Minion Ways to Die: A Claymation From Lee Hardcastle

Animator Lee Hardcastle has gone and done what virtually half of the world wants to do - kill Minions. But, killing them isn't good enough. In this minute long claymation, Minions die at the hands of xenomorphs, sharks, cheese graters, Freddie Kruger, and so much more. If you are tired of Minions, this should be delightful revenge.

Be sure to visit Lee Hardcastle's website! And, if you have time, read our Interview with Hardcastle from last November.

My Head On Some Robot Legs: An Interview w/ Animator Andy Martin aka Handymartian

Animator Andy Martin's work makes me happy. Like ridiculously happy to the point of delirium. I find myself watching videos like "The Planets" and "Selfie" over and over again. I show them to my friends. I show them to my cat. Often, I gather together all of my stuffed animals and action figures and we sit and watch his animations together. He is just that brilliant.

This week Andy released the brand new short film Mr. Director, a stop motion satire poking fun at documentaries that feature self-aggrandizing artists and directors. "The biggest ego in film directing tells us his story of a lifetime in the movie business with clips from some of his films, archive interviews and exclusive behind the scenes footage." This film is seven minutes of sheer magic. If nothing else, the clips from the fake movies will have you giggling with delight.

But, the magic doesn't stop with just the illustration and animation. Andy Martin is also an insanely talented musician. His animations are filled with sometimes charming, sometimes whimsical songs that he has created. Andy has even animated a hilarious stop motion band series called Tiny Tunes in which the band tackles "serious subjects like eating steaks, robot legs, seeing a doctor, haircuts and sharing." But don't let any of this fool you. Andy is a truly accomplished songwriter, instrument tinkerer, and sound manipulator. See for yourself at Andy's music page: Handymartian!

Andy Martin was kind enough to take some time out of his day and do an interview. If you'd like to explore more of his work on your own, I suggest his Website, Twitter, and Vimeo Page. Also, be sure to check out his Society 6 Shop! 

Q: Andy…I am madly infatuated with your animation “The Planets.” The ending song even makes me tear up a bit. What was your eureka moment for creating the project?
Andy: It all kind of developed organically through the year. It started off as a daily illustration project to force myself to draw in my sketchbook again but grew into a monthly animation project and at the end of the year I had the 12 minute film. I'm sorry it made you cry but it's good to get out your emotions. Bottling things up will give you an ulcer!

Q: On a totally different note, I tend to laugh every time one of your characters, be it alien or bunny, farts. Does that say more about you or about me?
Andy: It probably says a lot about both of us.

Q:  Are you self taught or do you have a formal education in illustration and animation?
Andy: I studied Moving Image Design at University which gave me a good start but then I've learned a lot in the years I've been working. So I think it's been a healthy mix of the two which is maybe how it should be. It's good to have some formal training as a starting point but then to do interesting work you need to go a bit rogue.

Q:  I totally love that you post video workshops showing how your animations are made so other people can learn your techniques. Was there ever any trepidation about sharing your secrets?
Andy: No, none at all. I hope people will take the techniques and make something new and fresh. Something that I could never have thought of.

Q:  Have you considered working with the phone companies on an app that will actually punch you in the face if you take a selfie?
Andy: I'm not sure it's worth the lawsuits.

Q:  Your Tiny Tunes track “Style” is hands down my favorite, mostly because my hair is mental. Which line of lyrics best describes your coiffure?
Andy: "This hair looks good" obviously!!

Q:  If for one reason or another you had to choose between animation and music, which would you pick?
Andy: Animusic.

Q: What artists/illustrators do you currently follow?

Amaro & Walden's Joyride

Andy: I'm constantly on the search for great animations to watch. I recently saw Adam Elliot's new short "Ernie Biscuit" which was excellent (he also made one of my favourite animated films called "Mary And Max"), the short "Amaro and Walden's Joyride" by The Line is super cool, and the guys at Animade did a stylish short recently call "Cronomtics". There's so much other great stuff out there by amazingly talented independent animators it's tough to name just a few but you can check out the things I've liked on Vimeo (where I find most of the best animation) here: Andy Martin Likes. Vimeo has a great animation section that is worth exploring: Vimeo Animation.

Q:  Do you remember the first animation you ever created? Care to share the storyline?
Andy: I do. It was for a school IT project and it was advocating regular exercise for a healthier lifestyle. Advice I have subsequently failed to follow.

Q:  Unicorns...or Narwhals? Who would win in a fight?
Andy: Why can't they both get on? I'm not sure what the beef is but I'm sure they can work it out peacefully.

Help Support the Indie Go Go Campaign for a Rankin Bass Productions Documentary!

I have no idea how this documentary project on Indie Go Go is being overlooked! Rankin Bass brought us timeless tv and film classics such as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, the animated 1977 version of The Hobbit and follow up The Return of the King, The Last Unicorn, and Thundercats. It really is time someone made a documentary worthy of their legacy. Thankfully, there is still time to save it!

Here's a bit of their campaign pitch:

If you are not already familiar with Rankin/Bass Productions, they have no doubt been responsible for some of your favorite holiday programing, and most likely been a part of one production or another that you grew up with. Rankin/Bass produced everything from holiday specials to cartoon shows, from feature dramas to cult horror. Rankin/Bass is a pivotal influence to American and World Culture. Their works have influenced generations of filmmakers and industry, authors and artists, as well as most of us to some degree or another. 

Their best known work is the 1964 holiday favorite “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer” which still airs every year, and has now been viewed by over ONE-BILLION people worldwide. Other notable Rankin/Bass feature favorites include 1969’s “Frosty the Snowman” 1974’s “The Year Without A Santa Claus”, 1970’s “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”, 1979’s “Jack Frost”, and 1967’s “Mad Monster Party?”. Rankin/Bass also produced many of the 1960’s, 70’s & 80’s favorite cartoon shows, including ThunderCats, SilverHawks, The Smokey Bear Show, The Jackson 5ive cartoon series, TigerSharks, and many, many more!

This Documentary is long overdue, and has been years in the making. We have mountains of information, and every contact imaginable with all the Rankin/Bass affiliates. However, most of the surviving members who are still around are getting up there in years. Arthur Rankin Jr. recently passed away, and we desperately need to get the stories from everyone else while there is still time.

Check out their Indie Go Go page for perks for donating to their cause. Or watch the video below! Hopefully this documentary will be able to get off the ground!

Stop Motion Nightmares: An Interview w/ Claymation Virtuoso Lee Hardcastle

Lee Hardcastle is my hero. For those not in the know, Hardcastle makes wonderfully gory claymation horror films. Sometimes originals, sometimes spoofs on classic horror movies, tv shows, and other pop culture, his creations have garnered him accolades and acclaim from around the world. Lee Hardcastle began claymation full-time in 2010 after online success with a little claymation titled The Evil Dead in 60 Seconds. The following year he sold all his belongings to support an unpaid career and created short films that screened at Cannes and won a place in the feature film ABCs Of Death. He's gone on to work with Momentum Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Sufjan Stevens, Kill The Noise, Portugal The Man. He has been a finalist on more than one occasion for the Empire Awards, an annual British awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the local and global film industry.

Courtesy of Skwigly Online
Animation Magazine

Other notable achievements include the video Pingu's The Thing, in which the beloved European children's stop motion television penguin Pingu re-enacts the the infamous 80s horror movie, skittering severed head and all. This landed him in trouble with Pingu but also garnered him praise by John Carpenter. His fan film Claycat's The Raid was included on the movie's international home video release. Most recently, he received the 2013 MTV Clubland Music Video of Year award for Kill The Noise.

Hardcastle is not only amazing at making claymation films, he does an incredible job intertwining claymation with live action. For example, he took Mark Zuckerberg's Ice Bucket Challenge video and swapped the water for a bucket of acid. I giggled like a schoolgirl as I watched Zuckerberg's head melt. And, you absolutely have to watch the hilarious Mario vs. Pokemon: Game Boy Movie. It will be the first video shown below. Or, if you want to watch a creepy short film Hardcastle did that doesn't play up the laughs, check out There's Something in the Attic. 

Thankfully, Lee Hardcastle was willing to take sometime out of his busy schedule to do an interview with us! After reading, if you would like to explore more of Hardcastle's world on your own, I suggest his YouTube Channel, Website, Facebook, and Twitter.


Q: Do you remember the first claymation video you ever made? What was it about? What was the death count?
Hardcastle: I'd experimented with stop motion long ago but the first full on experience was when I was at Uni I got super creative with some software and little action figures one night. It was incredible how easy it was and how cool the results were! The body count was 4 and you can see it here.

Q: I love that some of your female characters are hilariously portrayed by men. How many of the voices do you perform?
Hardcastle: I've always done them myself, really. I mean, I was never aiming for awards or critical acclaim when I made a lot of the videos that went on my YouTube channel. I was doing them for people to discover and enjoy. Female actresses for female parts happens when I'm attempting something more ambitious. When I'm being ambitious, I try to avoid doing any voices all together and use myself as a last resort. In context, my voice works, it's funny! I have a ridiculous accent.

Q: Which are you more proud of…being perhaps the only animator ever to fight off a zombie with a giant red dildo or being the first to disembowel Santa Claus in an indie rock video?
Hardcastle: The dildo. The Santa Claus gag wasn't my idea. Sufjan Stevens scripted that video. In fact, his script was a 10 minute video. There was LOADS of gags and violence in it and the song is only 2 minutes. So, I condensed his 10 min script into 2 minutes.

Q: You brilliantly spoof a lot of horror flicks. What are some of your favorite scary movies?
Hardcastle: John Carpenter's The Thing, Candyman, The Blair Witch Project, Alien 3, Jaws - I mean, this list is without going outside the limits of films I find 'scary' and absolutely adore. There's not that many more movies beyond that list. The last scary movie I had a lot of fun watching was Sinister, I really enjoyed that one.

Q:  How cathartic was it to melt Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg’s face with acid?
Hardcastle: I like the film Social Network and Mark's story and his success is incredible. I'm a bit envious like a lot of people, sure. But I only did it because there was this ice bucket craze and he seemed to be the guy that kicked it off. I dunno? But, I just thought it'd be funny and topical.

Q:  I really couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the Hamster Hell video, especially the opportunistic caught in the tape sequence. How many dreadful ideas did you come up with but decided not to use?
Hardcastle: None, I don't think. The idea was really beautiful in my mind for this character to be a perfectly normal kid behind a closed door. He's not evil or disturbed. He's a normal young human being. So, the ideas were never about gory details and senseless violence. Most of the ideas that ended up in the film are from real stories I'd heard while in high school. I heard loads of animal horror stories but they were never really evil stories, just sort of, "I put my hamster in a sock because I wanted it him to feel g-force" or "I build a house out of card and tape for my hamster, I woke up the next morning and the hamster was stuck to the tape."

Q:  Your version of John Carpenter’s “The Thing” featuring beloved children’s television character Pingu lead the horror master himself to tweet “Better than the original…?” What was Team Pingu’s reaction?
Hardcastle: I actually got an email from a guy who works on Pingu and he loved it and was impressed! He sent me photographs of the behind the scenes and the sets and stuff! But the owners of the Pingu brand were understandable pissed off and went all medieval on the video.

Q:  I owe you a huge debt of gratitude. All of my friends think I am poop obsessed, but I look like a rank amateur compared to you. Is there anything funnier than toilet humor?
Hardcastle: Yeah, sure there is! But toilets are awesome and it's a cool place to set a story.

Q: Will there ever be a triumphant return of Claycat?!
Hardcastle: Not at the minute, there is zero plans, I have thought about it but I'm trying to move forward and Claycat never gained enough demand to continue doing more.

Q:  Unicorns….or Narwhals? Who would win in a fight?
Hardcastle: Don't fight, make love. Peace.