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131-656: Pleasant Company was founded in 1986 by Pleasant Rowland in Middleton, Wisconsin, and its products were originally purchasable by mail order only. In 1998, Pleasant Company became a subsidiary of Mattel after Mattel purchased the company for $ 700 million. The company has been awarded the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award eight times and was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2021. The Historical Characters line of 18-inch dolls, which were derived from

262-473: A Guinea for which Bryant & May would supply soldiers with sufficient matches. No archival records are known that could proof that the film was indeed created in 1899 during the beginning of the Second Boer War . Others place it at 1914, during the beginning of World War I . Cooper created more Animated Matches scenes in the same setting. These are believed to also have been produced in 1899, while

393-597: A schoolteacher in several states. She was an on-air reporter and anchor for KGO-TV , the San Francisco ABC affiliate, from 1968 to 1971. While on assignment, Rowland met a representative of Boston Educational Research, an educational publishing company. She left the news industry to work as director of product development at the publishing company. She was involved in writing and publishing children's textbooks in Boston, Massachusetts from 1971 to 1978. Rowland also published

524-664: A 1770s girl living during the American Revolution in Williamsburg, Virginia . They continued to produce more books, clothing (for dolls and children), dollhouses, children's furniture, and more. Rowland described the American Girl novels as "[celebrating] family, hard work, honesty, courage, reliability and responsibility." The company began producing the American Girl magazine in 1992. In 2002, Rowland described her belief in

655-670: A Lesson, (doll name's) Surprise, Happy Birthday (doll name), (doll name) Saves the Day, Changes for (doll name). Some of the American Girl Dolls also have Best Friend books which are books following the storyline of the best friend of one of the American Girl Dolls – a spinoff to the original series. Examples of these include Nellie's Promise by Valerie Tripp (2004), Very Funny, Elizabeth by Valerie Tripp (2005), and Brave Emily by Valerie Tripp (2006). In 2004, American Girl teamed up with Julia Roberts 's Red Om production company to create

786-693: A Mattel board member and as president of American Girl. In 2001, Rowland purchased retailer MacKenzie-Childs , based in Aurora, NY, from Victoria MacKenzie-Childs and Richard MacKenzie-Childs. After Rowland restructured the company's management team in 2006, MacKenzie-Childs became profitable. In 2008, Rowland sold MacKenzie-Childs to the part owners of Twin Lakes Capital Lee Feldman and Howard Cohen. To support research into early reading instruction, and update and distribute The Superkids Reading Program she developed at Addison-Wesley, Rowland founded

917-473: A big impression in Paris, where it was released as L'hôtel hanté: fantasmagorie épouvantable . When Gaumont bought a copy to further distribute the film, it was carefully studied by some of their filmmakers to find out how it was made. Reportedly it was newcomer Émile Cohl who unraveled the mystery. Not long after, Cohl released his first film, Japon de fantaisie (June 1907), featuring his own imaginative use of

1048-641: A boycott of the brand. American Girl Doll News continued to show support for Kira, publishing an article titled "Why Kira's Aunts Mean The World To Me", which discusses the joy of admin Sydney Satalino to see representation. American Girl Dolls were created to provide young girls with role models that were connected to historical events. American Girl Dolls and their stories are written with the mission of encouraging each child to "follow their inner star." The author says that, "we take pride and care in helping girls become their very best today, so they'll grow up to be

1179-653: A business decision, as they decided to "move away from the character-friend strategy within the line". The company has also drawn criticism for its recent focus on the contemporary line, specifically the Girl of the Year characters and their backstory, to which was viewed as lacking depth and more critical issues in comparison to the Historical/BeForever characters' backstories. My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic series creator Lauren Faust also expressed her concern and criticism of

1310-491: A combination of the fantascope and Wheatstone's stereoscope . Plateau thought the construction of a sequential set of stereoscopic image pairs would be the more difficult part of the plan than adapting two copies of his improved fantascope to be fitted with a stereoscope. Wheatstone had suggested using photographs on paper of a solid object, for instance a statuette. Plateau concluded that for this purpose 16 plaster models could be made with 16 regular modifications. He believed such

1441-596: A feature animated film with a technique other than cel animation was produced in the US. The first was the stop motion adaptation of 19th century composer Engelbert Humperdinck 's opera Hänsel und Gretel as Hansel and Gretel: An Opera Fantasy . In 1955, Karel Zeman made his first feature film Journey to the Beginning of Time inspired by Jules Verne , featuring stop motion animation of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. Art Clokey started his adventures in clay with

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1572-546: A freeform clay short film called Gumbasia (1955), which shortly thereafter propelled him into the production of his more structured TV series Gumby (1955–1989), with the iconic titular character. In partnership with the United Lutheran Church in America , he also produced Davey and Goliath (1960–2004). The theatrical feature Gumby: The Movie (1992, released in 1995) was a box-office bomb . On 22 November 1959,

1703-412: A lack of recognition of injustices, maintaining that all Americans share the same privileges regardless of race or ethnicity. Kaya'aton'my, a Nez Perce character set in 1764, has a story that takes place before American colonization which has been criticized for avoiding the issue of colonialism through pre-Western contact settings. American Girl worked with a Nez Perce advisory board in creating Kaya;

1834-573: A large close-up view of a table being set by itself baffled viewers; there were no visible wires or other noticeable well-known tricks. This inspired other filmmakers, including French animator Émile Cohl and Segundo de Chomón. De Chomón would release the similar The House of Ghosts ( La maison ensorcelée ) and Hôtel électrique in 1908, with the latter also containing some very early pixelation. The Humpty Dumpty Circus (1908, considered lost) by Blackton and his British-American Vitagraph partner Albert E. Smith showed an animated performance of

1965-450: A live-action feature with Lindsey Anderson Beer serving as the screenwriter and producer. American Girl Place is a brick-and-mortar store selling American Girl dolls, clothes, and accessories. The first store, the 35,000 square-foot American Girl Place, designed by Nancye Green of Donovan/Green, debuted in Chicago, Illinois, in 1998. The original American Girl Place on Chicago Avenue also had

2096-399: A method of sticking needles in a stroboscopic disc so that it looked like one needle was being pushed in and out of the cardboard when animated. He realized that this method provided basically endless possibilities to make different 3D animations. He then introduced two methods to animate stereoscopic pairs of images, one was basically a stereo viewer using two stroboscopic discs and the other

2227-430: A post from brand strategist Adam Padilla. Shortly after, American Girl issued a statement on Twitter saying that they had no intention to censor the parody. In February 2017 the company announced that they were changing the certain doll's bodies to incorporate permanently stitched panties . Public reaction to the change—the first since the transition to flesh-colored bodies in 1991—was overwhelmingly negative, as fans of

2358-767: A presentation of the complete dance with a home cinema projector. Later on, he bought a movie camera and between 1906 and 1909 he made many short films, including puppet animations. As a dancer and choreographer, Shiryaev had a special talent to create motion in his animated films. According to animator Peter Lord his work was decades ahead of its time. Part of Shiryaev's animation work is featured in Viktor Bocharov's documentary Alexander Shiryaev: A Belated Premiere (2003). Polish-Russian Ladislas Starevich (1882–1965), started his film career around 1909 in Kaunas filming live insects. He wanted to document rutting stag beetles , but

2489-521: A press statement, Rowland wrote: “The disparity in access to entrepreneurial opportunity in Dane County is extreme, and unfortunately has been exacerbated by the pandemic,” Rowland wrote in a press statement. “I am inspired by the Urban League’s vision and pleased that our investment can help bring that vision to life.” Stop-motion animation Stop motion (also known as stop frame animation )

2620-527: A privately funded project, these gifts enabled the Overture Center to be built with high-quality materials like travertine floors, custom-dyed carpeting, and historically accurate light fixtures. "The arts are for everybody," Rowland said. "It's one way of bridging all the gaps, and all the voids, and all the tensions in a community, and I think it's important that we make sure that it's available and accessible to everyone in this community." Rowland supported

2751-439: A project would take much time and careful effort, but would be well worth it because of the expected marvelous results. The plan was never executed, possibly because Plateau was almost completely blind by this time. In 1852, Jules Duboscq patented a "Stéréoscope-fantascope ou Bïoscope" (or abbreviated as stéréofantascope) stroboscopic disc . The only known extant disc contains stereoscopic photograph pairs of different phases of

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2882-452: A release date of 1908 has also been given. The 1908 Animated Matches film by Émile Cohl may have caused more confusion about the release dates of Cooper's matchstick animations. It also raises the question whether Cohl may have been inspired by Melbourne-Cooper or vice versa. Melbourne-Cooper's lost films Dolly’s Toys (1901) and The Enchanted Toymaker (1904) may have included stop-motion animation. Dreams of Toyland (1908) features

3013-882: A restaurant and 150-seat theater. It was followed by stores in New York City. One of the services the stores provide is a doll hair salon where dolls can get their ears pierced and their nails done. The stores also provide a doll hospital service where customers can bring in their doll for repair. Pretend "hearing aids" are also available to be added on for 18-inch dolls. In May 2014, American Girl opened several new stores in Toronto, Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada in partnership with Indigo Books and Music . All American Girl shops in Indigo stores were permanently closed in July 2023. In 2015,

3144-415: A scene with many animated toys that lasts approximately three and a half minutes. As a means to plan his performances, ballet dancer and choreographer Alexander Shiryaev started making approximately 20- to 25-centimeter-tall puppets out of papier-mâché on poseable wire frames. He then sketched all the sequential movements on paper. When he arranged these vertically on a long strip, it was possible to give

3275-428: A second meaning that is unrelated to animation or cinema: "a device for automatically stopping a machine or engine when something has gone wrong". Before the advent of chronophotography in 1878, a small number of picture sequences were photographed with subjects in separate poses. These can now be regarded as a form of stop motion or pixilation, but very few results were meant to be animated. Until celluloid film base

3406-519: A sitting old lady. American film pioneer Edwin S. Porter filmed a single-shot "lightning sculpting" film with a baker molding faces from a patch of dough in Fun in a Bakery Shop (1902), considered as foreshadowing of clay animation. In 1905, Porter showed animated letters and very simple cutout animation of two hands in the intertitles in How Jones Lost His Roll . Porter experimented with

3537-560: A six-book series from the perspective of a girl living in that period. The company would go on to produce dolls, books, and historically accurate accessories (now known as the Historical Characters .) Rowland described the American Girl dolls as "chocolate cake with vitamins": incorporating imagination, play, and history. According to several interviews, Rowland was inspired to create the American Girls Collection during

3668-476: A small bit of crude stop-motion animation in his trick film Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906). The "Teddy" Bears (2 March 1907), made in collaboration with Wallace McCutcheon Sr. , mainly shows people in bear costumes, but the short film also features a short stop-motion segment with small teddy bears. On 15 February 1908, Porter released the trick film A Sculptor's Welsh Rabbit Dream that featured clay molding itself into three complete busts. No copy of

3799-667: A string of Academy Award for Best Animated Short Films , including Rhythm in the Ranks (1941), Tulips Shall Grow (1942), Jasper and the Haunted House (1942), the Dr. Seuss penned The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins (1943) and And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street (1944), Jasper and the Beanstalk (1945), John Henry and the Inky-Poo (1946), Jasper in a Jam (1946), and Tubby

3930-580: A thank you party for Rowland in recognition and appreciation of her contributions to the town of Aurora. "In my heart I knew you were all there," Rowland said. “I just didn't know you were so many.” As of 2018, Rowland and the Aurora Foundation have restored 15 buildings in the village of Aurora. Frautschi and Rowland started the Overture Foundation in 1996. With the sale of Pleasant Company to Mattel, Frautschi's retirement from Webcrafters, and

4061-435: A trip to Colonial Williamsburg , where she noticed there was a significant void in the toy market for younger-aged dolls and saw an opportunity to provide an alternative to baby and adult dolls. Although the books are written for girls who are at least eight years old, they endeavor to cover significant topics such as child labor , child abuse , poverty , racism , slavery , animal abuse and war in appropriate manners for

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4192-474: A vacation in Colonial Williamsburg in 1984. “I remember sitting on a bench in the shade, reflecting on what a poor job schools do of teaching history, and how sad it was that more kids couldn't visit this fabulous classroom of living history," Rowland said. "Was there some way I could bring history alive for them, the way Williamsburg had for me?” Rowland would also recall being struck by the project as

4323-637: A year later. Although the films and her technique received much attention of the press, it seems she did not continue making films after she returned to New York from managing a YMCA in Paris around 1918. None of her films have yet surfaced, but the extant magazine articles have provided several stills and approximately 20 poorly printed frames from two film strips. By 1920 Starewicz had settled in Paris, and started making new stop motion films. Dans les Griffes de L'araignée (finished 1920, released 1924) featured detailed hand-made insect puppets that could convey facial expressions with moving lips and eyelids. One of

4454-548: Is Snip and Snap (1960-1961) by John Halas in collaboration with Danish paper sculptor Thok Søndergaard (Thoki Yenn), featuring dog Snap, cut from a sheet of paper by pair of scissors Snip. Apart from their cutout animation series, British studio Smallfilms ( Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate ) produced several stop motion series with puppets, beginning with Pingwings (1961-1965) featuring penguin-like birds knitted by Peter's wife Joan and filmed on their farm (where most of their productions were filmed in an unused barn). It

4585-619: Is Lila Monetti. Listed below are the dolls who have been Girl of the Year from 2001 to 2024. In 2019, American Girl launched the Collector Doll Series. The first doll was the Holiday Collector doll in partnership with Swarovski of which three were produced. In 2020, American Girl again partnered with Swarovski and released three collector dolls; the Sweet as Rose , Boho Chic , and Fuchsia Feathers collector dolls. Only one of each doll

4716-418: Is also incomplete and often insufficient to properly date all extant films or even identify them if original titles are missing. Possible stop motion in lost films is even harder to trace. The principles of animation and other special effects were mostly kept a secret, not only to prevent use of such techniques by competitors, but also to keep audiences interested in the mystery of the magic tricks. Stop motion

4847-569: Is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames is played back. Any kind of object can thus be animated, but puppets with movable joints ( puppet animation ) or plasticine figures (clay animation or claymation ) are most commonly used. Puppets, models or clay figures built around an armature are used in model animation . Stop motion with live actors

4978-425: Is closely related to the stop trick , in which the camera is temporarily stopped during the recording of a scene to create a change before filming is continued (or for which the cause of the change is edited out of the film). In the resulting film, the change will be sudden and a logical cause of the change will be mysteriously absent or replaced with a fake cause that is suggested in the scene. The oldest known example

5109-413: Is interested in photography and making stop motion videos. In December 2019, there was a report indicating declining sales for brand. Following four years of declining sales at Mattel, American Girls sales rose 13% in the fourth quarter of 2020. Following Mattel's commitment to diversity, growing calls from consumers to include more racial diversity in the brand, and the 2020 racial justice protests in

5240-489: Is of split Hawaiian and European ancestry, so American Girl consulted with Nicholson, a woman with the same heritage, as part of an effort to share more inclusive perspectives and authentic stories with their audience. The 2021 Girl of the Year, Kira Bailey, has a storyline that "focuses on her journey to Australia with her mom, where she plans to work at an animal sanctuary" which is owned by her married aunts Mamie and Lynette. The conservative group One Million Moms called for

5371-402: Is often referred to as pixilation . Stop motion of flat materials such as paper, fabrics or photographs is usually called cutout animation . The term "stop motion", relating to the animation technique, is often spelled with a hyphen as "stop-motion"—either standalone or as a compound modifier . Both orthographical variants, with and without the hyphen, are correct, but the hyphenated one has

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5502-529: Is part-time or seasonal. ...Our local government failed to require Environmental Impact Studies or Section 106 Reviews for her projects, and many negative results arose from her segmented development: destruction of historic architecture, devastation of archeological sites, loss of public recreational space, elimination of local businesses, loss of parking space, development of dangerous traffic patterns, obliteration of local gathering places, corrosion of community identity, etc. In January 2006, local supporters threw

5633-477: Is used for the beheading in Edison Manufacturing Company 's 1895 film The Execution of Mary Stuart . The technique of stop motion can be interpreted as repeatedly applying the stop trick. In 1917, clay animation pioneer Helena Smith-Dayton referred to the principle behind her work as "stop action", a synonym of "stop motion". French trick film pioneer Georges Méliès claimed to have invented

5764-466: The 1862 International Exhibition in London. Desvignes "employed models, insects and other objects, instead of pictures, with perfect success". In 1874, Jules Janssen made several practice discs for the recording of the passage of Venus with his series Passage de Vénus with his photographic revolver . He used a model of the planet and a light source standing in for the sun. While actual recordings of

5895-510: The American Civil War . The development of the Addy doll was deliberate and, at times, contentious. To balance the fine lines between marketability, historical accuracy, and cultural sensitivity, Rowland and the board had extensive discussions about the appearance of the doll and her accompanying story with the author, Connie Porter , and the advisory panel. Melodye Rosales, the illustrator for

6026-667: The Chicago Botanic Gardens with a $ 5 million gift to establish Evening Island in 1999, the second largest of the Botanic Garden islands. She dedicated the gift and the project to her father, Edward Thiele. At the time, this donation was the largest private gift the Chicago Botanic Gardens had received. In 2019, Rowland pledged $ 20 million to build the Madison Youth Arts Center (MYArts) Opened in 2021,

6157-513: The Children's Magazine Guide . Rowland created a comprehensive language-arts program called Beginning to Read, Write, and Listen . The program was informally known as the "letterbooks" and designed for kindergarten and first-grade students. "Based on [ Beginning to Read, Write, and Listen's ] success, Addison-Wesley , another school publisher, approached me about writing a basal reading and language arts program,” Rowland explained. Rowland developed

6288-530: The Historical Characters line dubbed as BeForever was launched in August 2014, complete with redesigned outfits, a two-volume compilation of previously released books, and a " Journey Book " for each character, with players taking the role of a present-day girl who found her way to the past and met up with one of the Historical girls. The line also coincided with the relaunch of Samantha Parkington , whose collection

6419-608: The Preservation League of New York state joined the suit because of concerns that local government was not paying enough attention to state laws requiring thorough review of projects in historic districts. The New York State Supreme Court ruled against the Aurora Coalition and allowed the renovation of the Aurora Inn to proceed. The Appeals Court allowed the lower court's decision to stand. The Aurora Foundation redeveloped

6550-635: The "two most significant elements" in the creation of their stories is authentic specificity and universality. The Vice President of Marketing for American Girl has said that "the doll industry has a very heavy responsibility in reflecting what is true about our society". Valerie Tripp, author of many of the books in the American Girl series, says that her goal is to teach children to "challenge assumptions" and to teach them tolerance and compassion towards everyone; she promotes optimism and "cheerful skepticism" rather than "anger, resentment, bitterness, and jealousy." Some critics have argued that these narratives lead to

6681-603: The 10-minute The Beautiful Leukanida (Прекрасная Люканида, или Война усачей с рогачами) (March 1912), the two-minute Happy Scenes from Animal Life (Веселые сценки из жизни животных), the 12-minute The Cameraman's Revenge (Прекрасная Люканида, или Война усачей с рогачами, October 1912) and the 5-minute The Grasshopper and the Ant (Стрекоза и муравей, 1913). Reportedly many viewers were impressed with how much could be achieved with trained insects, or at least wondered what tricks could have been used, since few people were familiar with

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6812-466: The 18-inch dolls made by Götz in West Germany (known as Germany from October 1990) during the late 1980s to the 1990s, were initially the main focus of Pleasant Company, founded by Pleasant Rowland in 1986. This product line aims to teach aspects of American history through a six-book series from the perspective of a girl living in that time period. Rowland came up with the idea after she returned from

6943-605: The 1850s Minnesota Territory ; Samantha Parkington from the Progressive Era ; and Molly McIntire, a character living during World War II . Initially, the dolls and their accessories were only available via mail-order catalog. The first manufacturing and distribution center was in a warehouse in Madison, Wisconsin, later moving their corporate offices to Middleton, Wisconsin . In the first two years of Pleasant Company, sales grew from $ 1.7 million to $ 7.6 million worth of product. In

7074-565: The 1860s. In 2001, Rowland partnered with her alma mater, Wells College, and founded the Aurora Foundation to manage and renovate various college-owned buildings and businesses in Aurora such as the Aurora Inn and E.B. Morgan House . The Aurora Inn, built in 1833 by the co-founder of The New York Times, is part of the Aurora Village–Wells College Historic District and was deeded to Wells College in 1943. There

7205-582: The Addison-Wesley Reading Program until the project was shelved in 1981. Rowland met her future husband, W. Jerome "Jerry" Frautschi, in Madison in November 1976. Rowland was in town for a press check on the first printing of her language-arts program at Webcrafters, a family-owned printing firm. Jerry's brother, John Frautschi, succeeded their father as president of Webcrafter in 1970. (Webcrafters

7336-570: The American Girl Podcast Network was launched. Pleasant Rowland Pleasant T. Rowland (born Pleasant Williams Thiele ; March 8, 1941) is an American educator, reporter, writer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Rowland is best known for creating the American Girl brand. Rowland is known for her philanthropic work in the arts in Madison, Wisconsin and her efforts to redevelop historic properties in Aurora, New York . Rowland

7467-718: The Girl of the Year doll for that respective year. The series began with An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong and was followed by McKenna Shoots for the Stars (2012), Saige Paints the Sky (2013), Isabelle Dances Into the Spotlight (2014), Grace Stirs Up Success (2015), and Lea To The Rescue (2016). In October 2016, American Girl began releasing new films on the Amazon Prime Video streaming service, beginning with An American Girl Story - Melody 1963: Love Has to Win . This

7598-638: The Innerstar University website was shut down. The launch was simultaneous with Shine on Now, a fund-raising effort for Kids In Distressed Situations , National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions , National Wildlife Federation , and Save the Children charities. The company has also donated "almost $ 500,000" over several years to national non-profit homeless housing group HomeAid. These contributions are mainly through its Project Playhouse program. The company has drawn criticism for

7729-452: The MYArts building is intended to provide space for performing and visual youth arts groups. In a statement to Madison365, Rowland shared: “[I hope] that Madison Youth Arts Center will give all children in our community the opportunity to engage in creative expression in a place that affirms their value, honors their voices, and reflects their dreams.” In 2021, Rowland donated $ 10 million toward

7860-578: The Middle East had closed by 2020. As of March 2024, the company has eight remaining retail stores. The Los Angeles flagship store reopened in summer 2023 at Westfield Century City after moving from its original location in The Grove . In March 2024, the store formerly located at Galleria Dallas in Dallas moved to The Shops at Park Lane . The American Girl magazine was run by the American Girl company. It

7991-520: The Missing Link: A Prehistoric Tragedy (1915). Apart from the titular dinosaur and " missing link " ape, it featured several cavemen and an ostrich-like "desert quail", all relatively lifelike models made with clay. This led to a series of short animated comedies with a prehistoric theme for Edison Company, including Prehistoric Poultry (1916), R.F.D. 10,000 B.C. (1917), The Birth of a Flivver (1917) and Curious Pets of Our Ancestors (1917). O'Brien

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8122-521: The My American Girl contemporary doll line, on July 13, 2010. Access to the online world was via a Campus Guide, bundled with the purchase of a My American Girl doll, which contained an access code for the creation of a doll avatar that then navigated to various games, shops, and challenges offered on the virtual campus of Innerstar U. In 2015, when the My American Girl line was renamed Truly Me ,

8253-669: The Tuba (1947). Many of his puppetoon films were selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry . Willis O' Brien's expressive and emotionally convincing animation of the big ape in King Kong (1933) is widely regarded as a milestone in stop-motion animation and a highlight of Hollywood cinema in general. A 1940 promotional film for Autolite , an automotive parts supplier, featured stop-motion animation of its products marching past Autolite factories to

8384-644: The United States , American Girl released a new line of 18-inch dolls called World by Us . The dolls and their books promote messages of various social justice issues that are age-appropriate for the line's target audience and cover relevant subjects such as racism, immigration , and climate change . The line debuted in September 2021 with three dolls: Makena Williams, Maritza Ochoa, and Evette Peeters. The line also features doll outfits designed by Harlem's Fashion Row fashion designers . In 2021, American Girl rereleased

8515-430: The Year for 2005, was a dancer. Girls of Many Lands was released by American Girl in the holiday season of 2002. Each doll was 9 inches tall and represented a 12-year-old girl from a time in history; in addition, each doll came with an accompanying book. Along with specific ethnicities, the dolls were given a home country and time periods, such as 1592 England, 1711 France, 1846 Ethiopia, and more. Sculpted by Helen Kish,

8646-553: The Year, Gabriela McBride, who is portrayed as a dancer, artist, and poet. In 2005, residents of Pilsen (a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois ) criticized a passage in the book associated with the Latina-American doll Marisol, claiming it inaccurately depicted their neighborhood as dangerous. A senior public relations associate for American Girl responded to critics saying: "We feel that this brief passage has been taken out of context in

8777-636: The advisory board requested that her storyline take place prior to western settlement, when the culture of the Nez Perce tribe was flourishing. According to senior designer manager Heather Northrop, Kaya's face sculpt was crafted specifically for her according to the Nimiipuu's people's beliefs that baring teeth is considered to be impolite. Nanea, a character set in 1941, has a story based on Dorinda Makanaonalani Nicholson, author of Pearl Harbor Child: A Child's View of Pearl Harbor from Attack to Peace . Nanea's character

8908-429: The book." The 2009 limited-edition release of Gwen, an American Girl character experiencing homelessness, was also deemed as controversial. In May 2014, the company was met with criticism on social media over its decision to discontinue four characters from the historical collection, two of them, namely African-American Cécile Rey and Chinese-American Ivy Ling, who represented ethnic minorities. They defended their move as

9039-552: The classic, Götz-derived American Girl dolls. The line was released on June 23, 2016. The names of the Wellie Wishers are: Willa, Camille, Kendall, Emerson, Ashlyn, and Bryant. In February 2017, American Girl released a new line of 18-inch dolls called contemporary characters. The first doll in the line was Tenney Grant, a young aspiring country singer, and songwriter. Other dolls of the modern line include Logan, Tenney's bandmate and American Girl's first-ever boy doll, and Z Yang, who

9170-458: The community or intended for the people living in the town, but rather to encourage a wealthier clientele for tourism. Critics started a non-profit organization called the Aurora Coalition to "support historic integrity and economic autonomy." In opposition to these changes, the Aurora Coalition launched a lawsuit to stop the renovation of the Aurora Inn and the demolition of a neighboring grocery. The National Trust for Historic Preservation and

9301-727: The company announced that they were expanding operations in Mexico with two stores at El Palacio de Hierro 's Perisur and Interlomas in Mexico City , and a third in Polanco . All three Mexico stores closed in January 2018. In collaboration with Emirati shopping mall conglomerate Majid Al Futtaim Group , two American Girl stores opened in Dubai in 2017 along with one in Manama, Bahrain in 2018. All three stores in

9432-409: The construction of a new transplant clinic at UW Hospital . Rowland received a kidney transplant at the hospital in 2012. “I was blessed to live so close to a world-renowned transplant center," she said. “This is my gift to others who face the same challenges I did and to the world class transplant team at University Hospital." Rowland donated $ 1 million for Madison's Black Business Hub in 2021. In

9563-645: The creatures wouldn't cooperate or would even die under the bright lamps needed for filming. He solved the problem by using wire for the limbs of dried beetles and then animating them in stop motion. The resulting short film, presumably 1 minute long, was probably titled by the Latin name for the species: Lucanus Cervus (Жук-олень, 1910, considered lost). After moving to Moscow, Starevich continued animating dead insects, but now as characters in imaginative stories with much dramatic complexity. He garnered much attention and international acclaim with these short films, including

9694-591: The doll's characters and history have also provoked controversy. Some observers questioned why Addy, American Girl's first African-American historical character released in 1993, was portrayed first as a slave (in later stories Addy and her family gain their freedom after the Civil War ), while Cecile Rey, American Girl's second black historical character, was portrayed as a well-to-do black girl in New Orleans. In 2017, American Girl released their first African-American Girl of

9825-550: The dolls were meant for display only and were priced from $ 48 to $ 54. The doll line lasted until the Fall of 2005. Bitty Baby is a line of 15-inch baby dolls targeted to children aged three and older. They are cheaper than the 18-inch dolls and as of 2024, retail at $ 60 each. In 2013, American Girl Publishing released Bitty Baby books, picture books aimed at girls ages 3–6. The Bitty Twins line debuted in 2003 to represent slightly older toddlers and/or preschoolers. The Bitty Twins were

9956-1031: The earliest clay animation films was Modelling Extraordinary , which impressed audiences in 1912. The early Italian feature film Cabiria (1914) featured some stop motion techniques. Starewicz finished the first feature stop motion film Le Roman de Renard (The Tale of the Fox) in 1930, but problems with its soundtrack delayed its release. In 1937 it was released with a German soundtrack and in 1941 with its French soundtrack. Hungarian-American filmmaker George Pal developed his own stop motion technique of replacing wooden dolls (or parts of them) with similar figures displaying changed poses and/or expressions. He called it Pal-Doll and used it for his Puppetoons films since 1932. The particular replacement animation method itself also became better known as puppetoon . In Europe he mainly worked on promotional films for companies such as Philips . Later Pal gained much success in Hollywood with

10087-501: The expense of the dolls, which cost as much as $ 125 without accessories as of June 2024 and $ 161 for a doll, book, and basic accessories. Buyers can easily spend more than $ 600 for a doll, outfits, accessories, and lunch in the company's store in New York. One critique of the doll line is that due to the price tag and limited purchase locations, the dolls are often inaccessible to the communities they are intended to represent. Some aspects of

10218-480: The figures from a popular wooden toy set. Smith would later claim that this was "the first stop-motion picture in America". The inspiration would have come from seeing how puffs of smoke behaved in the interrupted recordings for a stop trick film they were making. Smith would have suggested to get a patent for the technique, but Blackton thought it wasn't that important. Smith's recollections are not considered to be very reliable. Blackton's The Haunted Hotel made

10349-563: The film Mighty Joe Young (1949). Harryhausen would go on to create many memorable stop motion effects for a string of successful fantasy films over the next three decades. These included The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955), Jason and the Argonauts (1963), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973) and Clash of the Titans (1981). It wasn't until 1954 before

10480-453: The film has yet been located. It was soon followed by the similar extant film The Sculptor's Nightmare (6 May 1908) by Wallace McCutcheon Sr. J. Stuart Blackton 's The Haunted Hotel (23 February 1907) featured a combination of live-action with practical special effects and stop motion animation of several objects, a puppet and a model of the haunted hotel. It was the first stop motion film to receive wide scale appreciation. Especially

10611-486: The first American Girl direct-to-video movie, Samantha: An American Girl Holiday . The film spawned a franchise that was followed by Felicity: An American Girl Adventure (2005), Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front (2006), and the theatrically released 2008 film Kit Kittredge: An American Girl , starring Abigail Breslin . In 2009, American Girl began releasing direct-to-video and television films based on

10742-484: The first episode of Unser Sandmänchen (Our Little Sandman) was broadcast on DFF (East German television) . The 10-minute daily bedtime show for young children features the title character as an animated puppet, and other puppets in different segments. A very similar Sandmänchen series, possibly conceived earlier, ran on West German television from 1 December 1959 until the German reunification in 1989. The East German show

10873-542: The first three Addy Walker American Girl books, described her relationship with Pleasant Company and Rowland as confrontational. Rosales claimed that "she was removed from the project because Pleasant Company wanted her to make the characters and their surroundings look more pleasant than they would have in reality." Rowland has described Rosales' dismissal as "a labor issue that cannot be discussed." The first specialized American Girl retail store opened in Chicago in 1998. Rowland later recalled: "The last important piece of

11004-518: The form of a parody advertisement for a fictional Girl of the Year character depicted as a personification of the " Karen " stereotype, wearing a track suit , bob haircut, and openly carrying a semi-automatic pistol while defiantly violating face mask guidelines mandated by the government due to the COVID-19 pandemic , provoked criticism from American Girl who took umbrage to the use of their name and trade dress , stating that they were "disgusted" by

11135-585: The franchise complained that it stifles customization and devalued a well-established brand "from heirloom quality to be passed down for generations to low-quality retail." The company reversed its decision in May 2017, and customers who bought a doll with permanent underwear were eligible for an exchange to have the dolls retrofitted with conventional torsos. Critics have discussed the issue of representation in American Girl Doll narratives. The company has stated that

11266-439: The historic character and attractiveness of the community and improving the local economy. The Aurora Coalition commented on Rowland's changes to the town on their website: Rowland promised to collaborate with the community to promote economic growth. Six years later, her promise is unfilled and Rowland remains inaccessible and unresponsive. Locally owned [businesses] were evicted. Few new jobs went to locals. Most LLC employment

11397-417: The importance of the whole package (of dolls, books, and accessories): I knew there was magic in the American Girl concept, but it was in the whole idea, not just part. I knew the books had to have stories so good that the reader would identify with and fall in love with the character. If she loved the character, she would want the doll. If she had the doll, she would want the clothes and accessories to play out

11528-402: The individuality and diversity of today's American girls." A wide variety of contemporary clothing, accessories, and furniture is also available, and there are regular releases and retirements to update this line. Each year, a Girl of the Year doll is released who has her own unique talent; for example, Mia St. Clair, the Girl of the Year for 2008, was an ice skater, and Marisol Luna, the Girl of

11659-448: The inn for lodging, dining, and events and completed renovations in 2003. During her speech at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Rowland remarked on how Wells College and the surrounding village were "reminders of the values and traditions of another, more tender time." Rowland donated $ 40 million to Wells College to revitalize Aurora’s downtown district and reverse declining enrollment. In press accounts, Rowland expressed her vision of enhancing

11790-533: The involvement of city planner George Austin, Frautschi and Rowland set out to help develop an arts district in Madison. Rowland and Frautschi gave multiple gifts totaling $ 205 million to cover the building costs of the Overture Center for the Arts , a performing arts center and art gallery, in 2004. (Frautschi is said to have financed the project with personal funds following the sale of his stock in American Girl.) As

11921-424: The journey of one American Girl Doll character. American Girl Dolls were created with the goal of educating young children on history, morals, and life lessons through the stories accompanied with each doll. The classic American Girl Doll books follow the journey of one of their historical characters and each series follows a standard structure through six books. This structure is: Meet (doll name), (doll name) Learns

12052-582: The line in a Twitter post, stating it "was once radically positive for girls before it was homogenized for money". The American Girl Place store in New York City was the center of a labor dispute with Actors' Equity Association (AEA). On August 3, 2006, 14 of the 18 adult actors at the store's now defunct theater went on strike together. AEA reached a two-year contract effective April 1, 2008. All American Girl Place theatres were subsequently closed in September of that year. In July 2020, an internet meme in

12183-441: The more than 300 short films produced between 1896 and 1915 by British film pioneer Arthur Melbourne-Cooper , an estimated 36 contained forms of animation. Based on later reports by Melbourne-Cooper and by his daughter Audrey Wadowska, some believe that Cooper's Matches: an Appeal was produced in 1899 and therefore the first stop-motion animation. The extant black-and-white film shows a matchstick figure writing an appeal to donate

12314-425: The motion of a machine. Due to the long exposure times necessary to capture an image with the photographic emulsions of the period, the sequence could not be recorded live and must have been assembled from separate photographs of the various positions of the machinery. In 1855, Johann Nepomuk Czermak published an article about his Stereophoroskop and other experiments aimed at stereoscopic moving images. He mentioned

12445-700: The nonprofit Rowland Reading Foundation in 2003. The reading program was purchased by education publisher Zaner-Bloser in 2015 and continues to be used in thousands of classrooms across the U.S. In September 2010, Rowland received an honorary doctorate from Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin. She has also received honorary degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Hartford . Rowland and her husband W. Jerome Frautschi are major philanthropists in Madison, Wisconsin . Frautschi and his family have been based in Madison since his grandfather, Swiss immigrant Christian Frautschi, came to Madison in

12576-914: The official selection of the 1946 Cannes Film Festival . The first Belgian animated feature was an adaptation of the Tintin comic The Crab with the Golden Claws (1947) with animated puppets. The first Czech animated feature was the package film The Czech Year (1947) with animated puppets by Jiří Trnka . The film won several awards at the Venice Film Festival and other international festivals. Trnka would make several more award-winning stop motion features including The Emperor's Nightingale (1949), Prince Bayaya (1950), Old Czech Legends (1953) or A Midsummer Night's Dream (1959). He also directed many short films and experimented with other forms of animation. Ray Harryhausen learned under O'Brien on

12707-451: The original business plan came into being with the building of American Girl Place... This would be the American Girl mecca, an extremely special environment with a store, a theater, a museum, and a restaurant." In the summer of 1998, Rowland sold Pleasant Company (now American Girl) to Mattel Inc. for $ 700 million. As a result of the transaction, Mattel appointed Rowland as vice chairman of Mattel's board. In July 2000, Rowland retired as

12838-548: The passage of Venus have not been located, some practice discs survived and the images of one were turned into a short animated film decades after the development of cinematography . In 1887, Étienne-Jules Marey created a large zoetrope with a series of plaster models based on his chronophotographs of birds in flight. It is estimated that 80 to 90 percent of all silent films are lost. Extant contemporary movie catalogs, reviews and other documentation can provide some details on lost films, but this kind of written documentation

12969-430: The past is superficial and inaccurate. In response to this, authors have pointed out that these books are meant for children and at most are meant to give them an idea of the "chronology of American history", introduce them to some key events, an understanding of historical change, and give them an understanding that people of different ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds have often been treated differently. In 2015,

13100-524: The practice of creating and uploading American Girl doll-based stop motion videos (AGSM for short) was featured in a news report for BBC News ' Trending site. Besides stop-motion animations and music videos set to popular music , the report covers recurring subject matters in said clips, such as cyberbullying and other social issues among children and teenagers, along with doll customization, photoshoots, and unboxing videos. Social media services such as Instagram and Facebook serve as platforms for fans of

13231-550: The same size as the Bitty Baby dolls. They were discontinued in June 2016. Hopscotch Hill School was released by American Girl in 2003. The dolls were 16 inches (41 cm) tall, came with jointed limbs and painted eyes, and had a slimmer overall body shape. They, along with the stories which came with the dolls written by Valerie Tripp, were aimed at elementary-age girls from four to six years old and were sold until 2006. A reboot of

13362-407: The secrets of stop motion animation. The Insects' Christmas (Рождество обитателей леса, 1913) featured other animated puppets, including Father Christmas and a frog. Starevich made several other stop motion films in the next two years, but mainly went on to direct live-action short and feature films before he fled from Russia in 1918. Willis O' Brien 's first stop motion film was The Dinosaur and

13493-407: The six original historical dolls for their 35th anniversary. The release included Felicity, Kirsten, Samantha, Addy, Josefina, and Molly. Girl of the Year is a line created by American Girl where it features one doll all year around. The doll has its accessories and merchandise and her own story. The first Girl of the Year was in the year 2001, which was Lindsey Bergman and the latest Girl of the Year

13624-526: The stop-motion technique. It was followed by the revolutionary hand-drawn Fantasmagorie (17 August 1908) and many more animated films by Cohl. Other notable stop-motion films by Cohl include Les allumettes animées (Animated Matches) (1908), and Mobilier fidèle (1910, in collaboration with Romeo Bosetti ). Mobilier fidèle is often confused with Bosetti's object animation tour de force Le garde-meubles automatique (The Automatic Moving Company) (1912). Both films feature furniture moving by itself. Of

13755-474: The stop-trick and popularized it by using it in many of his short films. He reportedly used stop-motion animation in 1899 to produce moving letterforms. Spanish filmmaker Segundo de Chomón (1871–1929) made many trick films in France for Pathé . He has often been compared to Georges Méliès as he also made many fantasy films with stop tricks and other illusions (helped by his wife, Julienne Mathieu ). By 1906 Chomón

13886-427: The stories. If she played out the stories, she would want more books. So nothing could disappoint. The product had to be right, down to the tiniest detail. According to Rowland, Pleasant Company was interested in "multiethnic representation in the product line" but hoped to become established financially before producing non-white dolls for their target customers. In 1993, the first African-American doll ( Addy Walker )

14017-518: The syndicated television series The New Adventures of Pinocchio (1960-1961). The Christmas TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has been telecasted annually since 1964 and has become one of the most beloved holiday specials in the United States. They made three theatrical feature films Willy McBean and His Magic Machine (1965), The Daydreamer (1966, stop motion / live-action) and Mad Monster Party? (1966, released in 1967), and

14148-516: The system that leads to gender discrimination and inequalities in the workplace. The books address feminism in the professional world through teamwork, leadership, and talent but critics dislike how the books provide limited resources to work through real life issues females face in the workplace such as imposter syndrome and workplace harassment. Historical Accuracy The books have been praised for teaching children about different time periods. However, some critics point out that this interpretation of

14279-446: The television special Ballad of Smokey the Bear (1966) before the collaboration ended. Rankin/Bass worked with other animators for more TV specials, with titles such as The Little Drummer Boy (1968), Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (1970) and Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971). British television has shown many stop motion series for young children since the 1960s. An early example

14410-534: The third year of operations, Rowland was diagnosed with breast cancer. "I cut the ribbon on the new warehouse in the morning and went into the hospital that afternoon to have surgery," Rowland said. "Throughout chemotherapy and radiation I never missed a day of work, and work is probably what saved me. Pleasant Company was on such a roll. I loved what I was doing, and after all my mind didn't have cancer. I just got through." Pleasant Company eventually began to produce more dolls, starting in 1991 with Felicity Merriman :

14541-585: The toy line, spawning a community called AGIG, or American Girl Instagram, who photograph their dolls and post their photos on the service. In 2019, the American Girls Podcast , a book-by-book exploration of the series, was launched. Co-hosted by historians Allison Horrocks and Mary Mahoney, each episode discusses one book from the series, contextualizing the story presented and making connections to elements of relevant pop culture. The podcast received positive attention from The New York Times . In May 2022,

14672-493: The tune of Franz Schubert 's Military March . An abbreviated version of this sequence was later used in television ads for Autolite, especially those on the 1950s CBS program Suspense , which Autolite sponsored. The first British animated feature was the stop motion instruction film Handling Ships (1945) by Halas and Batchelor for the British Admiralty . It was not meant for general cinemas, but did become part of

14803-571: The understanding and sensibilities of their young audiences. In 1995, Pleasant Company released a line of contemporary dolls called American Girl of Today . In 2006, the product line was renamed Just Like You ; it was changed again in 2010 to My American Girl , and in 2015 to Truly Me . This line has included over one hundred different dolls over the years. Each doll has a different combination of face mold, skin tone, eye color, hair color, length, texture, and/or style. American Girl states that this variety allows customers to choose dolls that "represent

14934-453: The vision of financier and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. , who helped finance the 18th-century historical reconstruction. Rowland worked with Valerie Tripp , a close friend and colleague from Addison-Wesley , to develop characters for the first line of dolls. Each character represented a different period of American history. The first three characters were Kirsten Larson, a Swedish immigrant who settled with her extended family in

15065-629: The war and stayed in China afterwards. Due to the scarcity of paint and film stock shortly after the war, Mochinaga decided to work with puppets and stop motion. His work helped popularize puppet animation in China, before he returned to Japan around 1953 where he continued working as animation director. In the 1960s, Mochinaga supervised the "Animagic" puppet animation for productions by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass ' Videocraft International, Ltd. (later called Rankin/Bass Productions , Inc.) and Dentsu , starting with

15196-432: The women who make a difference tomorrow." Readers have shared expectations that the stories portrayed in these books will reflect this message of feminism. Readers have also voiced disappointment in the way in which feminism specifically in relation to the professional world is addressed through the books. A critique of readers is that the brand offers empowerment through "girl power" and "self-determination" without addressing

15327-727: Was born in Chicago and grew up in Bannockburn , a suburb north of Chicago. She is the oldest of three sisters and a brother. Her sister, Barbara Whitney Carr, was the former president and CEO of the Chicago Botanic Gardens from 1995 to 2007. Her father was Edward M. Thiele, a Chicago advertising executive who was president of the Leo Burnett ad agency from 1961 to 1971. After graduating from Wells College in 1962, Rowland began teaching second-grade students at Mattapan Elementary in Massachusetts. From 1962 to 1968, she continued to work as

15458-446: Was continued on other German networks when DFF ended in 1991, and is one of the longest running animated series in the world. The theatrical feature Das Sandmännchen – Abenteuer im Traumland (2010) was fully animated with stop motion puppets. Japanese puppet animator Tadahito Mochinaga started out as assistant animator in short anime (propaganda) films Arichan (1941) and Momotarō no Umiwashi (1943). He fled to Manchukuo during

15589-463: Was discontinued in 2008. In June 2016, American Girl unveiled Wellie Wishers , a separate doll line similar to Hopscotch Hill School aimed at younger children and with a focus on nature and the outdoors, positioning it between Bitty Bab y and the BeForever / Girl of the Year / Truly Me dolls. As the name implies, dolls from the line wear Wellington (wellie) boots and have a body design distinct from

15720-500: Was established in 1888 and set the standard for the moving image, animation could only be presented via mechanisms such as the zoetrope . In 1849, Joseph Plateau published a note about improvements for his Fantascope (a.k.a. phénakisticope ). A new translucent variation had improved picture quality and could be viewed with both eyes, by several people at the same time. Plateau stated that the illusion could be advanced even further with an idea communicated to him by Charles Wheatstone :

15851-650: Was followed by Pogles' Wood (1965-1967), Clangers (1969-1972, 1974, revived in 2015), Bagpuss (1974) and Tottie: The Story of a Doll's House (1984). Czech surrealist filmmaker Jan Švankmajer 's released his short artistic films since 1964, which usually contain much experimental stop motion. He started to gain much international recognition in the 1980s. Since 1988 he has mostly been directing feature films which feature much more live action than stop motion. These include Alice , an adaptation of Lewis Carroll 's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland , and Faust ,

15982-558: Was followed by three more films: Maryellen 1955: Extraordinary Christmas that November, Ivy & Julie 1976: A Happy Balance in March 2017, and Corinne Tan in July 2023. In February 2019, it was reported that Mattel Films and MGM announced the development of a live-action children's movie based on the doll line. Following the success of the live-action Barbie film, in December 2023, Mattel Films partnered with Paramount Pictures on

16113-629: Was introduced into the American Girls Collection after extensive work with a seven-person advisory panel of African-American scholars. “We could have pushed the diversity button sooner,” Rowland said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “If I got hit by a truck tomorrow, I could die knowing that we made toy history. We made a black doll an object of status and desire for white children.” Addy's story follows her eventual escape from slavery in North Carolina to Philadelphia with her mother during

16244-526: Was later purchased by the CJK Group, Inc., in 2017.) During her business visit to Webcrafters, Frautschi served as Rowland's sales representative. Rowland and Frautschi were married in May 1977. In 1986, Rowland founded Pleasant Company to manufacture American Girl dolls. She had saved $ 1.2 million from textbook royalties and invested the majority of those savings into the project. The American Girl product line aimed to teach aspects of American history through

16375-416: Was mixed reception of Rowland's restoration and revitalization project. Wells' vice president of communications noted an increase in enrollment and recruitment of new faculty to Wells College, in addition to major structural improvements. Other residents of Aurora and alumnae of Wells College objected to the historical accuracy of the improvements and expressed concerns that these changes were not reflective of

16506-480: Was more or less similar to the later zoetrope . Czermak explained how suitable stereoscopic photographs could be made by recording a series of models, for instance to animate a growing pyramid. On 27 February 1860, Peter Hubert Desvignes received British patent no. 537 for 28 monocular and stereoscopic variations of cylindrical stroboscopic devices (much like the later zoetrope). Desvignes' Mimoscope , received an Honourable Mention "for ingenuity of construction" at

16637-566: Was produced, each of which had a gown that included 1,000 or more Swarovski crystals. In August 2023, American Girl released three Disney Princess dolls: Jasmine , Belle , and Rapunzel . In September, they released a toy soldier collector doll in partnership with FAO Schwarz , and in December, they released The Classic Barbie by American Girl collector doll. In February 2024, American Girl released three more Disney Princess dolls: Cinderella , Tiana , and Ariel . The American Girl books have many different variations; each book series shares

16768-559: Was recognized as a technique to create lifelike creatures for adventure films. O' Brien further pioneered the technique with animated dinosaur sequences for the live-action feature The Lost World (1925). New York artist Helena Smith Dayton , possibly the first female animator, had much success with her "Caricatypes" clay statuettes before she began experimenting with clay animation. Some of her first resulting short films were screened on 25 March 1917. She released an adaptation of William Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet approximately half

16899-621: Was started by the Pleasant Company in Middleton, Wisconsin in 1992, with the first issue dated November/December 1992. Aimed towards girls ages 8–14, the bimonthly magazine included articles, recipes, advice columns, fiction, arts and crafts, and activity ideas. American Girl announced in late 2018 that the January/February 2019 issue would be the magazine's last. American Girl launched Innerstar University, an online virtual world featuring

17030-491: Was then hired by producer Herbert M. Dawley to direct, create effects, co-write and co-star with him for The Ghost of Slumber Mountain (1918). The collaborative film combined live-action with animated dinosaur models in a 45-minute film, but after the premiere it was cut down to approximately 12 minutes. Dawley did not give O'Brien credits for the visual effects, and instead claimed the animation process as his own invention and even applied for patents. O'Brien's stop motion work

17161-609: Was using stop motion animation. Le théâtre de Bob (April 1906) features over three minutes of stop motion animation with dolls and objects to represent a fictional automated theatre owned by Bob, played by a live-action child actor. It is the oldest extant film with proper stop motion and a definite release date. Segundo de Chomón 's Sculpteur moderne was released on 31 January 1908 and features heaps of clay molding itself into detailed sculptures that are capable of minor movements. The final sculpture depicts an old woman and walks around before it's picked up, squashed and molded back into

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