Today’s top story: The growing popularity of animated dolls on YouTube.

A increasing number of young women are part of a new wave of online film makers, who are

applying DIY animation techniques to brands of dolls from the nineties and noughties.

American Girl dolls are among the most popular. The videos are known as AGSM

American Girl Stop Motion.

It’s like you take one picture and then you move the doll slightly and take another

picture. And you continue to take pictures. It can be hundreds of pictures or thousands

of pictures depending on how long you want the video to be

and it does look like the dolls are moving. It’s really cool.

The stories are about all sorts of things like the first day of school or high school prom.

But many have a serious social message. Cyberbullying is one of the recurring themes

A lot of people get bullied for making doll videos

and so I think the cyberbullying videos and stuff like that with

the deeper issues, I think they kind of give people hope, you know, you’re not alone.

The dolls are often customised to look exactly like their owners.

But the stars of the videos are the dolls themselves.

Since 2011 there has been a steady increase in the number of AGSM videos posted on YouTube.

Last year, the videos were viewed more than 33 million times and that number is on the rise

While the AG community is growing, many still keep their hobby a secret. We contacted dozens

of video makers. Those who responded weren’t willing to go on camera as they hadn’t told

their friends and family about their pastime.

There’s a lot of girls who keep it a secret.

To try to explain it to other people, they don’t understand what you’re trying to do.

They’re just like, you’re 17 and you like dolls. It’s not like that. It’s a lot deeper.

As well as stop motion, people are making music videos, beauty tutorials and what are

known as haul videos -- where collections of new clothes and accessories are unveiled.

Many continue playing with dolls long into adulthood….

I think this is a good opportunity for myself and many other girls to grow in their skills

in filmmaking, where they could move on and go further.

And that’s all we have time for. Take care of yourselves…. And your dolls.

Excuse me... What's going on here?