Object animation

Object animation is a form of stop motion animation that involves the animated movements of any non-drawn objects such as toys, blocks, dolls, etc. which are not fully malleable, such as clay or wax, and not designed to look like a recognizable human or animal character.

Object animation is considered a different form of animation distinct from model animation and puppet animation, as these two forms of stop-motion animation usually use recognizable characters as their subjects, rather than just objects like static toy soldiers, or construction toys such as Tinker Toys, LEGO brand bricks (Brickfilm), Lincoln Logs, Erector Sets, Playmobil, etc.

Object animation is often combined with other forms of animation, typically for a more realistic effect (e.g., Model Animation or Puppet Animation to add more complex movement or depth to the characters). For example, a toy car can be animated without a driver, but is more often animated with a character easily seen driving the car.

The use of animated objects in film has been present since the early days of cinema.

An example of modern object animation can be seen on Robot Chicken, part of the regular Adult Swim block on Cartoon Network, which combines object animation with a variation of puppet animation, in this case the puppets are made to resemble plastic action figures from various TV shows, movies, and pop culture.