, also known as '''Aardman Studios''', is an
Academy Award winning
British Animation studio based in
Bristol ,
United Kingdom . Aardman is famous for its
Claymation /
Stop-motion Animation productions, particularly
Plasticine duo
Wallace & Gromit .
Aardman was founded as a small backyard project by
Peter Lord and
David Sproxton in
1976 . Lord and Sproxton wanted to realize their dream of an animated motion picture. Their first big break was providing animated sequences for the children's
Art series, ''
Vision On ''; during this time they created
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, which used real-life conversations as soundtracks. However, these two shorts were not actual Aardman productions.
Later, Aardman produced a number of shorts for
Channel 4 ; these included the ''
Conversation Pieces '' series. These five shorts worked in the same area as the two shorts Lord and Sproxton made for ''
Animated Conversations '', 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, '''' and caught the next Academy award for full-length animated film.
While Aardman is best known for stop motion, the studio has also dabbled in CGI with productions such as ''
Owzat '', ''
Al Dante '', ''
Planet Sketch '' and ''
Flushed Away ''.
is a
Feature Film division of Aardman Animations.
DreamWorks and Aardman signed a 3-picture deal after the success of ''
Chicken Run ''. On the
October 3 ,
2006 , ''
The New York Times '' reported that due to creative differences
Dreamworks Animation and Aardman would not be extending their contract.
According to Aardman spokesman Arthur Sheriff: "The business model of DreamWorks no longer suits Aardman and vice versa. But the split couldn't have been more amicable." [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117958381.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&query=aardman
As of 2nd April 2007 Aardman has signed a three-year deal with
Sony Pictures Entertainment . 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."
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The company name is taken from one of its early characters created for ''
Vision On '' in
1972 . Aardman was a cel-animated
Superhero . Unfortunately, the original stills were lost in a fire (see below)
{Link without Title} . In Dutch aard means earth and man just means man. Since clay comes out of the earth, it's an appropriate title. (Although, aardman is usually translated as donkey)
On
October 10 ,
2005 , a serious
Fire at Aardman's
Storage Warehouse 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.
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Referring to the South Asia earthquake, Nick 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."
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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.
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 ''.
- ) Thames & Hudson; ISBN 0-500-28168-8
- ''Wallace & Gromit and the Lost Slipper'' ( 1997 )
- ''Wallace & Gromit in Anoraknophobia'' ( 1998 )
- ''Wallace & Gromit: Crackers in Space'' ( 1999 )
- ''Creating Creature Comforts'' ( 2003 )
- ''The World of Wallace & Gromit'' ( 2004 )
