The local animation studio ShadowMachine did the stop motion animation work for “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” which won an Oscar this year. City Cast Portland talked to Alex Bulkley, co-founder of the studio, about this Portland artistic forté.
What do you think it is about Portland that's made it such a hub for animation?
“I think you can attribute it to a really strong artistic community. And the rain. People like to work inside on animation.”
Was stop motion something Guillermo del Toro requested? How did that decision come about, because I know your studio isn't just doing stop motion?
“Guillermo was pretty specific early on: this is really a story about a puppet. And what better way to tell a story about a puppet than using actual puppets? He wanted to lean into the cinematic virtues of what stop motion provides: handcrafted props, sets. Everything is meticulously built over long periods of time to become this magical execution of frame-by-frame photography.”
How was it working with him?
“He's a master filmmaker and has a very high bar of excellence. His vision, his voice, as a storyteller was really the wind in the sails for what I'd consider the best assembled crew in stop motion in the world.”
Check out the exhibit on "Guillermo del Toro: Crafting Pinocchio" at the Portland Art Museum.
