Cut Out Animation!

Cutout animation is a technique for producing animations using flat characters, props and backgrounds cut from materials such as paper, card, stiff fabric or even photographs. The world's earliest known animated feature films were cutout animations (made in Argentina by Quirino Cristiani); as is the world's earliest surviving animated feature.

Today, cutout-style animation is frequently produced using computers, with scanned images or vector graphics taking the place of physically cut materials. The TV series South Park is a notable example (though first episodes were made with actual paper cutouts) as are Angela Anaconda and more recently, Charlie and Lola. South Park is now made with Maya and Corel Draw. One of the most famous animators still using traditional cutout animation today is Yuriy Norshteyn.