Unique hand-crafted props from Academy Award-nominated animated feature “ParaNorman” are to be auctioned beginning Friday, February 22, with the proceeds to benefit Variety – The Children’s Charity of Southern California.

Aardman Animations’ “Shaun the Sheep” makes his highly anticipated return to the UK small screen this month with 20 brand-new episodes and five new digital games.

Telegael launches a new stop motion studio, Beochan, to create the second season of prehistoric preschool series, “Igam Ogam.”

Hornet mixed-media director and stop-motion specialist Peter Sluszka is tapped to direct a music video for “Lilies,” the fourth single from Bat for Lashes from the acclaimed album, “The Haunted Man.”

Flickerpix wins the Irish Film and Television Academy award for Best Animation for its short film, “Macropolis.”

Focus Features releases an interactive booklet providing a closer look at Laika’s “ParaNorman.”

Director Timothy Reckart launches his own production company, Reckart Productions, with two stop-motion feature projects in development: “Super Special Ed” and “I Lost My Mind.”

Focus Features and Laika reunite for October 2014’s “The Boxtrolls,” based on Alan Snow’s bestseller “Here Be Monsters,” and starring the voices of Ben Kingsley, Toni Collette, Elle Fanning, Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Jared Harris, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade and Tracy Morgan.

K5 International will begin pre-selling the animation project, which began life at Disney, to buyers at the European Film Market.

CBBC orders a second season of the television series, “Strange Hill High” to air in 2014.