Every holiday has its traditions, but Christmas has countless different ways to celebrate. There are stockings to stuff, Christmas trees to decorate and cookies to leave for Santa, and that's only scratching the surface.
One of the best Christmas traditions is the old-timey stop-motion animated TV movies from decades past. Everyone has seen the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer special from 1964, and that's just one of many different classics. It's one of the quintessential warm-and-fuzzy Christmas moments that define the holiday season.
However, something that most people probably don't associate with Christmas is Doctor Who. Most people would likely think of England whenever the Doctor comes to mind, but Doctor Who actually has a long history with over-the-top Christmas specials. The studio-made specials are great in their own right, but the fan-made specials are the best of both the Doctor and stop-motion films.
Doctor Puppet, if you haven't heard of the show, is a fan recreation of the classic BBC sci-fi series. Customized stop-motion figures from all generations of the Doctor are made and used to create short episodes. So far, the team has released six standard episodes and two Christmas specials, all of which can be seen on YouTube. This year's upcoming Christmas special is going to be more ambitious project yet, but with ambition comes a hefty price tag. And that's where the IndiGoGo campaign comes into play.
Currently, the team has hit their goal of $15,000 in funding and production can begin. Thanks to the project's success, the team will now be able to hire live musicians to score the episode - a major step up in terms of production.
Considering how long stop-motion animation takes to create, it's amazing that the Doctor Puppet team is able to make the show in their spare time. Stop-motion can be a long and tedious task, what with photographing each and every single frame, but it's clear that the team loves their work. Even though the project didn't manage to hit its stretch goals, it's still wonderful to see a passion project like this meet its funding. Stop-motion is anything but easy, but it's clear that the team truly loves their hobby.
With the project funded, Doctor Puppet's new Christmas special isn't that far off. Barring any trouble during production, the team expects the Doctor Puppet 2014 Christmas Special to hit the web during the week before Christmas. For all of the details, check out the Doctor Puppet Indiegogo page.
Photo: Doctor Puppet
