Motion Puppets of Aardman Animations!

Adam Savage visits Aardman Animations' workshop to get up close with some of the beautiful stop-motion animation puppets used in the studio's upcoming film Early Man. Aardman senior model maker Jimmy Young walks us through some of the modelmaking processes that go into these puppets' sculpts, clothes, and armatures!

Shot and edited by Joey Fameli
Produced by Kristen Lomasney

Tested is:
Gunther Kirsch
Ryan Kiser

Intro bumper by Abe Dieckman

Thanks for watching!

[zhain]

Whenever Adam does stuff like this is must be nice for the creators, he really appreciates and understand what they are talking about and gets them very engaged. Must be better than trying to explain it to a random journalist who doesn't care.

[mulreay]

I would love Jimmy as a boss, the way he names staff that do things speaks of a boss that looks after his staff.

[lahma]

I'm blown away by the creativity, engineering, and craftsmanship that is put into all of these models and the amount of "character" that each one has. These people must have entirely too much fun doing their jobs, and it must be so rewarding to see the final outcome of all their hard work. Thanks for another great video Tested!

[jaxnean]

You can love cgi as much as you like, but there is something, something my mind perceives when I know that what I'm looking at exists in the real world. Something that cg will never deliver. It's like when I was a child watching The Wind in The Willows stop motion show. I received it differently from a drawn animation. I'm not hating on cg btw, it's a fantastic tool, it's just that in my opinion it will NEVER beat stop motion animation. Would you prefer collecting digital figures or the actual thing?

[veldawells]

Always loved Aardman Animations. Superb introduction to behind-the-scenes of part of its' creation production. A superb insight. Truly skilled individuals. Never again will I watch an Aardman Production without thinking of the processes, the team, the resilience, the investment, the quality, the ideas, the artistry, and professionalism that goes into what has become an icon in the animation profession in UK. Truly wonderful.

[Willumpie]

This is amazing. Such craftsmanship, such art. Beautiful.

And Adam's authentic fascination is great to see. He loves this, obviously.

[NochSoEinKaddiFan]

The absolute masters in their craft and still they are pushing the envelope. Amazing work, absolutely great people!

[pumajlr]

Keeping the art of stop motion alive. That's great.

[MakeItSoph]

They are truly beautiful puppets. So much detail! 😍

[DougieD_Funk]

As an action figure enthusiast, these are the ULTIMATE action figures. Jesus. Articulated HAIR!!!! This is just insane. So awesome thank you Tested I can't get over this.

[ianbusch]

Aardman is my second favorite studio behind Ghibli, thanks for this video I love the movies and I hope creatives get interested in this beautiful art.

[Relyx]

I wouldn't have expected Adam to tour Aardman. Their stuff always feels so quintessentially British to me, I've never imagined it having that big an international audience.

[_Kolcki]

Adam and his Tested is the greatest thing that ever happend to the internet... scratch that... to mankind.

[MegaMAWG]

So encouraging and, simultaneously, discouraging for a budding stop-motion animator! Love you guys @ Aardman...thanks for the access!!

[Fesquishety]

So awesome all around, Adam and the Aardman team's genuine enthusiasm is really great.
"Most puppets have these little neck mechanisms now." Neckanisms, even?

[greyareaRK]

Absolutely fascinating. The queen's head mechanism is James Bond-level cool, as are the carousel moulds.

[jennifer]

Aarman Animations are amazing. I love these sorts of videos. Wallace and Gromit are my favourite.

[scottorr]

That is indeed a musk-ox. Would love to have a model of that. It's glorious.

[lottielottie]

Early man is an amazing film, incredibly underrated

[FizzWizardHD]

Aardman is hands down the best animation in film and tv today. CGI can never compete