Super Model Animation Films
There have been many model animation films over the years and this is not to be confused with the more used stop animation. Model animation is actually a form of stop motion animation but it is out there to push both humans and and animation together. Andthe best ones out there are?
King Kong 1933
It is a pretty well known fact that many directors including Peter Jackson got into the industry because of this film. The model is one of the most famous in the world and there is actually only one left from the film. It was actually inducted into the United States National Film Registry.
Song of Kong 1933
This was the immediate sequel to the smash hit King Kong and amazingly was released in the same year. (Couldn’t do that now) The creators knew that they were not going to be able to match the success of the original film so they tried to make it a bit more amusing which they did. This one still turned out to be a huge success and without these films it is possible the many Japanese films would not have existed.
James and the Giant Peach
This was of course the film that was based upon the 1961 novel by Roald Dahl. It was produced by Tim Burton (no surprise there if you look at the strangeness of the movie) and directed by Henry Selick. This is just one of those films that shows off how animation can so easily be put into real life instances. Although this film did seem to have a great number of good reviews it never made a profit.
Bonus Entry
The Nightmare Before Christmas
This one is stop motion which is why it is not included on the main list but I had to include it because in my opinion it is the best stop motion movie of all time and it made around $50 million on its first run and made even more the second time it was released under the Disney name this time rather than the Disney owned touchstone.
For real models check out plastic model kits and for a bit of fun look into RC cars or RC Planes.