Toys coming alive when we aren’t looking can be a great starting point for a story. Here is a wonderful stop motion movie from Poland in the 1930’s. I would place this somewhere between Henry Selick and the seriously weird Rankin/Bass Christmas stop motion.

Who knew that hanging things so that they bobble in the back window was something folks did in Poland in the 30’s? And I didn’t know toy puppies liked oranges.

… and then things really come alive when Satan pops out of a wine bottle in reel two. The straw and paper creatures, and the dancing are wonderful.

… and part three in which daylight returns, nighttime adventures are rued, and order is restored – though the puppy ends up with the little girl he loves (perhaps the morning orange was meant for her all along) instead of the car owner who purchased him from the toy shop.

Just perfect stuff.