Aardman Animations
Encyclopedia
Aardman Animations, Ltd., also known as Aardman Studios, or simply as Aardman, is a British animation
studio based in Bristol
, United Kingdom. The studio is known for films made using stop-motion clay animation
techniques, particularly those featuring Plasticine
characters Wallace and Gromit
. However, it successfully entered the computer animation market with Flushed Away
(2006).
and David Sproxton
, who wanted to realise their dream of producing an animated motion picture. The partnership provided animated sequences for the BBC
series for deaf children Vision On
. After creating a segment called "Greeblies" (1975) using clay animation, became what was the inspiration for creating Morph
, a simple clay character. Around the same time Lord and Sproxton made their first foray into adult animation with the shorts Down and Out and Confessions of a Foyer Girl, entries in the BBC's Animated Conversations
series using real-life conversations as soundtracks. However, these two shorts were not actual Aardman productions. Aardman also created the title sequence for The Great Egg Race
and supplied animation for the multiple award winning music video of Peter Gabriel
's song "Sledgehammer
".
Later Aardman produced a number of shorts for Channel 4
including the Conversation Pieces series. These five shorts worked in the same area as the Animated Conversations pieces, but were more sophisticated. Lord and Sproxton began hiring more animators at this point; three of the newcomers made their directorial debut at Aardman with the Lip Synch series. Of the five Lip Synch shorts two were directed by Peter Lord, one by Barry Purves
, one by Richard Goleszowski
and one by Nick Park
.
Park's short, Creature Comforts
, was the first Aardman production to win an Oscar
. Park also developed the clay modelled shorts featuring the adventures of Wallace & Gromit, a comical pair of friends: Wallace being a naive English green-knitted-tank top-wearing inventor, and Gromit his best friend, the intelligent but silent dog. These films include A Grand Day Out
(1989), The Wrong Trousers
(1993) and A Close Shave
(1995), the latter two winning Academy Awards
.
(later DreamWorks Animation
) announced that their companies are teaming up to co-finance and distribute Chicken Run
, the Aardman's first feature film, which had been already in pre-production for a one year. On October 27, 1999, Aardman and DreamWorks signed a $250 million deal to make an additional four films in an estimated next 12 years. With the deal was also announced the first project, titled The Tortoise and the Hare
. Intended to be based on Aesop's fable and directed by Richard Goleszowski
, it was put on hold two years later because of script issues. On June 23, 2000, Chicken Run was released to a great critical and financial success. In 2005, after ten years of absence, Wallace and Gromit returned in Academy awarded
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
. Next year followed Flushed Away
, Aardman's first computer-animated
feature.
On October 1, 2006, right before the release of Flushed Away, The New York Times
reported that due to creative differences DreamWorks Animation
and Aardman would not be extending their contract. The deal was officially terminated on January 30, 2007. According to Aardman's spokesman Arthur Sheriff, "The business model of DreamWorks no longer suits Aardman and vice versa. But the split couldn't have been more amicable." Unofficial reasons for departure were weak performances of the last two movies, for which DreamWorks had to take writedowns, and citing the article, "Aardman executives chafed at the creative control DreamWorks tried to exert, particularly with Flushed Away
..." The studio had another film in development, Crood Awakening
, which had been announced in 2005, with John Cleese
co-writing the screenplay. With the end of the partnership, the film's rights reverted back to DreamWorks.
Meanwhile, on 10 October 2005, a serious fire at a storage facility used by Aardman and other Bristol based companies destroyed over 30 years of prop
s, models, scenery and awards collected by the company. This warehouse was used for storage of past projects and so did not prevent the production of their current projects at the time. In addition, the company's library of finished films were stored elsewhere and were undamaged. An electrical fault was determined to be the cause of the blaze. Referring to the 2004 South Asia earthquake and tsunami, Park was quoted as saying, "Even though it is a precious and nostalgic collection and valuable to the company, in light of other tragedies, today isn't a big deal."
From 2006-2007, the Ghibli Museum
in Mitaka
, Tokyo, Japan, had an exhibit featuring the works of Aardman Studios. Sproxton and Lord visited the exhibit in May 2006 and met with animator Hayao Miyazaki
during the visit. Miyazaki has long been a fan of the Aardman Animation works.
to finance, co-produce and distribute feature films. Aardman co-founder Peter Lord remarked "We are all very excited by the potential and have a number of projects we are keen to bring to fruition with this new relationship." The first film, Aardman's first 3-D
feature film, a computer-animated Arthur Christmas
, was released in 2011. Another film is in production - The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (2012) is an Aardman's first 3-D stop-motion film and Peter Lord's first film as a director since Chicken Run.
Additional two films were announced in June 2007:
Aardman is also known to provide generous resources and training to young animators by providing awards at various animation festivals. For example, The Aardman Award at the UK's Animex
Festival in Teesside provides world class story consultation to a promising young animator, for their next film.
In 2008, Aardman joined with Channel 4
and Lupus Films to launch a user-generated content
animation portal called 4mations
.
They also designed the BBC One
Christmas Idents for that year, which featured Wallace and Gromit to tie in with the showing of the new Wallace and Gromit film entitled A Matter of Loaf and Death
on Christmas Day at 8:30pm.
In April 2008, Aardman launched the Aardman YouTube
channel, which is a YouTube Partner channel featuring the entire Creature Comforts
TV series, the Morph
series, Cracking Contraptions
and clips from the Wallace and Gromit
films.
From December 2008, Aardman also started posting various flash games on Newgrounds
, the majority of which are based on Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep
.
In 2009 Nintendo announced that Aardman would make twelve short films using only Flipnote Studio from Nintendo DSi
. The films were posted on Flipnote's Hatena
web service provider. The first film was entitled "The Sandwich Twins" and was released on September 16, 2009. The remaining eleven films were released on a weekly basis until Christmas, and can also be downloaded using Hatena.
in 1972. Unlike the claymation productions that the company are famous for, Aardman was cel-animated. The name comes from the Dutch word "aarde" meaning "earth
". However, "aardman" is more commonly translated as "goblin
".
Aardman's Steve Box
directed the animated music video for the Spice Girls
' final single as a five-piece, "Viva Forever
". Widely regarded as the Spice Girls' most critically acclaimed song, the video took over 5 months to produce, considerably longer than the group's box office hit movie, Spice World
.
Barry Purves
, director of the Aardman short Next, also directed Hamilton Mattress for Harvest Films. The film, a half-hour special that premiered on Christmas Day
2001, was produced by Chris Moll, producer of the Wallace and Gromit
short film The Wrong Trousers
. The models were provided by Mackinnon & Saunders, a firm that did the same for Bob the Builder
and Corpse Bride
.
Similarly, Robbie the Reindeer in Hooves of Fire, a BBC Bristol/Comic Relief production, was directed by Richard Goleszowski
, creator of Rex the Runt
. Its sequel, Robbie the Reindeer in Legend of the Lost Tribe, was directed by Peter Peake, whose directorial credits for Aardman include Pib and Pog
and Humdrum
.
Aardman alumni also produced many of the claymation shorts used in the 1986-1990 American television series Pee-wee's Playhouse
.
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...
studio based in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, United Kingdom. The studio is known for films made using stop-motion clay animation
Clay animation
Clay animation or claymation is one of many forms of stop motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually Plasticine clay....
techniques, particularly those featuring Plasticine
Plasticine
Plasticine, a brand of modelling clay, is a putty-like modelling material made from calcium salts, petroleum jelly and aliphatic acids. The name is a registered trademark of Flair Leisure Products plc...
characters Wallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit are the main characters in a series consisting of four British animated short films and a feature-length film by Nick Park of Aardman Animations...
. However, it successfully entered the computer animation market with Flushed Away
Flushed Away
Flushed Away is a 2006 computer animated British film directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell. It is a partnership between Aardman Animations of Wallace and Gromit fame, and DreamWorks Animation, and is Aardman's first completely computer-animated feature as opposed to the usual stop-motion.The film...
(2006).
Before 1997
Aardman was founded in 1972 as a low-budget project by Peter LordPeter Lord
Peter Lord CBE is a British film producer, director and co-founder of the Academy award-winning Aardman Animations studio, an animation firm best known for its clay animated films and shorts, particularly those featuring plasticine duo Wallace & Gromit.-Biography:In cooperation with David...
and David Sproxton
David Sproxton
David Sproxton CBE is one of the co-founders of the Aardman Animations studio.David graduated from Collingwood College, University of Durham before starting as an animator, producing segments for the Vision On TV program, Sproxton and Lord created the character of Morph for Take Hart .He is...
, who wanted to realise their dream of producing an animated motion picture. The partnership provided animated sequences for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
series for deaf children Vision On
Vision On
Vision On was a British children's television programme, shown on BBC1 from 1964 to 1976 and designed specifically for deaf children. It was conceived and developed by BBC producers Ursula Eason and Patrick Dowling to replace a monthly series For the Deaf, a programme paced slowly enough for...
. After creating a segment called "Greeblies" (1975) using clay animation, became what was the inspiration for creating Morph
Morph (character)
Morph is an animated Plasticine stop-motion character that appeared with the late Tony Hart, beginning in 1977, on several of his UK TV programmes, notably Take Hart and Hartbeat.-Details:...
, a simple clay character. Around the same time Lord and Sproxton made their first foray into adult animation with the shorts Down and Out and Confessions of a Foyer Girl, entries in the BBC's Animated Conversations
Animated Conversations
Animated Conversations was a series of British shorts by Bill Mather and Colin Thomas and shown on BBC Four.-External links:* * *...
series using real-life conversations as soundtracks. However, these two shorts were not actual Aardman productions. Aardman also created the title sequence for The Great Egg Race
The Great Egg Race
The Great Egg Race was a BBC television series that ran from 1978 to 1986 and featured Professor Heinz Wolff and Lesley Judd, who joined the series in 1984...
and supplied animation for the multiple award winning music video of Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
's song "Sledgehammer
Sledgehammer (song)
"Sledgehammer" is a song by British musician Peter Gabriel from his 1986 album So. It hit number one in Canada on 21 July 1986 where it spent four weeks; number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States on 26 July 1986; and number four in the UK singles chart, thanks in part to a...
".
Later Aardman produced a number of shorts for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
including the Conversation Pieces series. These five shorts worked in the same area as the Animated Conversations pieces, but were more sophisticated. Lord and Sproxton began hiring more animators at this point; three of the newcomers made their directorial debut at Aardman with the Lip Synch series. Of the five Lip Synch shorts two were directed by Peter Lord, one by Barry Purves
Barry Purves
Barry J.C. Purves is an English animator, director and writer of puppet animation and also a designer and director of stage plays, primarily for the Altrincham Garrick Playhouse in Manchester...
, one by Richard Goleszowski
Richard Goleszowski
Richard Goleszowski is an English animator.Goleszowski was born in Suffolk and grew up in Ipswich, attending Northgate Grammar School...
and one by Nick Park
Nick Park
Nicholas Wulstan "Nick" Park, CBE is an English filmmaker of stop motion animation best known as the creator of Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep....
.
Park's short, Creature Comforts
Creature Comforts
Creature Comforts was originally a 1989 British humorous animated short film about how animals feel about living in a zoo, featuring the voices of the British public "spoken" by the animals. It was created by Nick Park and Aardman Animations...
, was the first Aardman production to win an Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
. Park also developed the clay modelled shorts featuring the adventures of Wallace & Gromit, a comical pair of friends: Wallace being a naive English green-knitted-tank top-wearing inventor, and Gromit his best friend, the intelligent but silent dog. These films include A Grand Day Out
A Grand Day Out
A Grand Day Out is an award-nominated 1989 animated film directed and animated by Nick Park at Aardman Animations in Bristol. This was the first adventure featuring the eccentric inventor Wallace and his quiet but smart dog Gromit...
(1989), The Wrong Trousers
The Wrong Trousers
The Wrong Trousers is a 1993 animated film directed by Nick Park at Aardman Animations in Bristol, featuring his characters Wallace and Gromit...
(1993) and A Close Shave
A Close Shave
A Close Shave is a 1995 British animated film directed by Nick Park at Aardman Animations in Bristol, featuring his characters Wallace and Gromit. It was his third half-hour short featuring the eccentric inventor Wallace and his quiet but intelligent dog Gromit, following 1989's A Grand Day Out,...
(1995), the latter two winning Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
.
1997–2006
In December 1997, Aardman and DreamWorksDreamWorks
DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...
(later DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. is an American animation studio based in Glendale, California that creates animated feature films, television program and online virtual worlds...
) announced that their companies are teaming up to co-finance and distribute Chicken Run
Chicken Run
Chicken Run is a 2000 British stop-motion animation film made by the Aardman Animations studios, the production studio of the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit films...
, the Aardman's first feature film, which had been already in pre-production for a one year. On October 27, 1999, Aardman and DreamWorks signed a $250 million deal to make an additional four films in an estimated next 12 years. With the deal was also announced the first project, titled The Tortoise and the Hare
The Tortoise and the Hare
The Tortoise and the Hare is a fable attributed to Aesop and is number 226 in the Perry Index. The story concerns a hare who ridicules a slow-moving tortoise and is challenged by him to a race. The hare soon leaves the tortoise behind and, confident of winning, decides to take a nap midway through...
. Intended to be based on Aesop's fable and directed by Richard Goleszowski
Richard Goleszowski
Richard Goleszowski is an English animator.Goleszowski was born in Suffolk and grew up in Ipswich, attending Northgate Grammar School...
, it was put on hold two years later because of script issues. On June 23, 2000, Chicken Run was released to a great critical and financial success. In 2005, after ten years of absence, Wallace and Gromit returned in Academy awarded
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is one of the annual awards given by the Los Angeles-based professional organization, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a 2005 British clay-mation animated comedy horror film, the first feature-length Wallace and Gromit film. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Animations, and released by DreamWorksPictures...
. Next year followed Flushed Away
Flushed Away
Flushed Away is a 2006 computer animated British film directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell. It is a partnership between Aardman Animations of Wallace and Gromit fame, and DreamWorks Animation, and is Aardman's first completely computer-animated feature as opposed to the usual stop-motion.The film...
, Aardman's first computer-animated
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
feature.
On October 1, 2006, right before the release of Flushed Away, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported that due to creative differences DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. is an American animation studio based in Glendale, California that creates animated feature films, television program and online virtual worlds...
and Aardman would not be extending their contract. The deal was officially terminated on January 30, 2007. According to Aardman's spokesman Arthur Sheriff, "The business model of DreamWorks no longer suits Aardman and vice versa. But the split couldn't have been more amicable." Unofficial reasons for departure were weak performances of the last two movies, for which DreamWorks had to take writedowns, and citing the article, "Aardman executives chafed at the creative control DreamWorks tried to exert, particularly with Flushed Away
Flushed Away
Flushed Away is a 2006 computer animated British film directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell. It is a partnership between Aardman Animations of Wallace and Gromit fame, and DreamWorks Animation, and is Aardman's first completely computer-animated feature as opposed to the usual stop-motion.The film...
..." The studio had another film in development, Crood Awakening
The Croods
The Croods is an upcoming computer-animated film from DreamWorks Animation starring Nicolas Cage and Ryan Reynolds. The film is set in the prehistoric era, when a man's position as Leader of the Hunt is threatened by the arrival of a prehistoric genius who comes up with revolutionary new inventions...
, which had been announced in 2005, with John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
co-writing the screenplay. With the end of the partnership, the film's rights reverted back to DreamWorks.
Meanwhile, on 10 October 2005, a serious fire at a storage facility used by Aardman and other Bristol based companies destroyed over 30 years of prop
Theatrical property
A theatrical property, commonly referred to as a prop, is an object used on stage by actors to further the plot or story line of a theatrical production. Smaller props are referred to as "hand props". Larger props may also be set decoration, such as a chair or table. The difference between a set...
s, models, scenery and awards collected by the company. This warehouse was used for storage of past projects and so did not prevent the production of their current projects at the time. In addition, the company's library of finished films were stored elsewhere and were undamaged. An electrical fault was determined to be the cause of the blaze. Referring to the 2004 South Asia earthquake and tsunami, Park was quoted as saying, "Even though it is a precious and nostalgic collection and valuable to the company, in light of other tragedies, today isn't a big deal."
From 2006-2007, the Ghibli Museum
Ghibli Museum
is a museum featuring the Japanese anime work of Studio Ghibli, and is located in Inokashira Park in Mitaka, a western suburb of Tokyo, Japan.The museum is a fine arts museum, but does not take the concept of a usual fine arts museum. With many features that are child-oriented and a sprawling and...
in Mitaka
Mitaka, Tokyo
is a city located in Tokyo, Japan. As of 1 November 2010, the city has an estimated population of 176,737. The total area is 16.50 km² and is about 50 – 55 meters above sea level...
, Tokyo, Japan, had an exhibit featuring the works of Aardman Studios. Sproxton and Lord visited the exhibit in May 2006 and met with animator Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese manga artist and prominent film director and animator of many popular anime feature films. Through a career that has spanned nearly fifty years, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of animated feature films and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli,...
during the visit. Miyazaki has long been a fan of the Aardman Animation works.
2007–present
In April 2007 Aardman signed and in 2010 renewed a three-year deal with Sony Pictures EntertainmentSony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony...
to finance, co-produce and distribute feature films. Aardman co-founder Peter Lord remarked "We are all very excited by the potential and have a number of projects we are keen to bring to fruition with this new relationship." The first film, Aardman's first 3-D
3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...
feature film, a computer-animated Arthur Christmas
Arthur Christmas
Arthur Christmas is a 2011 British/American 3-D computer animated fantasy comedy film produced by Aardman Animations and Sony Pictures Animation, and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was released on November 11, 2011, in the UK, and on November 23, 2011, in the USA...
, was released in 2011. Another film is in production - The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (2012) is an Aardman's first 3-D stop-motion film and Peter Lord's first film as a director since Chicken Run.
Additional two films were announced in June 2007:
- The Cat Burglars, a stop-motion directed by Steve BoxSteve BoxSteve Box is an English animator and director who works for Aardman Animations.His early work in animation included the popular British claymation television series The Trap Door for Bristol-based animation studio CMTB Animation.Box joined Aardman Animations in 1990. He directed the video for the...
, about cats that steal milk, and their plans to pull off 'the great milk float robbery'. It is touted as a 'TarantinoQuentin TarantinoQuentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
' cross Ocean's ElevenOcean's Eleven (2001 film)Ocean's Eleven is a 2001 American comedy-crime caper and remake of the 1960 Rat Pack caper film of the same name. The 2001 film was directed by Steven Soderbergh and features an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy García, and Julia Roberts. The film was...
style picture and written by Ashley PharoahAshley PharoahAshley Pharoah is a British Television writer, co-creator of the successful drama series Life on Mars, which began on BBC One in 2006....
and Matthew GrahamMatthew GrahamMatthew Graham is a British television writer, and the co-creator of the BBC/Kudos Film and Television science fiction series Life on Mars, which debuted in 2006 on BBC One and has received international critical acclaim....
of Life on MarsLife on Mars (TV series)Life on Mars is a British television series broadcast on BBC One between January 2006 and April 2007. The series combines elements of science fiction and police procedural....
. - and finally an untitled Nick Park project (although confirmed not a Wallace and Gromit feature).
Aardman is also known to provide generous resources and training to young animators by providing awards at various animation festivals. For example, The Aardman Award at the UK's Animex
Animex
The Animex International Festival of Animation and Computer Games takes place every year in Middlesbrough in the North East of England. The festival has its roots firmly planted in the creative side of the animation and computer games industries and acts to provide animators, directors, students,...
Festival in Teesside provides world class story consultation to a promising young animator, for their next film.
In 2008, Aardman joined with Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
and Lupus Films to launch a user-generated content
User-generated content
User generated content covers a range of media content available in a range of modern communications technologies. It entered mainstream usage during 2005 having arisen in web publishing and new media content production circles...
animation portal called 4mations
4mations
4mations is a website made for people to upload, view and share animated films and games. The site was founded in 2008 by Channel 4, sponsored by Aardman Animations and Lupus Films...
.
They also designed the BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
Christmas Idents for that year, which featured Wallace and Gromit to tie in with the showing of the new Wallace and Gromit film entitled A Matter of Loaf and Death
A Matter of Loaf and Death
A Matter of Loaf and Death is an animated television short created by Nick Park, and the fourth of his shorts to star his characters Wallace and Gromit...
on Christmas Day at 8:30pm.
In April 2008, Aardman launched the Aardman YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel, which is a YouTube Partner channel featuring the entire Creature Comforts
Creature Comforts
Creature Comforts was originally a 1989 British humorous animated short film about how animals feel about living in a zoo, featuring the voices of the British public "spoken" by the animals. It was created by Nick Park and Aardman Animations...
TV series, the Morph
Morph (character)
Morph is an animated Plasticine stop-motion character that appeared with the late Tony Hart, beginning in 1977, on several of his UK TV programmes, notably Take Hart and Hartbeat.-Details:...
series, Cracking Contraptions
Cracking Contraptions
Wallace and Gromit's Cracking Contraptions are a series of ten Wallace and Gromit stop motion animations varying in length from 1 to 3 minutes. Each episode features one of Wallace's new inventions and Gromit's skeptical reaction to it...
and clips from the Wallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit are the main characters in a series consisting of four British animated short films and a feature-length film by Nick Park of Aardman Animations...
films.
From December 2008, Aardman also started posting various flash games on Newgrounds
Newgrounds
Newgrounds is an American entertainment and social media website. Founded on July 6, 1995 by Tom Fulp, the site primarily hosts Adobe Flash animations and games, but also features a music-oriented page, along with an art portal...
, the majority of which are based on Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep
Shaun the Sheep
Shaun the Sheep is a British stop-motion animated children's television series produced by Aardman Animations, and commissioned by the BBC and the WDR. It first aired in the UK on CBBC in March 2007...
.
In 2009 Nintendo announced that Aardman would make twelve short films using only Flipnote Studio from Nintendo DSi
Nintendo DSi
The is a handheld game system created by Nintendo and launched in 2008 and 2009 in Japan, North America, PAL territories, and other regions. It is the third iteration of the Nintendo DS, and its primary market rival is Sony's PlayStation Portable...
. The films were posted on Flipnote's Hatena
Hatena
Hatena arenicola is a species of single-celled eukaryotes described in 2006. The species is a flagellate, and can resemble a plant at one stage of its life, in which it carries a photosynthesizing alga inside itself, or an animal, acting as predator in another stage of its life...
web service provider. The first film was entitled "The Sandwich Twins" and was released on September 16, 2009. The remaining eleven films were released on a weekly basis until Christmas, and can also be downloaded using Hatena.
Company name
The company name is taken from one of its early characters, a superhero created for Vision OnVision On
Vision On was a British children's television programme, shown on BBC1 from 1964 to 1976 and designed specifically for deaf children. It was conceived and developed by BBC producers Ursula Eason and Patrick Dowling to replace a monthly series For the Deaf, a programme paced slowly enough for...
in 1972. Unlike the claymation productions that the company are famous for, Aardman was cel-animated. The name comes from the Dutch word "aarde" meaning "earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
". However, "aardman" is more commonly translated as "goblin
Goblin
A goblin is a legendary evil or mischievous illiterate creature, a grotesquely evil or evil-like phantom.They are attributed with various abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of origin. In some cases, goblins have been classified as constantly annoying little...
".
Non-Aardman productions by Aardman directors
A number of Aardman directors have worked at other studios, taking the distinctive Aardman style with them. As a result, there are some animated films that, while not actually made by Aardman, are often mistaken for Aardman productions, and may be of interest to fans of the studio.Aardman's Steve Box
Steve Box
Steve Box is an English animator and director who works for Aardman Animations.His early work in animation included the popular British claymation television series The Trap Door for Bristol-based animation studio CMTB Animation.Box joined Aardman Animations in 1990. He directed the video for the...
directed the animated music video for the Spice Girls
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
' final single as a five-piece, "Viva Forever
Viva Forever
"Viva Forever" is a song by the Spice Girls from their second album, Spiceworld. Originally set to be released alongside the track “Never Give Up on the Good Times” the B-Side was then pulled as member Geri Halliwell left the group. The song was released on July 20, 1998 in the United Kingdom and...
". Widely regarded as the Spice Girls' most critically acclaimed song, the video took over 5 months to produce, considerably longer than the group's box office hit movie, Spice World
Spice World
Spice World may refer to:*Spiceworld , second album by British pop group the Spice Girls, released in 1997*Spice World , the Spice Girls movie*Spiceworld , the sellout world tour of the Spice Girls...
.
Barry Purves
Barry Purves
Barry J.C. Purves is an English animator, director and writer of puppet animation and also a designer and director of stage plays, primarily for the Altrincham Garrick Playhouse in Manchester...
, director of the Aardman short Next, also directed Hamilton Mattress for Harvest Films. The film, a half-hour special that premiered on Christmas Day
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
2001, was produced by Chris Moll, producer of the Wallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit are the main characters in a series consisting of four British animated short films and a feature-length film by Nick Park of Aardman Animations...
short film The Wrong Trousers
The Wrong Trousers
The Wrong Trousers is a 1993 animated film directed by Nick Park at Aardman Animations in Bristol, featuring his characters Wallace and Gromit...
. The models were provided by Mackinnon & Saunders, a firm that did the same for Bob the Builder
Bob the Builder
Bob the Builder is a British children's animated television show created by Keith Chapman. In the original series Bob appears as a building contractor specialising in masonry in a stop motion animated programme with his colleague Wendy, various neighbours and friends, and their gang of...
and Corpse Bride
Corpse Bride
Corpse Bride, often promoted as Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, is a 2005 stop-motion-animated fantasy musical film directed by Mike Johnson and Tim Burton. It is set in a fictional Victorian era village in Europe. Johnny Depp led an all-star cast as the voice of Victor, while Helena Bonham Carter ...
.
Similarly, Robbie the Reindeer in Hooves of Fire, a BBC Bristol/Comic Relief production, was directed by Richard Goleszowski
Richard Goleszowski
Richard Goleszowski is an English animator.Goleszowski was born in Suffolk and grew up in Ipswich, attending Northgate Grammar School...
, creator of Rex the Runt
Rex the Runt
Rex the Runt is an animated claymation television show produced by Aardman Animations for BBC Bristol in association with EVA Entertainment and Egmont Imagination. Its main characters are four plasticine dogs: Rex, Wendy, Bad Bob and Vince....
. Its sequel, Robbie the Reindeer in Legend of the Lost Tribe, was directed by Peter Peake, whose directorial credits for Aardman include Pib and Pog
Pib and Pog
Pib and Pog was a 6-minute animated short film made by Peter Peake for Aardman Animations which originally aired on Channel 4 in 1994. In 2006, five additional shorter episodes were made in association with the BBC and are now available to watch online at AtomFilms.The animation is set up like a...
and Humdrum
Humdrum
Humdrum is an animated short film directed by Peter Peake. It was released in 1998 and produced by Aardman Animations and received an Oscar nomination for Animated Short Film and a BAFTA nomination in the same category.-Plot summary:...
.
Aardman alumni also produced many of the claymation shorts used in the 1986-1990 American television series Pee-wee's Playhouse
Pee-wee's Playhouse
Pee-wee's Playhouse is an American children's television program starring Paul Reubens as the child-like Pee-wee Herman. The show was developed from Reubens' popular stage show and the one-off TV special The Pee-wee Herman Show, produced for HBO, which was similar in style but featured much more...
.
DreamWorks (1997-2006)
- Chicken RunChicken RunChicken Run is a 2000 British stop-motion animation film made by the Aardman Animations studios, the production studio of the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit films...
(2000) - Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-RabbitWallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-RabbitWallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a 2005 British clay-mation animated comedy horror film, the first feature-length Wallace and Gromit film. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Animations, and released by DreamWorksPictures...
(2005) (Academy Award winner) - Flushed AwayFlushed AwayFlushed Away is a 2006 computer animated British film directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell. It is a partnership between Aardman Animations of Wallace and Gromit fame, and DreamWorks Animation, and is Aardman's first completely computer-animated feature as opposed to the usual stop-motion.The film...
(2006)
Sony Pictures Entertainment (2007-present)
- Arthur ChristmasArthur ChristmasArthur Christmas is a 2011 British/American 3-D computer animated fantasy comedy film produced by Aardman Animations and Sony Pictures Animation, and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was released on November 11, 2011, in the UK, and on November 23, 2011, in the USA...
(2011) - The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (2012)
Television series
- Rex the RuntRex the RuntRex the Runt is an animated claymation television show produced by Aardman Animations for BBC Bristol in association with EVA Entertainment and Egmont Imagination. Its main characters are four plasticine dogs: Rex, Wendy, Bad Bob and Vince....
(1998–2001) - Creature ComfortsCreature ComfortsCreature Comforts was originally a 1989 British humorous animated short film about how animals feel about living in a zoo, featuring the voices of the British public "spoken" by the animals. It was created by Nick Park and Aardman Animations...
(2003–2007) - Shaun the SheepShaun the SheepShaun the Sheep is a British stop-motion animated children's television series produced by Aardman Animations, and commissioned by the BBC and the WDR. It first aired in the UK on CBBC in March 2007...
(2007–2010) - Timmy TimeTimmy TimeTimmy Time is an animated pre-school children's comedy series created by Aardman Animations. It started broadcasting in the UK on CBeebies on 6 April 2009. The show is a spin off from the Shaun the Sheep animation which itself is a spin off from the Aardman series Wallace & Gromit, which introduced...
(2009) - Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention (2010)
Short films
- Animated Conversations: Down and Out (1977)
- Animated Conversations: Confessions of a Foyer Girl (1978)
- The Amazing Adventures of MorphMorph (character)Morph is an animated Plasticine stop-motion character that appeared with the late Tony Hart, beginning in 1977, on several of his UK TV programmes, notably Take Hart and Hartbeat.-Details:...
(1980–1981) - Conversation Pieces: On Probation (1983)
- Conversation Pieces: Sales Pitch (1983)
- Conversation Pieces: Palmy Days (1983)
- Conversation Pieces: Early Bird (1983)
- Conversation Pieces: Late Edition (1983)
- Sweet Disaster: Babylon (1986)
- Sledgehammer (1986)
- My Baby Just Cares for MeMy Baby Just Cares for Me"My Baby Just Cares for Me" is a jazz standard written by Walter Donaldson with lyrics by Gus Kahn. It was written for the 1930 film version of the 1928 Ziegfeld musical comedy Whoopee!, starring Eddie Cantor. It is known as the signature tune of singer and pianist Nina Simone.-Nina Simone...
(1987) - Barefootin' (1987)
- Going Equipped (1987)
- Creature ComfortsCreature ComfortsCreature Comforts was originally a 1989 British humorous animated short film about how animals feel about living in a zoo, featuring the voices of the British public "spoken" by the animals. It was created by Nick Park and Aardman Animations...
(1989) (Academy Award winner) - War StoryWar StoryWar Stories was a comic book series written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by a number of artists.-Overview:The series consisted of two, 4-issue mini-series the two series were printed monthly, the first beginning in November 2001 and the second beginning in January 2003.Each mini series consisted...
(1989) - Ident (1989)
- Next (1989)
- A Grand Day OutA Grand Day OutA Grand Day Out is an award-nominated 1989 animated film directed and animated by Nick Park at Aardman Animations in Bristol. This was the first adventure featuring the eccentric inventor Wallace and his quiet but smart dog Gromit...
(1989) (Academy Award nominee) - Adam (1991) (Academy Award nominee)
- Rex the Runt: North by North PoleRex the RuntRex the Runt is an animated claymation television show produced by Aardman Animations for BBC Bristol in association with EVA Entertainment and Egmont Imagination. Its main characters are four plasticine dogs: Rex, Wendy, Bad Bob and Vince....
(1993) - Loves Me, Loves Me Not (1993)
- Not Without My Handbag (1993)
- The Wrong TrousersThe Wrong TrousersThe Wrong Trousers is a 1993 animated film directed by Nick Park at Aardman Animations in Bristol, featuring his characters Wallace and Gromit...
(1993) (Academy Award winner) - Pib and PogPib and PogPib and Pog was a 6-minute animated short film made by Peter Peake for Aardman Animations which originally aired on Channel 4 in 1994. In 2006, five additional shorter episodes were made in association with the BBC and are now available to watch online at AtomFilms.The animation is set up like a...
(1993) - The Morph FilesMorph (character)Morph is an animated Plasticine stop-motion character that appeared with the late Tony Hart, beginning in 1977, on several of his UK TV programmes, notably Take Hart and Hartbeat.-Details:...
(1993) - Pop (1993)
- Wat's Pig (1993) (Academy Award nominee)
- Rex the Runt: How the Dinosaurs Became ExtinctRex the RuntRex the Runt is an animated claymation television show produced by Aardman Animations for BBC Bristol in association with EVA Entertainment and Egmont Imagination. Its main characters are four plasticine dogs: Rex, Wendy, Bad Bob and Vince....
(1993) - A Close ShaveA Close ShaveA Close Shave is a 1995 British animated film directed by Nick Park at Aardman Animations in Bristol, featuring his characters Wallace and Gromit. It was his third half-hour short featuring the eccentric inventor Wallace and his quiet but intelligent dog Gromit, following 1989's A Grand Day Out,...
(1995) (Academy Award winner) - The Art Box BunchHartbeatHartbeat was a Children's BBC television arts programme presented by the late Tony Hart. It was broadcast between 1984 and 1993. The series was a follow on from Take Hart and taught children how to design art features and use everyday items to make objects.-History:Like its predecessor Take Hart,...
(animation) (1995) - Owzat (1997)
- Stage Fright (1997)
- HumdrumHumdrumHumdrum is an animated short film directed by Peter Peake. It was released in 1998 and produced by Aardman Animations and received an Oscar nomination for Animated Short Film and a BAFTA nomination in the same category.-Plot summary:...
(1998) (Academy Award nominee) - Al DenteAl denteIn cooking, the Italian expression al dente describes pasta and rice or beansthat have been cooked so as to be firm but not hard. "Al dente" also describes vegetables that are cooked to the "tender crisp" phase - still offering resistance to the bite, but cooked through...
(1998) - Minotaur and Little Nerkin (1999)
- Angry KidAngry KidAngry Kid is a series of stop motion animations written, designed, created and directed by Darren Walsh. Angry Kid was produced by Aardman Animations, depicting the mini-adventures of a troubled 15-year-old known as "Angry Kid"...
(1999) - The Presentators (2003–2004)
- Robbie the ReindeerRobbie the ReindeerRobbie the Reindeer is a series of three animated comedy television specials shown on BBC One at Christmas, filmed in aid of Comic Relief. Written by Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley, the programmes are based on the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, with Robbie as Rudolph's son and the tenth of...
(2001) - BBC OneBBC OneBBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
Christmas IDs (2001) - Wallace & Gromit's Cracking Contraptions (2002)
- BBC ThreeBBC ThreeBBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
idents (2003–2008) - The Non-Voters for the BBC Election coverage (see external links) (2004)
- Planet SketchPlanet SketchPlanet Sketch is a 15-minute television show aimed at children, with each episode featuring an assortment of sketches. It is produced by Aardman Animations.- Sketches :...
(2005) - Purple and BrownPurple and BrownPurple and Brown is a claymation short television series on Nickelodeon devised and directed by Rich Webber and edited by Mike Percival. The series first aired March 2006, on the Nickelodeon's United Kingdom channel.-Background:...
(2006) - Pib and PogPib and PogPib and Pog was a 6-minute animated short film made by Peter Peake for Aardman Animations which originally aired on Channel 4 in 1994. In 2006, five additional shorter episodes were made in association with the BBC and are now available to watch online at AtomFilms.The animation is set up like a...
additional episodes (2006) - Chop Socky ChooksChop Socky ChooksChop Socky Chooks is a British animated television series produced by Aardman Animations and DHX Media that debuted on 7 March 2008. It was created by animator Sergio Delfino, a prominent animator at Aardman. It currently airs only on Teletoon . For now, it airs on Cartoon Network, previously aired...
(2008) - A Matter of Loaf and DeathA Matter of Loaf and DeathA Matter of Loaf and Death is an animated television short created by Nick Park, and the fourth of his shorts to star his characters Wallace and Gromit...
(2008) (Academy Award nominee) - WatchWatch (TV channel)Watch is a general entertainment channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as part of the UKTV network. The channel launched on 7 October 2008 on satellite through Sky and on cable primarily through Virgin Media.-History:...
idents (2009) - DotDot- Typography :* Full stop, also called period in American English, used as a sentence terminator and as a decimal separator in numerals - Typography :* Full stop, also called period in American English, used as a sentence terminator and as a decimal separator (decimal point) in numerals -...
(2010) - Gulp (2011)
- BatmanBatmanBatman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
shorts for Cartoon NetworkCartoon NetworkCartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
block "DC NationDC Nation ShortsDC Nation Shorts is a upcoming number of shorts that will air on Cartoon Network in 2012. The shorts will be part of the DC Nation block, and will consist of Plastic Man, Super Best Friends Forever, Doom Patrol, Batman, Lego Batman, Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld, Teen Titans, Blue Beetle and...
" (TBA)
Books
- Tristan DaviesTristan DaviesTristan Davies is a British newspaper executive and former newspaper editor.Davies studied at the University of Bristol, then trained in radio journalism, but took employment for a London newspaper. He joined The Independent in 1986, soon after its launch. He initially worked on the listings...
, Nick ParkNick ParkNicholas Wulstan "Nick" Park, CBE is an English filmmaker of stop motion animation best known as the creator of Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep....
, Nick NewmanNick NewmanNick Newman is a satirical British cartoonist and comedy scriptwriter.The son of an RAF officer, Newman was born in Kuala Lumpur and schooled at Ardingly College where his satirical career began, working on revues with Ian Hislop...
(1997); Wallace & Gromit and the Lost Slipper. Adler's Foreign Books. ISBN 978-0-8417-2026-8 - Peter LordPeter LordPeter Lord CBE is a British film producer, director and co-founder of the Academy award-winning Aardman Animations studio, an animation firm best known for its clay animated films and shorts, particularly those featuring plasticine duo Wallace & Gromit.-Biography:In cooperation with David...
; Brian SibleyBrian SibleyBrian Sibley is an English writer. He is author of over 100 hours of radio drama and has written and presented hundreds of radio documentaries, features and weekly programmes.- Early life :...
(1998). Cracking Animation: The Aardman Book of 3-D Animation. Thames & Hudson Ltd. ISBN 978-0-5002-8168-0 - Tristan DaviesTristan DaviesTristan Davies is a British newspaper executive and former newspaper editor.Davies studied at the University of Bristol, then trained in radio journalism, but took employment for a London newspaper. He joined The Independent in 1986, soon after its launch. He initially worked on the listings...
; Nick NewmanNick NewmanNick Newman is a satirical British cartoonist and comedy scriptwriter.The son of an RAF officer, Newman was born in Kuala Lumpur and schooled at Ardingly College where his satirical career began, working on revues with Ian Hislop...
(1998). Wallace & Gromit in Anoraknophobia. Adler's Foreign Books. ISBN 978-0-8417-2031-2 - Tristan DaviesTristan DaviesTristan Davies is a British newspaper executive and former newspaper editor.Davies studied at the University of Bristol, then trained in radio journalism, but took employment for a London newspaper. He joined The Independent in 1986, soon after its launch. He initially worked on the listings...
; Nick NewmanNick NewmanNick Newman is a satirical British cartoonist and comedy scriptwriter.The son of an RAF officer, Newman was born in Kuala Lumpur and schooled at Ardingly College where his satirical career began, working on revues with Ian Hislop...
(1999). Wallace & Gromit: Crackers in Space. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-3407-1289-4 - Andy LaneAndy LaneAndrew Lane , who also writes as Andy Lane, is a British author and journalist. He has written a number of spin-off novels in the Virgin New Adventures range and audio dramas for Big Finish based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who , as well as assorted non fiction books based...
(2003). Creating Creature Comforts. Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7522-1564-8 - Andy LaneAndy LaneAndrew Lane , who also writes as Andy Lane, is a British author and journalist. He has written a number of spin-off novels in the Virgin New Adventures range and audio dramas for Big Finish based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who , as well as assorted non fiction books based...
(2004). The World of Wallace & Gromit. Boxtree Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7522-1558-7 - Andy LaneAndy LaneAndrew Lane , who also writes as Andy Lane, is a British author and journalist. He has written a number of spin-off novels in the Virgin New Adventures range and audio dramas for Big Finish based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who , as well as assorted non fiction books based...
; Paul Simpson (2005). The Art of Wallace & Gromit: Curse of The Were-Rabbit. Titan Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-8457-6136-3