If you’ve seen 2009’s Coraline or 2012’s ParaNorman, then you know the kind of top-notch stop-motion animation work that Laika Entertainment can deliver. With their next feature, The Boxtrolls, they of course aim to set the bar higher.

While we can watch, enjoy, and appreciate a movie for what it is, not always do we really see what goes into making it. This is especially the case for stop-motion films, which require an unfathomable amount of work and detail to pull off successfully. With The Boxtrolls set to hit theaters this Friday, distributor Focus Features has unveiled a pair of new videos that will give you a greater appreciation of the art of stop-motion.

You can check them out below.

ParaNorman has been getting a lot of positive buzz lately, but just in case you don’t know that a stop-motion animated film about a misunderstood kid who can communicate with the dead is coming out tomorrow, Laika Studios is releasing one more trailer to remind you that there is one.

This is an Internet special trailer and it won’t be released anywhere else. Check it out below.

Putting together a full-length stop-motion animated feature is perhaps the most tedious thing to watch. Every movement has to be just right, it may be a long process, but it will all pay off in the end. So now a new featurette for ParaNorman shows just how important it is to get things right. Check out the video below.

The production process for a stop-motion animated feature is just amazing. Watching the ParaNorman animators piece together all the characters, design the set pieces, and make the puppets move is something that future filmmakers and animators will truly enjoy. But if you’re of the group that just loves these behind-the-scenes footage, then I suggest you watch the video below.

At the end of October, I was invited by Laika Entertainment to a sneak peek here in NYC of their upcoming 3D stop-motion animated feature Coraline. I got to see 30 minutes of the film, after which writer/director Henry Selick came out for an audience Q&A.

Soon after the screening, I got an email from the Coraline Team out in Portland, OR, telling me to be on the lookout for a package from them specially made for me with me in mind and that I will be one of 50 people slated to receive such an item — each being one of a kind.

This is a big deal for me, because I’m a great fan of the Coraline book, I love stop-motion, and c’mon, it’s Henry Selick, director of The Nightmare Before Christmas. There’s a reason I can’t stop writing about this project! Anyhow, so I couldn’t imagine what they’d be sending, but the other day it arrived — a handcrafted aged box with an oval plate that read “Handmade in Oregon – 14/50.” Inside the box was a weathered letter with a wax seal with a black button just like the ones used in the film. The letter explained why I was getting such a unique gift and a bit about how it was made. From what I can tell, from the few other people online I saw who’ve gotten their own box, most of the message is a standard form letter, but there’s one paragraph that specifically addresses the recipient. My paragraph has some nice things to say about Geeks of Doom (we’re artistic, hilarious, unconventional…), but probably the coolest thing it said was …

THAT’S WHY WE ADMIRE GEEKSOFDOOM – (GREATEST NAME EVER).

The theatrical trailer for the 3D stop-motion animated Coraline is now online.

Watch it here below! Also, the final theatrical poster is at right (click for large view).

Coraline was written and directed by Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, based on the book by Neil Gaiman and is the first movie to ever be filmed in 3D.

The young Coraline bored in her new home, goes searching around and finds a secret door that leads to an alternate version of her own life. At first, Coraline loves this other world, as it seems so much better than her own. On the other side, is an Other Mother and Other Father, who want her to stay there forever, and while at first she’s tempted, she soon realizes that there’s something wrong with this other place, but is it soon enough to escape back to her real home and family?