If you enjoyed different combat style games common in the 90s then you might have played Primal Rage. The game featured stop-motion animated dinosaur like characters that were pitted against each other in a 1 v 1 battle to the death. Similar to that of any Mortal Kombat with which most growing up in the 90s are also very familiar. Watch the making of video of Primal Rage below.

But did you know there was supposed to be a Primal Rage 2? It was slotted to come out in 1996, but was cancelled shortly after it's 1995 announcement. There is at least one arcade style set up in the world that surfaced in 2012, but now it's available via an emulator for anyone that what's to give it a go! Click here to check out Primal Rage 2.

In case you haven't already heard Amazon has a stop-motion series called Tumble Leaf that is available on their streaming platforms. Amazon Prime members have free access to both seasons of this award winning children's show. Created by Drew Hodges (Community, Saturday Night Live), this show is aimed at teaching through the art of play.

They will be releasing a Spring Special, 'Spring-a-ling Surprise' on April 4th. The whole gang is assisting Bloom the Bunny find his missing eggs. Bloom plans to plant them for a big Spring surprise! Along the way Fig, main character portrayed by a blue fox, also sees signs of the changing season.

Tumble Leaf's Amazon listing says this about the show,

Tumble Leaf is a series aimed at preschoolers, set in a whimsical land where a small blue fox named Fig plays each day and discovers adventure, friendship and love around every bend in the path. Children will be enriched by these narratives that promote play, the fun of learning and understanding the world around them.

Check out the Tumble Leaf Promo video below and click here to watch on Amazon!!!

Image By John Rasimus - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

Wes Anderson is returning to the world of stop-motion with 'Isle of Dogs.' Marking an 8 year departure since his last stop-mo film, 'Fantastic Mr. Fox.' Anderson took a break from animating this weekend to talk to Arte Cinema about his current work, how different actors approach filming and why he became interested in stop-motion animation in the first place.

Anderson mentions how certain actors like to know every tiny detail about their character (Jeff Goldblum) while others prefer no direction at all and want to do everything with one take (Gene Hackman). He also goes on to talk about how Ralph Fiennes likes to do many takes. Anderson cites Harryhausen's work with Dynamation and the classic Rankin-Bass stop-motion animated Christmas specials as main influences in the realm of stop-motion. 

Check out the hour long session by watching the video below.

Jared Jacobs, of Boise, ID used legos and the art of stop motion to re-create Villanova's 2016 March Madness win. Jared's daughter, Jovie was born at the beginning of March Madness and the two have bonded every year since. What's amazing is that Jared created this as a birthday present for Jovie this year. Stop-motion is labor intensive and takes quite a bit of time. Clearly the love this father has for his little girl is strong. Jared chatted with ABC News and noted that it took nearly 40 hours of work to create this animation. Watch the video he posted to his Instagram page below and hop on over to the read the full ABC News article here.

My oldest daughter was born right at the beginning of March Madness. I remember watching non-stop basketball in the hospital and the first few days of bringing her home. Maybe that's part of the reason her and I have shared a special bond when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. Last year she picked @novambb to win the whole thing and I picked @unc_basketball I'll never forget watching her reaction to the final 10 seconds of that game. This year for her birthday I wanted to do something special for it. So I told her I was going to make a Lego re-enactment video dedicated to her. Happy Birthday Jovie! I hope this year is as magical as last year.

A post shared by Jared Jacobs (@goldyeller) on Mar 8, 2017 at 4:07am PST

Originally created by Tove Jansson, Moomins was a 9 book series between 1945 and 1970. These hippo-like fairy tale creatures were a carefree and adventurous family that resembled many of those closest to Tove. But they are preparing for a possible upgrade. Read more about the background of the Moomin story line here.

Image from Wikipedia page

Moomins went on to star in their own stop-motion animated TV series in the 80s and 2D series in the 90s which spawned another following of loyal fans. There is now an Indiegogo campaign to bring these characters to life in yet another media format, CGI. Visit the Indiegogo page to help support these lovable characters and watch the pitch video below!!! 

Festival Stop Motion Montreal is looking for entries for their annual stop-motion animation festival to be held September 15-17th, 2017. Entries are due by June 30th, so get working on your masterpiece! To find out more about this competition read below or visit the Festival Stop Motion Montreal website.

Photo from Stopmotionmotreal.com

Read about this festival and then check out their promo video below!

'Festival Stop Motion Montreal is the world's first festival dedicated to showcasing films animated exclusively using stop motion techniques.

With its use in television and feature films, stop-motion animation has experienced a resurgence over the pass few years. Despite this, getting their work screened can still be a huge struggle for many artists. Festival Stop Motion Montréal is working to change that.

Created in 2009 by Érik Goulet, a stop motion animation teacher at Concordia University, the Festival is first created under the name of Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival (MSMFF). The event is since organized around the following goals:

The Festival gathers professionals and independent creators alike as well as enthusiasts and fans of all ages for a truly unique cinematic experience. We invite you to consult our Activities page to view our full program of activities.'

From Stopmotionmontreal.com

Uploaded by YouTuber Festival Stop Motion Montreal

Developed by the Adult Swim creative team and produced by Stoopid Buddy Stoodios these two all new commercials for insurance giant, Progressive, showcase the effective use of stop-motion in advertising with Air Flow and Hustlin' Flo. See how Flo puts competing insurance agents in their place with her basketball skills and ability to drop a lyrical beat.

Flo and her competitive counterparts have become animated to advertise Progressive's Name Your Price Tool. Flo showcases her basketball skills in Air Flo with a sick dunk that sends her to the stratosphere. Then in Hustlin' Flo we see her drop the mic after a lyrical burn so sweet, a street mime is brought to words. Progressive is branching away from it's regular tried and true media messages in this partnership to appeal to younger audiences and fans of the Adult Swim Robot Chicken series. Air Flo first previewed during NBA All-Star Weekend to tease audiences, but both spots went full public view on Adult Swim, Cartoon Network and all of Progressive's media channels yesterday. Check out the commercials below and enjoy stop-motion in main stream advertising!

Check out T Brand Studio's 2017 Sizzle video 

That's right T Brand Studio, the brand marketing unit of The New York Times, could be looking for you! They have released a video in search of animators to help tell stories in the world of advertising. Watch the video, read below to hear more about this project from tbrandstudio.com and if this sounds like something for you, click here to apply now!!

'In 2015, T Brand Studio put out a call to discover the best up-and-coming filmmaking talent from around the world. The goal? To match novel, new talents with T Brand Studio’s advertising partners. Since then, the 2015 Selects have worked on over 20 films with us, creating industry leading, award-winning content along the way.

Now, T Brand is putting out a new call for animators. We're looking for stop motion geniuses, claymation kings and queens, 2D animation wizards and motion graphic masters. No style is out of the running! If you’re using animation to tell stories in exciting, innovative and highly visual ways, we want to get to know you and your work.

T Brand will choose five animators to join The Selects for 2017. This group will have an opportunity to partner with T Brand’s award-winning video team to generate creative ideas and make animated videos for premier advertising clients. The Selects also will be featured in a branded post on nytimes.com and announced at The New York Times’s NewFronts presentation in May 2017.'

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By The chain of ownership of RKO properties after its demise in 1959 is unclear, however, whomever owned distribution rights to RKO properties in 1975 is presumed to have been the author of all press-materials promoting the screening of King Kong in theatres that year. - eBay item photo front photo back, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20328014

On this date (March 2nd) back in 1933 the film 'King Kong' debut at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. The movie received tons of acclaim for Willis O'Brien's work using then ground breaking stop-motion techniques. Rotten Tomatoes lists this movie as the greatest horror film of all time and it is ranked as the 20th greatest movie of all time. Stop-motion great Ray Harryhausen became inspired by this film to launch his own interest this style of animation as an art form. Harryhausen later went on to create classic works of stop-motion art throughout his career. His most memorable works include the animation on Mighty Joe Young (1949), with his mentor Willis H. O'Brien, which won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects; The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), his first color film; and Jason and the Argonauts (1963), featuring a famous sword fight with seven skeleton warriors. His last film was Clash of the Titans (1981), after which he retired.

We are very glad King Kong was released 84 years ago today and NOW YOU KNOW!

Image from Spellebrity.com Website

The Scripps National Spelling Bee, presented by Kindle, is giving the opportunity for students to earn a trip to the national finals and they don't even have to spell! Spellebrity is a contest for those interested in vocabulary, reading and spelling to submit a video and punch their ticket to Washington, D.C. The top 5 finalists will get to attend the National Finals where Scripps National Spelling Bee participants will vote for a winner. Champion will be announced during 2017 Bee Week. The great part is that it was free and some of the entires have used stop-motion in their videos!

Below is a little more information about the competition and then click the link to view the video submissions from the top 10 finalists. Vote for your favorite (maybe stop-motion related) and help make someones dreams comes true.

"The competition is an opportunity for individuals or teams of up to four people to brainstorm, film and edit a video of up to five minutes in length that inspires other students to want to read. Five Finalist teams will win expenses-paid trips to the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee near Washington, D.C., from May 28 — June 2. The Spellebrity Video Contest, presented by Kindle, is administered by the Scripps National Spelling Bee. We believe that when you kindle the love of reading, great spelling and vocabulary will follow!"

- See more at: https://spellebrity.skild.com/skild2/spellebrity/viewEntryVoting.action#close