Graphic animation is a variation of stop motion

Stop motion

Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...

 (and possibly more conceptually associated with traditional flat cel

Cel

A cel, short for celluloid, is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, hand-drawn animation. Actual celluloid was used during the first half of the 20th century, but since it was flammable and dimensionally unstable it was largely replaced by cellulose acetate...

 animation and paper drawing animation, but still technically qualifying as stop motion) consisting of the animation

Animation

Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...

 of photographs (in whole or in parts) and other non-drawn flat visual graphic material, such as newspaper and magazine clippings.

In its simpliest form, Graphic "animation" can take the form of the animation camera merely panning up and down and/or across individual photographs, one at a time, (filmed frame-by-frame, and hence, "animated") without changing the photographs from frame to frame, as on Ken Burns

Ken Burns

Kenneth Lauren "Ken" Burns is an American director and producer of documentary films, known for his style of using archival footage and photographs...

 various historical documentary

Documentary

A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...

 films for PBS. But once the photos (or "graphics") are also moved from frame to frame, more exciting montages of movement can be produced, such as on Los Angeles animator Mike Jittlov

Mike Jittlov

Mike Jittlov is an American animator and the creator of short films and one feature length movie using forms of special effects animation, including stop-motion animation, rotoscoping, and pixilation...

's 1977 short film, Animato, also seen his feature film, The Wizard of Speed and Time, released to theaters in 1987 and to video in 1989. Graphic animation can be (and often is) combined with other forms of animation including direct manipulation animation

Direct manipulation animation

One of the many forms of stop motion, but certainly blurring the distinction between stop motion and regular flat animation.Direct manipulation is a simplified variation of graphic animation which involves the frame-by-frame altering a single drawing or graphic image, while taking a frame of film...

 and traditional cel animation.

Examples are Frank Mouris' 1973 Oscar-winning short film Frank Film, and Charles Braverman's Condensed Cream of the Beatles (1973), originally produced for Geraldo Rivera

Geraldo Rivera

Geraldo Rivera is an American attorney, journalist, author, reporter, and former talk show host...

's late night TV show of the time, Goodbye America. Graphic animation was also used as a History of Playboy Magazine piece used on Saturday Night Live when the magazine's founder, Hugh Hefner

Hugh Hefner

Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...

, appeared on that show during the late 70s or early 80s.