See Creature Productions

See Creature Productions is an independent Canadian stop-motion animation studio based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 2011 by animation directors Dale Hayward and Sylvie Trouvé, it produces handcrafted animation for films, television, advertising, music videos, documentaries and cultural exhibitions. Its work combines physical materials and miniature environments with digital animation and post-production techniques.

The studio’s production capabilities span concept art, storyboarding, character design, puppet fabrication, miniature props and sets, animation and compositing. Its material vocabulary includes sculpted puppets, clay, paper and crocheted wool. Internal metal armatures, replacement facial animation, precision 3D printing and camera-control systems support performances built around the texture and movement of real objects. Projects can combine stop-motion with 2D animation and live action, while specialist visual effects work is undertaken with collaborators.

Film, television and commissioned work

Hayward and Trouvé directed the folkloric short Bone Mother (2018), produced by the National Film Board of Canada in association with See Creature. The founders also worked as stop-motion animators on the paper-based sequences of The Little Prince (2015), while Hayward contributed stop-motion direction to the claymation series Kiri and Lou. The studio’s wider work encompasses animated documentary sequences and music video production, extending its tactile approach across different forms of storytelling.

Commercial commissions include the handcrafted wool animation of CNESST’s Hanging by a Thread, alongside campaigns for brands including Nike, Hot Wheels, Chex, Tim Hortons, Keurig and Honda. The studio has also created animation for immersive exhibition settings, including a 360-degree centerpiece for A Bunch of Stuff: The Johnny Depp Experience in collaboration with TAIT and E.D. FILMS.

See Creature operates with a small core team that expands through project-specific crews of animators, fabricators and other craftspeople. Its history began as a creative partnership, followed by federal incorporation in 2024. The combination of commercial commissions, independent filmmaking and collaborative production remains central to its practice.