I agree, I think the company is trying to capitalize on how popular toy animation is nowadays. I can't really see a reason to use it, except for scenes where stop motion isn't possible. Like a shot where you follow a marble going into a mouth and flowing down to their stomach. Something crazy.

Yes, as long as your camera has a long enough exposure you can do the trick. One way is to take some very thin nylon fishing line and pull things around as you take a photo. Or, to spin things on a pivot from underneath. Whatever camera you're using seems to work so you could definitely do it!