Making the Halloween-Themed Stop Motion SpongeBob SquarePants Episode, "The Legend of Boo-Kini Bottom"

Animation studio Screen Novelties has once again teamed up with Nickelodeon to bring us a stop motion SpongeBob SquarePants special – a Halloween-themed episode playfully titled, The Legend of Boo-Kini Bottom. “It’s all done old-school stop motion style – articulated figures moved incrementally and photographed,” says Tom Kenny, voice of SpongeBob, “you put it all together and it looks like those classic, beautiful, old school stop motion specials that we all grew up with.”

Set to air this Friday, the half-hour long Halloween special is the second stop motion episode of the show, the first being It’s a SpongeBob Christmas!, which, also produced by Screen Novelties, premiered back from 2012.

We now have some interesting “making-of” material, the first being a 5-minute-long behind-the-scenes video from The A.V. Club. The video features Tom Kenny touring the facilities of Screen Novelties, during which he visits several hot sets for the SpongeBob episode in the midst of being animated and also the puppet department. The second video is a 3-minute long look primarily into the making of the puppets featuring interviews with several of the model makers and animators who worked on the project.

From a technical standpoint, the episode looks quite incredible. Mimicking the same handmade feel of the first stop motion special, this episode has a gorgeous aesthetic of the perfectly imperfect, allotting the viewer a chance to see the seams and physicality of the medium, embracing a style of animation specific to stop motion that computers, as far as I have seen, have been unsuccessful at replicating.

Screen Novelties has been working on the special ever since January, starting with “designing all the puppets and sets” before bringing on “all our model-makers and puppet builders,” according to Chris Finnegan, executive producer on the project, taking them somewhere between four and six months in all from start to finish. According to Cameron Baity, the animation supervisor on the film, they were able to “shoot about six to seven seconds” of animation with about “five to six animators” working on it.

The synopsis for the episode reads, “It’s Halloween in Bikini Bottom, and the Flying Dutchman is going to make sure everyone’s scared – including Spongebob.”

“Stop motion has a history and track record with holiday specials. Some of the classic holiday specials were done in that technique, so I think it’s a perfect fit for the holiday special format. We’re super excited,” says Finnegan in the closing seconds of his interview with the A.V. Club.

You can go watch the trailer for the episode here, the full special airing on Nickelodeon at 7 pm on Friday, October 13th, which seems thematically like a very suitable day for the episode to air.

You can stay tuned for the upcoming interviews and articles by subscribing to Stop Motion Geek via the “subscribe” button at the top right corner of our homepage, or by following us on Facebook @StopMotionGeek, or by visiting https://www.facebook.com/StopMotionGeek/. You can also stay up-to-date with the blog by following us on Instagram or @stop.motion.geek.blog.

Comments

Vincent & Puppet Scales

Tim Burton's Vincent is a masterpiece; the short was animated by the brilliant Stephen Chiodo . I do love that the short was shot in black and white film, ask any true film-lover and

Read full article »

Interview with Lucy J. Hayes, Producer of Stop Motion Love Story, "Lost & Found"

Knitsune in Lost & Found . Photo courtesy of Andrew Goldsmith. Ever since her childhood, Lucy J. Hayes – the producer of Lost & Found , an extraordinarily beautiful short film that make for a profound mediation on the impermanence and imperfection of life and beauty – she’s wanted to play some part in the creative industry, in some way, shape, or form. For Hayes, that dream went unquestioned. However, the challenge turned out to be figuring out quite where she belonged in the creative industry. “I dabbled in acting and directing, however, I was terrible!” Hayes tells Stop Motion Geek. It wasn’t until she began to put on plays with her friends in her adolescence and early adulthood that the answer to her search dawned upon her: All that Hayes found came innately to her – everything from her ardor for creative work to her love for working with creatives to bring an idea, the kernel of a story, to fruition – she found in the title of “producer.” Knotjira (left) and

Read full article »

Phil Tippett Launches "Mad God (Part 2)" Kickstarter

In 2012, Phil Tippett ( Empire Strikes Back , Indiana Jones , and is ILM veteran), along side of a small group of dedicated volunteers Kickstartered, storyboarded, shot, and edited, his passion project Mad God . Now, comes the 2 part in this four part epic. In the Kickstarter video for Mad God Part 2 , Phil announces that there will be four parts in this epic. I find it very funny the way he puts this though, "I got four parts. Four parts, and I know what I'm doing! I'm not making it up as I go along, (laughs), honestly! His goal for the sequel is to raise $60,000. Though there is a number of stretch goals he has incorporated, for instance, if Mad God Part 2 raise $70,000, all backers receive a 'family photo' of Phil and his crew. Today is day 29 of the total 30 day campaign, and they have raised $1,500 so far. I recommend supporting this project. If you haven't yet watched the first part of Mad God , you can do so by going to their website (link b

Read full article »

Interview with Matt Bollinger, Painter and Animator Behind Stop Motion/Painting Hybrid Short Film "Between the Days," a Beautiful Portrait of Routine, Unfulfillment, and Despair in Middle America

"Before Work" finished painting featured in Between the Days . Photo courtesy of Matt Bollinger. Often – far too often – we forget the true weight of our actions, our everyday decisions, ranging from those big to small. And, in forgetting, we forget ourselves – who we truly are, where we have been, what we have done, how we have gotten here, to this very place in this very moment. For we are nothing if not the sum total of all our decisions, our actions…even the most minute, even those – perhaps especially those – made in the thrumming humdrum of the everyday: the act of rising from our bed and reaching over to flick off the alarm resting on our bedside table, lighting a cigarette, collecting yesterday’s trash before moving on to more, equally menial tasks. Moments spent alone, in ostensible comfort – the comfort provided us by 21st century accoutrements so many of us have grown to take for granted. Whether we are aware of it or not, each of our actions leave a ma

Read full article »

Short Flicks: Bent Image Lab's "Fruity Pebbles"

What could be better than starting your day off with part of a whole breakfast, Fred Flintstone, and Stop Motion? We couldn't think of anything either. Nevertheless, these awesome commercials/BTS will bring out the kid, and nerd, in all of us. Directed by Rob Shaw for the incredible Bent Image Lab (a studio that just moved to Manhattan , by the way), these TV spots encapsulates everything we know and love about the modern stone-age Flintstone family who establish how we now think of Prehistoric times. Fire House : http://vimeo.com/45991027 Cocoa Pebbles "Fire Hose" from Bent Image Lab on Vimeo . Cop Rock : http://vimeo.com/42010097 Cocoa Pebbles "Cop Rock" from Bent Image Lab on Vimeo .

Read full article »

A Trip to the Moon!!

Today, on Stopmotion geek we are going old school, and I really mean old school. Why this is so old is that were discovering, well, your discovering, I'm giving you info that I already know, so, you know, not really discovering... so what, I can rediscover, mmmhun! Georges Melies, was the first-ever Stop Motion animator, in fact, he invented Stop Motion; therefore, we'll

Read full article »

Interview with Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter, Directors of Oscar® Nominated Stop Motion Short Film, "Negative Space"

Sam walks to his car in Negative Space . Source: Vimeo. Across the Baltimore-based director-duo Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter’s Oscar® nominated short film Negative Space ’s 5 minute runtime, rooted in the profoundly emotional soil of the film’s essence , an extraordinary spectrum of deep themes are explored – death, grief, what one’s childhood means once one has “grown up” – yet perhaps none are as front-and-center than that which binds all of the film’s themes together: that of the relationship between father and son. Negative Space , a film inspired by a 150-word poem of the same by Ron Koertge , is, at its heart, the story of Sam, a young man, as he internally processes his relationship with his father throughout his life as well as the grief and emotion that come with the loss of his father as he travels to his recently-passed father’s funeral. Sam looks upon a toy taxicab in Negative Space . Source: Vimeo. Undoubtedly the primary visual motif as well as the crux of t

Read full article »

"Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2" End Credits

A few nights ago I sat down and watched the sequel to Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs ; correctly titled Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 . And, I must say... it was enjoyable and entertaining. Though the first film was comedic brilliance animated, dubbed, and packed in a box we like to call a movie. Cloudy 2 wasn't any where near as good as the first one but on the other hand the original directors/writers of the first film, Phil Lord and Chris Miller didn't direct the sequel. But they are the creative team behind the recently released The Lego Movie . Which looks great and is getting incredibly positive reviews from the critics. So, i am excited to partake in that movie experience. All the 'end credits' work was done by the amazing people over a Screen Novelties. Lots of cool stuff here in the end credits including grown men in strawberry suits, puppets, and of course, Stop Motion. So grab a snack and enjoy! Link: http://vimeo.com/85201368 End C

Read full article »

Interview with Mark Smith, Director and Writer of Stop Motion Short Film, "Two Balloons"

A still from Two Balloons featuring the character of Elba. Photo courtesy of Mark Smith. As I sit, listening to Peter Broderick’s moving composition for piano More Of A Composition , I close my eyes and envisage an enormous funnel cloud skimming across the crystalline face of an ocean – the skies are murky and unusually dark, lightning crackles, spider-webbing across the darkened skies before then vanishing, and still, after its gone, an electricity continues to hum in the air and I simply know that it’s going to soon strike again. And as the scene presents itself to me, I suddenly feel something similar to what director Mark C. Smith felt when he saw the same image as he sailed to a small island called Grenada along with his wife in a timeworn sailboat. For him, in that moment inspiration struck, and the idea suddenly came to him for his heartfelt stop motion film, Two Balloons . For me, I open my eyes and feel as I did the instant Two Balloons faded to black – as if I’ve j

Read full article »

Frankenweenie armatures

These are armatures and puppets from the Tim Burton film "Frankenweenie."

Read full article »

Stop Motion Geek

Search This Blog