Nick Park - IMDb IMDb Writer | Producer | Director Nick Park was born on December 6, 1958 in Preston, Lancashire, England as Nicholas Wulstan Park. He is a writer and producer, known for The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), The Wrong Trousers (1993) and Chicken Run (2000). See full bio » Born: a list of 28 people created 25 May 2014 a list of 22 people created 30 Sep 2014 a list of 21 people created 04 Nov 2015 a list of 33 people created 8 months ago a list of 41 people created 1 month ago Do you have a demo reel? Add it to your IMDbPage How much of Nick Park's work have you seen? User Polls Won 4 Oscars. Another 53 wins & 25 nominations.

See more awards » Known For 2015 Shaun the Sheep Movie (characters created by) Shaun the Sheep (TV Series) (based on characters by - 76 episodes, 2007 - 2014) (original idea - 49 episodes, 2007 - 2010) (based on an original idea by - 3 episodes, 2007) (written by - 1 episode, 2009) - Fruit and Nuts (2014) ... (based on characters by) - The Stare (2014) ... (based on characters by) - Duck! (2014) ... (based on characters by) - Save the Dump (2014) ... (based on characters by) - Picture Perfect (2014) ... (based on characters by) 1989 A Grand Day Out (Short) (written by) Hide - Timmy Makes a Splash (2012) ... (executive producer: Aardman Animations Ltd) - Timmy's Scrapbook (2011) ...

(executive producer: Aardman Animations Ltd) 2007 Creature Comforts America (TV Series) (executive producer) 2003-2006 Creature Comforts (TV Series) (executive producer - 26 episodes) - Safari Park (2006) ... (executive producer) - Communication (2006) ... (executive producer) 1997 Stage Fright (Short) (executive producer) Hide 1985 Second Class Mail (Short) (color artist) Hide 2011 The Simpsons (TV Series) Nick Park - Angry Dad: The Movie (2011) ...

Nick Park (voice) Hide 1989 A Grand Day Out (Short) (photographed by) Hide 1985 Second Class Mail (Short) (lots of help) Hide 2005-2015 Film 2016 (TV Series) Himself / Himself - Interviewee 2013 This Morning (TV Series) Himself 2012 Just Dandy (TV Movie documentary) Himself 2011 The Big Picture (TV Series) Himself - Executive Producer 2010 100 Greatest Toys (TV Movie) Himself (as Nick Park CBE) 2010 Breakfast (TV Series) 2007-2009 The Culture Show (TV Series documentary) Himself 2009 News Zero (TV Series) Himself 2008 The One Show (TV Series) Himself 2008 Blue Peter at 50 (TV Movie documentary) Himself 2008 All About 'Thunderbirds' (TV Movie documentary) Himself 2007 Comics Britannia (TV Mini-Series documentary) Himself 2007 British Film Forever (TV Mini-Series documentary) Himself 2007 The

 Comedy Map of Britain (TV Series documentary) Himself 2006 The South Bank Show (TV Series documentary) Himself 2006 Richard & Judy (TV Series) Himself 2005 The 100 Greatest Family Films (TV Movie documentary) Himself 2005 El Magacine (TV Series) Himself 2000-2005 HBO First Look (TV Series documentary) Himself 2005 Best Ever Ads (TV Movie documentary) Himself 2005 Rove Live (TV Series) Himself 2005 Top 50 Greatest Celebrity Animals (TV Movie documentary) Himself 2005 Animation Nation (TV Series documentary) Himself 2004 The 100 Greatest Christmas Moments (TV Special documentary) Himself 2001 The 100 Greatest Films (TV Movie documentary) Himself 2001 I Love the 1990s (TV Series documentary) Himself 2000 The Panel (TV Series) Himself 2000 Omnibus (TV Series documentary) Himself 2000 The Hatching of 'Chicken Run' (TV Short documentary) Himself 1994 Limited Edition

 (TV Series documentary) Himself 1994 Live & Kicking (TV Series) Himself Himself - Winner: Best Animated Short Film Hide Personal Details Other Works: [1996] Animated music video for "In Your Wildest Dreams" by Tina Turner and Barry White .

See more » Publicity Listings: 5 Interviews | 2 Articles | See more » Official Sites: Did You Know? Personal Quote: [on the award-winning Peter Gabriel: Sledgehammer (1986) pop video] Part of the brief in a way was to look like a fourteen-year-old kid had made it in their attic and in a way that was the way it ended up because of the speed that we did it at. It bridged the gap between pop and fine art and it changed the face of pop videos that, I think. I don't think that's overstating it, I think it did. See more » Trivia: Nick Park said in an interview that Wallace & Gromit were the first characters he really put his heart into. See more » Trademark: Knitting is featured, and done properly (with correct movements and stitches) in all W&G and Chicken Run movies. See more » Star Sign: Wallace and Gromit Nick Park Introduction British animator Nick Park (1958-) uses plasticine to bring his characters and stories to life. His stop-motion animations are famous for their expressiveness, personality, and action.

He explained the benefit of working with plasticine to create animation: Nick Park is part of a whole team at Aardman Animation Studios located in Bristol, England. His most famous animations are the Wallace and Gromit series, about an inventor and his inventive dog. These plasticine figures have become a recognizable part of British popular culture. Park's comic creations have earned the animator two Oscars and have been distributed to over 46 countries. Materials The Incredible Adventures of Wallace and Gromit DVD Bonus Features include: Introduction by Nick Park, over 30 minutes of Behind-The-Scenes footage, and Nick Park’s early works. Critical Viewings for Wallace and Gromit Series Ask students: What was your favorite episode from the Wallace and Gromit series? Why? (Provide at least 3 reasons.) What was your favorite character of Wallace & Gromit? Why? What was the character’s personality? How did the appearance of the character influence your perception of its personality? What are some of the lessons that Wallace and Gromit realize in these series? Most of Nick Park’s animations are created entirely from plasticine clay, staying close to traditions that have evolved over more than a century.

Describe some qualities about this technique that makes it so appropriate for this animation? Do the characters or humor of this series reflect different cultural norms or traditions? How? Do you think all animation reflects the time and place and people involved in its making? Wallace and Gromit Series A Grand Day Out (1989) Wallace and Gromit have run out of cheese and this provides an excellent excuse for the animated duo to take their holiday on the moon, which everyone knows is made of cheese. When they land in their rocket they discover that there is an unexpected local inhabitant from the moon. The Wrong Trousers (1993) In this Oscar winning story, Gromit (a dog) finds himself being pushed out of his room and home by a new lodger (a small penguin) who is actually a ruthless criminal. The penguin is planning a robbery and needs to use Wallace and his mechanical remote controlled trousers to pull off the raid. However, Gromit is wise to the penguin and comes to the rescue. A Close Shave (1995) When Wallace and Gromit go over to wash windows, Wallace falls in love with a wool storeowner named Wendolene.

Meanwhile, Gromit is framed for killing sheep and is put in jail. So with help from the sheep and Wendolene, Wallace is determined to get Gromit out of prison. Animator Nick Park Nick Park, born in Preston, Lancashire, UK in 1958, became interested in animation while in grade school and started making films in his parent's attic at the age of 13. Nick completed a BA degree in Communication Arts at Sheffield Art School in 1980 and in the same year went on to study animation at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, where he conceived the Wallace and Gromit characters. In 1985 he joined Aardman Animations where he has worked as Director and Animator on numerous projects and has taken his stop motion creations to Oscar glory three times. These include Creature Comforts (1989), the Wallace and Gromit series, and Chicken Run (2000). Wallace and Gromit’s first full-length feature film Curse of the Were Rabbit is about to come out October 2005.

Toonhound - Nick Park The Plasticene King of Animation, Nick Park has taken his stop-motion creations to Oscar glory three times already. His first co-directed feature 'Chicken Run' cracked open the box-office worldwide, and his two best-loved characters, 'Wallace & Gromit', have spawned a global licensing industry rivaling those of Disney and Lucasfilm. It's all a long way from the days of 'Rat and The Beanstalk' and ''Walter Goes Fishing', Nick's first animated efforts from 1971, filmed with a cine cam in the loft of his parents' Preston semi. Of course, one man alone can not make animated genius, and Nick Park has aligned himself with a whole studio of geniuses. Aardman Animation was already a thriving company when Park arrived from the National Film and Television School in 1985 with the first unfinished Wallace & Gromit film tucked under his arm. David Sproxton and Peter Lord helped him to complete 'A Grand Day Out' and eventually, in 1989, the film was released around about the same time as Park's second film, 'Creature Comforts'. The result?

Two Academy Award Nominations and an Oscar for those 'mockumentary' animals. The animal interview technique was soon redeveloped into an extraordinary Heat Electric ad campaign, and in its wake grinning pandas, pigs and penguins appeared in soft toy and keychain form in sea-front piers and funfairs all around the country. Incredibly, Park's next two Wallace & Gromit films also collected Oscars from The Academy. 'The Wrong Trousers' and 'A Close Shave' were a huge hit with the public too and this dynamic derring duo were taken to the nation's heart. When the original plasticene figures went missing in a New York taxicab in 1995 it was headline news here. The occurrence was even immortalized in the form of a special-edition fridge magnet! On the back of all this on and off screen success came THAT deal with Dreamworks SKG, securing Park's and Aardman's status in the Hollywood Big League. First off the launch pad were Rocky, Ginger and the 'Chicken Run' gang, who thwarted Mr and Mrs Tweedy and flew away with more than $200m at the international box office.

And now the first Wallace & Gromit feature beckons. 'Curse of The Wererabbit' involves a vegetable contest and a malicious vampire rodent running riot. Filming is currently underway down at Bristol as you read this. Meanwhile, Park's talking animals have returned to our televisions in the form of a breand new series of 'Creature Comforts' films. Though he hasn't directed the new series his thumbprint is still on the plasticene of Fluffy the hamster, Lizzy the Guide Dog and the rest. Park conveys his artistry through the bold, brash form of an animated comic strip. His creations take their cue from Britsh music hall slapstick, from 'The Beano' and 'Whizzer & Chips', tv's 'Terry & June' and 'Some Mother's Do 'Ave 'Em'. 'Chicken Run' is of course, a parody of the great gung-ho war film tradition of spirited British POWs defying the 'Gerries. In a Nick Park film, bulging brushstrokes of cartoon action are juxtaposed with meticulous, frame-by-frame manipulation to bring those fragile clay creations to elastic, jubilant life.

Above all else there's a delicious joy to Park's work. It can force a smile from even the most jaded soul, a tear from the most hardened. And you know what's just as exciting? - It's the way that this modest man, and his equally-modest colleagues are just as keen to give something back to the animation industry. Park, Spoxton and Lord are spreading their claymation gospel to other willing converts. They are keenly seeking out new talent and training them up for work on their various projects. But they're not stifling expression, like other studios we could name. Witness 'Rex The Runt' and 'Angry Kid' - wholly individual creations, yet they retain that special Aardmanesque feel. Nick Park has helped build a British studio to rival Uncle Walt. And that's just cracking, isn't it?

Nick Park - Biography - IMDb Nick Park Jump to: Overview (2) | Mini Bio (1) | Trade Mark (3) | Trivia (15) | Personal Quotes (4) Overview (2) Nicholas Wulstan Park Mini Bio (1) Nick Park was born on December 6, 1958 in Preston, Lancashire, England as Nicholas Wulstan Park. He is a writer and producer, known for The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), The Wrong Trousers (1993) and Chicken Run (2000). Trade Mark (3) His films always have some sort of machine that plays a major part in the film's climax. His characters have upper and lower jaws with differing curvature Knitting is featured, and done properly (with correct movements and stitches) in all W&G and Chicken Run movies. Trivia (15) Nick Park was educated at Sheffield Hallam University (UK), formerly Sheffield City Polytechnic. This is where he started making the first Wallace and Gromit film.

In 1986, he animated the dancing chickens in the Peter Gabriel music video Peter Gabriel: Sledgehammer (1986), which is considered to be one of the very best music videos ever made. He made international news when he lost the figures of Wallace and Gromit in New York City. The clay models were left in the back of a cab by mistake when Park visited New York on a promotion tour for the release of A Close Shave (1995). The original motorcycle and sidecar with Wallace and Gromit on-board were priceless and it would cost at least US$20,000 to replace them. Park appealed through the New York media for their return and this soon became a national and international news story; in the UK it was front page news and covered extensively on radio and television. They were returned 36 hours later when the cab driver read the news in the New York Post and decided to check his trunk. He was offered a reward of US$500 but refused to take it.

In a radio interview, he said that Wallace's references to Wensleydale cheese in the film A Close Shave (1995) unintentionally saved a small British cheese maker from bankruptcy. Interest in the cheese was sparked by the film, and one of the few makers of that cheese suddenly found itself with numerous requests for the cheese, saving it from financial ruin. In a radio interview, he stated that he based his character Wallace, albeit quite loosely, after his own father, who was an incurable tinkerer. One of the most unusual items he built, completely from scratch, was a small trailer the family would take on trips to the beach. Nick Park described it as "a living room on wheels," complete with wallpapered interior walls and wooden furniture bolted to the floor. Supporter of Preston North End football club. Two of the birds in Chicken Run (2000), Ginger and Rocky, were the names of pet chickens he had as a boy. 25 November 1997) Awarded CBE by HM Queen Elizabeth II . Awarded honorary Doctor of Arts degree by Bath University, England, UK.

[October 1996] He is a big fan of the Ealing comedies, particularly The Ladykillers (1955) and The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), and the films of Alfred Hitchcock , with particular favourites being Rebecca (1940) and Rear Window (1954). Nick Park said in an interview that Wallace & Gromit were the first characters he really put his heart into. The works of H.G. Wells , Rube Goldberg , and Heath Robinson are all his influences. Awarded honorary Doctor of Arts degree by Bath University, England, UK [October 1996] Awarded CBE by HRH Queen Elizabeth II [November 1997] In 2005, a fire at Aardman's Bristol warehouse has destroyed most of his artwork, sets, archives and his three Oscar statuettes won at the time. Personal Quotes (4) Plasticine was available when I was a teenager and started doing animation. I wanted to be like Disney, trying to film with plastic cels, but it was all too expensive.

I didn't have enough money to buy cels, at least not enough to make more than four-and-half seconds of animation. But Plasticine was around, user-friendly and available to the masses. It was great because all you needed was camera, an Anglepoise lamp and a table. And you would make whatever you like come out of a blob of Plasticine. It's quite a challenge when most animated movies have fast-paced, wall-to-wall dialog and ours features a silent, plasticine dog. But I think people see Wallace and Gromit as something akin to an elderly couple. These two know each other so well. Nothing can split them apart. Maybe I love Gromit because he's the dog I've never had. What dog could match him? He's the ideal. He doesn't bark, and he has your tea and dinner ready for you when you arrive home. [on the award-winning Peter Gabriel: Sledgehammer (1986) pop video] Part of the brief in a way was to look like a fourteen-year-old kid had made it in their attic and in a way that was the way it ended up because of the speed that we did it at.

It bridged the gap between pop and fine art and it changed the face of pop videos that, I think. I don't think that's overstating it, I think it did. See also Wallace and Gromit: one man and his dog - Telegraph TV and Radio Wallace and Gromit: one man and his dog How did Nick Park – Preston’s answer to Walt Disney – turn a one-ton block of clay into the drollest comedy double-act since Laurel and Hardy? By removing all traces of cool, saying no to Hollywood and loving them like family. Icons of Western culture: Wallace and Gromit Nick Park with Wallace and Gromit By Nigel Farndale 12:04PM GMT 18 Dec 2008 Michelangelo's David is 17ft tall, Nick Park's Gromit is 4in. The mouth of David is the most exquisitely modelled in all sculpture, with an upper lip composed of three distinct masses, one on either side springing up to meet the smaller central form like the keystone of an arch. Gromit has no mouth. But there are similarities. Both are unclothed.

Both are considered icons of Western culture, in their respective fields. And, just as Michelangelo carved David from a giant block of Carrara marble, releasing the figure as though he were a prisoner held within, so Park kneaded Gromit from a block of Plasticine, one that weighed an imperial ton. As a student at the National Film and Television School, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, in 1982, you see, Park wrote to Harbutt, the company in Bathampton, near Bath, that had invented non-drying clay a century earlier, and asked if he could have some Plasticine free, in return for a credit on the half-hour graduation film he was making, A Grand Day Out. 'They agreed, on condition that I arranged for an enormous block to be collected,' he says. 'It came in 10 colours, one of which was called "stone". That was the colour I wanted Gromit to be. I used that same block of Plasticine for years.' Gromit's master was to be an absent-minded inventor and Wensleydale cheese enthusiast called Wallace. Park had a vague idea of what he might look like.

He had a clearer idea of what he should sound like: Peter Sallis. Park approached the actor, a Londoner who was best known for playing the mild-mannered Yorkshireman Cleggy in Last of the Summer Wine, and asked if he might consider doing a voiceover for his student project, adding that he couldn't afford to pay him much – £50 or less, depending on how many other actors would be needed. To his surprise, Sallis agreed. Not only that, he insisted on doing an audition tape (which Park still has somewhere, he thinks). As Park was from Preston, he wanted Wallace to be a Lancastrian rather than a Yorkshireman. Sallis could do only one all-purpose Northerner, so he used that and promptly forgot all about the project. Six years later, Park rang him and said, 'It's finished!' In the official version of events, Sallis is supposed to have said: 'Oh good.' Actually, as he reveals now, what he really said was, 'F--- me!' Sitting together on the sofa, Sallis and Park are an endearing double act. Sallis is 87 and smartly dressed in a brown three-piece suit and tie.

He calls everyone 'love', and today is holding a glass of white wine in one hand and a white stick in the other (his eyesight has been affected by macular degeneration). Park turns 50 this month and, because he is dressed more casually in an open-neck shirt and jeans, Sallis admonishes him for looking scruffy – 'Walt Disney would have worn a tie.' ?They tease each other affectionately, and when I point out that there is something of the father and son about their relationship, Sallis corrects me: 'Grandfather and grandson.' 'Peter's voice has been described as being as welcome as a pair of warm slippers in an uncertain world,' Park says, fiddling with the Wallace & Gromit models on the table in front of him, a habit of his. 'That's why I wanted to use him. Something about the way he said "cheeeese" gave me the idea that Wallace's mouth should be wider than his face. I had designed Wallace before recording Peter, but he had a much smoother face. Straighter cheeks.' I imagine fans are always begging Sallis to do the voice.

'When I'm acting in a play, I do get people shout from the back of theatre, "Do No cheese, Gromit!"' Sallis says. 'I usually oblige. Well, a chap has got to earn a living.' If Sallis has Wallace's genial voice, Park has his mannerisms. Perhaps he has grown to resemble his creation, as dog-owners come to look like their pets. On the other hand, it might be that his features now tend towards over-expression, as a result of years of demonstrating to his team of animators how he wants a character's eyes or face to move. He is softly spoken, unassuming and unaffected by his wealth and fame. Though he has a girlfriend, he has never quite got round to marriage, and material possessions don't seem to interest him much. He drives a 20-year-old Volvo estate, and when the Aardman warehouse in Bristol burnt down in 2005, along with his Wallace & Gromit archive, he was philosophical about it. He said he was always trying to clear out old things anyway – besides, there was also an earthquake in Pakistan that week, so you had to keep things in perspective.

Park says he always gets 'stressed out' when making his films, because he is not very good at delegating. And such is his diffidence, he says he feels awkward promoting his own films. 'I would rather people heard about them from their friends. It makes me nervous to talk about them before they come out, in case they don't live up to expectation.' Such insecurity seems contrary, coming from a four-time Oscar winner, who not only has a CBE – the Queen is such a fan that she requested he sit next to her at a Buckingham Palace dinner a couple of years ago – but also a gold Blue Peter badge, a prized possession. As a 13-year-old he made animated films in his loft using his mother's home-movie camera and her cotton bobbins (she was a dressmaker), and he also invented things which he sent in to Blue Peter – a squeezy bottle that squeezed out different coloured wools, for example. They never quite worked, his inventions. And he says he found the world of animation a perfect compromise because the inventions there were rarely tested by reality. Wallace's best-known invention, of course, is a pair of automated trousers. Those and the bed that tips him into them.

The inventing habit had partly come from Park's late father, an architectural photographer by trade and an enthusiastic inventor by calling, one who was always tinkering in the garden shed. 'He would have hare-brained schemes such as a trailer cum beach hut. Sometimes, when I am animating Wallace I can see my father there in the eyes.' I don't think Park is shy so much as in his own world. You get a strong sense that he takes the modern world on his own terms and at his own pace. 'Would you like a chocolate biscuit?' he says, in an unhurried, buttery, soft Northern burr. 'I just popped out to Tesco's for some before you got here.' Making A Grand Day Out required patience. In the first year of filming Park had shot only one page of the script. He would probably still be making it now had he not been 'discovered' in 1985 by Aardman, the animation company that had been established in Bristol a decade earlier by Peter Lord and David Sproxton. Their biggest success at that point had been Morph, the bendy Plasticine character that featured in Tony Hart's BBC series Take Hart.

In the same year that they took on Park, they also made the celebrated video for Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer. After this, they were commissioned by Channel 4 to animate real conversations. Park had the idea of having animals in the zoo doing the talking; most memorably a Brazilian of his acquaintance who was always moaning about how cold it was in London. He became a melancholy lion, lying limply on a branch. The short film was called Creature Comforts, and in 1990 Park won his first Oscar for it. Having forgotten to pack a bow-tie for the ceremony, he made one out of wrapping paper and Sellotape. His chances of winning were good that year, as A Grand Day Out was also nominated. After this came two more Wallace & Gromit half-hour films for the BBC, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave. They both won Oscars as well. The Hollywood studios, already fizzing about the success of a new wave of computer-generated animations from the Disney-Pixar studio (Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles), as well as its rival Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks (Shrek) began a bidding war to collaborate with Aardman.

DreamWorks won and flew Park over to California in a private jet. The first feature film was called Chicken Run and it used the traditional Park technique of Plasticine models and stop-motion film, rather than the overly polished CGI. Mel Gibson provided the lead voice. It was a box-office hit. A Wallace & Gromit feature was planned, also in stop motion. It took five years to make and, when it was released in 2005, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit became a number-one box-office hit in America and Britain. It won another Oscar, and when Park went to the ceremony with Sallis, both managed to get locked out after a visit to the lavatory, an anecdote they take delight in. But the experience of working for a big, pushy American studio left a sour taste in Park's mouth. He found the experience stressful. It didn't suit his nature. This, after all, is a man who is happiest when out bird-watching with his binoculars in the English countryside. 'I would get these notes saying, "Shouldn't Wallace have a cooler, more modern car?" and I would say, "No, you're missing the point. The irony doesn't translate.

It's cool because it's not." Having made three half-hour films already, I was in a position where I could say, "No, Wallace wouldn't do it." There is a false assumption that if things look old-fashioned children won't relate to it. Well, my favourite programme as a child was Dad's Army.' Although Americans clearly love Wallace & Gromit, you do wonder how well the British suburban atmosphere of the films translates. Park's world is a nostalgic place, not unlike Beanotown circa 1950. People still say "crikey" and "cracking". Not only are his films influenced by the Ealing comedies of the 1950s, but they also owe a lot to the comics Park read as child, especially The Dandy and The Beano. He likes the low filmic angles they used. 'And I loved the way The Dandy set a cowboy in a strange northern town. I loved the idea of pie-eating contests.' ?They reminded him of the Preston he grew up in, the middle of five children.

'Where I come from, your biggest ambition would be to grow the biggest carrot.' After a disappointing non-Park CGI film Flushed Away, the DreamWorks partnership ended abruptly and Aardman has since signed a new contract with Sony Pictures to make three more feature films. Park, meanwhile, returned to the BBC, and he says it feels like coming home. The new half-hour Wallace & Gromit film, A Matter of Loaf and Death, is to be the highlight of the BBC Christmas schedule this year, and not since another comic double act, Morecambe and Wise, lifted the national mood with their Christmas specials in the strike-ridden, candle-lit, three-day-week Winter of Discontent that was the 1970s, has the country so needed a festive dose of Wallace & Gromit. In this film, Wallace becomes a baker and Gromit becomes concerned by the news that 12 local bakers have 'disappeared' in recent months. Wallace isn't worried. He's too distracted by his love for bread enthusiast Piella Bakewell. Gromit sets out to solve the escalating murder mystery on his own. 'I guess the films have become associated with Christmas,' Park says.

'There is something cosy about them. Cosy but sparkling, I hope. I think there isn't enough innocent comedy around at the moment. I enjoyed making the full-length Chicken Run and Were-Rabbit, but I didn't like the way they focus-grouped and tested to death. It is not an industrial process. It is personal. I can't make films for some kid in the suburbs of America. I can't guess what they want. I have to go by what I find funny. I think I got one note from the BBC on this whole project.' I ask if I can pick his Gromit model up. It is heavier than you would imagine because it has an 'armature' (metal skeleton) inside the clay. Park has to wash his hands constantly to keep Gromit clean. 'Yes but we have about five Gromit models in this film because we were shooting every scene all that time, on 13 sets.' When you are sculpting with your hands, he says, it is a direct and intimate process. Something about the idea of the clay having your fingerprint on it. In this sense there is a 'smoothness' to CGI he doesn't like.

'Actually, there are so many people doing computer animation at Disney-Pixar and DreamWorks so wonderfully, it makes me think I should stick to this, because it's different. 'The beauty of Plasticine is that the animator is moving it for every frame of film every 25th of a second, so although you are basing Wallace on Peter's performance, you are also bringing the voice to a visual and tactile form. Because it is organic you can get human nuances that you don't get with computer animation. Ratatouille was an exception, I think; I thought that was as good as Gromit. I loved The Incredibles, too.' (Two Disney-Pixar films, note. No bitterness there, then.) Aardman is based in a converted banana-ripening warehouse down by the old docks in Bristol. A team of animators work in the gloom of the basement. There are decapitated versions of Gromit and Wallace's limbs scattered around, as well as sketches and prototypes for new projects lining the walls. A day's work is between 1½ and 3 seconds of animation.

Once the computer has captured the filmed image on screen and recorded it to the hard disk, the character is moved fractionally and the next frame taken. The dialogue is recorded first, edited and broken down frame by frame. This information is then transcribed to a 'bar sheet', where each part of the speech is phonetically given a frame number. This becomes the animator's shooting reference and he ticks off each frame as he animates. Park goes to great lengths to make his films feel cinematic. Wallace & Gromit are framed and lit like real actors – tilted camera angles and long expressionistic shadows. The soundtrack is similarly ambitious: a 65-piece orchestra is used to record the score. The animator Steve Box is probably Park's closest collaborator. Although he says that Park tends to settle arguments by plonking one of his Oscars on the table, he also says that 'If you spend any time with Nick, you'll see that he treats Wallace & Gromit like real people. He'll never let them do anything out of character. It sounds strange, but he has real respect for them.' Back in 1982, Park toyed with the idea of giving Gromit a voice.

'Do you remember Spotty Dog and Bill and Ben and Captain Pugwash? Well they were all voiced by Peter Hawkins and I recorded him as Gromit for a morning, getting him to repeat everything Wallace said in a doggy voice, but when I tried to animate this it was too difficult, so I actually found that I could use Gromit's eyebrows to do all the speaking instead.' This revelation came when Wallace was sawing through one end of a table and using Gromit's back to support the other end. The angle was too low to see the mouth that Gromit briefly had then, so he spoke with his eyebrows instead and his mouth was permanently removed. 'Gromit's character grew from that moment. The brow shows how less is more. You read more into it. It gives you more to interpret. It also makes you empathise with Gromit. You suffer with him. After that he became quite introverted and thoughtful. Because his master was a dunderhead it was a better dynamic between them.' When not saving Wallace from various scrapes, Gromit is happiest reading the paper in a comfy chair. In a way he is Blackadder to Wallace's Prince Regent.

Jeeves to Wallace's Wooster. You know who is really in charge. Like Jeeves, indeed, Gromit reads Dostoyevsky, or rather Dogstoyevsky. He also enjoys Bach, knitting and cooking. And he graduated with a double first in engineering from Dogwarts University. Much of the humour in Park's films arises from Wallace & Gromit's nods towards well-known movies, including The Terminator, Brief Encounter and The Dam Busters. In the latest there is a post-modern moment in which Wallace, a figure made out of clay, re-enacts the scene from Ghost in which a man messily seduces a woman by making a pot from clay. Gromit's silence makes him the perfect straight man. I ask about the way the long-suffering Gromit occasionally looks at camera, though: was that a homage to Laurel and Hardy? 'Actually, what inspired that shot was the moment in Trading Places where the Duke brothers are explaining commodities such as orange juice and wheat to Billy Ray Valentine (played by Eddie Murphy). They say, "Then there is bacon, which you might find in a bacon lettuce and tomato sandwich." That's when Billy Ray looks straight at the camera.

The first time I used that was in A Grand Day Out when Wallace says, "Let's go somewhere where there is cheese."' Park will be spending Christmas with his family in Preston. 'I'm the cheapskate uncle who gives his nieces and nephews Shaun the Sheep merchandise, or my board game.' As someone who understands children so well, has Park considered having his own? 'Yeah, sure. I do love kids. I think part of the secret of Wallace & Gromit is being a child yourself. Letting that child out to play. I do access that side of my personality.' I ask Park if he feels as though Wallace & Gromit have taken on a life of their own. He picks them up as he considers this. 'I don't take them to bed with me or anything, but I do love their characters. They are like my children. They are on the BBC this Christmas, so it's like seeing your children doing well. I love to see them doing well out there in the real world, featuring in magazines and so on.' And what are his plans for them in the future? 'As far as what they do next you'd have to ask them.' A shy, toothy smile creeps across his face.

'That sounds odd I know, but you'd really have to ask them. That's how I think of Wallace & Gromit.' 'The Curse of the Were-Rabbit', 4.25pm, BBC1, Christmas Day. 'A Matter of Loaf and Death' is at 8.30pm. Wallace & Gromit present… A World of Cracking Ideas is an exhibition at the Science Museum, from 27 March until 31 October History | Aardman History Back to top 1972 Aardman's adeptness of engaging audiences with compelling stories told through animation, has earned the company a deserved worldwide reputation. Their award-winning work produces a unique brand of independent film alongside work for broadcast and advertising spots. The studio has had ten Oscar® nominations, and has won four. Peter Lord and David Sproxton began their animating partnership at school. In 1972 they registered the name Aardman Animations. After graduating, they moved to Bristol in 1976 where they produced their first professional production, creating Morph for the children’s programme 'Take Hart'. From the start Peter and David were interested in developing an adult audience for model animation.

Conversation Pieces commissioned by Channel Four Television in 1982 enabled the pair to develop its innovative technique of animating puppet characters to real-life conversations. With films like Early Bird (set in a local radio station) Aardman demonstrated that real people could be characterised with insight, humour and sensitivity. Peter and David met Nick Park at the National Film and Television School when he was working on his student film A Grand Day Out. He joined Aardman full time in 1985. 1986 In 1986, Peter Gabriel suggested that they collaborate with director Stephen Johnson and the Brothers Quay to create a new rock video. Sledgehammer went on to collect almost every award that year. That original combination of rhythm, energy, style and visual flair was also harnessed to provide the visual accompaniment to the late Nina Simone's My Baby Just Cares For Me and Robert Parker's Barefootin'. In 1989 the studio was again commissioned by Channel Four Television to create a series of five 5-minute films, Lip Synch.

This ground-breaking series further explored the world of animation based on true characters and real voices and included Peter Lord's War Story and Going Equipped, Barry Purves' Next, Richard Goleszowski's Ident and Nick Park's Creature Comforts, which went on to win the 1990 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. 1993 In 1993 Aardman passed another milestone with the completion of Nick Park's Oscar winning The Wrong Trousers, Aardman's first 30 minute film. Acclaimed world-wide and winner of over thirty awards, The Wrong Trousers has become one of the most successful animated films ever made. 1995 In 1995 Aardman produced Nick Park's third Oscar winning film A Close Shave. An immediate success, it confirmed the studio’s reputation as well as establishing Wallace and Gromit as household names. In 1996 the studio produced Peter Lord's Oscar nominated 11 minute short film, Wat's Pig (for Channel Four) as well as a children's series based on Morph, The Morph Files.

1998 In 1998, Aardman won a BAFTA for Stage Fright, an 11 minute short film commissioned by Channel Four Television. Steve Box, Nick Park's key animator on both The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave, directed Stage Fright. The studio’s first animated television series for youth and adults, Rex The Runt, created and directed by long time Aardman associate Richard Goleszowski, was first shown on BBC2 in 1998 and garnered many top international awards. A second series was commissioned and shown on BBC2 in 2001. Angry Kid, directed by Darren Walsh, was Aardman’s first series released exclusively on the internet via Atomfilms.com. BBC Three commissioned a second series which played a major part in the channel’s launch. 2000 Chicken Run was Aardman’s first full-length theatrical feature film to be funded by DreamWorks. Directed by both Peter Lord and Nick Park it was released in June 2000 in the US and UK to excellent reviews and outstanding box office receipts. Chicken Run has grossed over $220M at the worldwide box office.

In autumn 2002 Aardman released Cracking Contraptions, a series of 10 x 1 minute Wallace and Gromit films. The films debuted on the Internet and were viewed by hundreds of thousands of people world-wide. All 10 films were then shown on BBC1 over the 2002 autumn and Christmas schedule. The films were also released online in the US via AtomFilms who went on to offer a subscription package for all ten. 2005 To mass critical acclaim and outstanding box office results, Wallace and Gromit's first feature film The Curse of the Were-Rabbit was released by DreamWorks in October 2005. The film topped the box office charts in both the US and UK and garnered many prestigious international awards including the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film and a BAFTA for Best British Film. As the success of The Curse of the Were-Rabbit reverberated around the world a fire swept through a storage warehouse containing models, props and many other treasures created by the animators and designers at Aardman.

2007 Flushed Away, the studio's first CG film was released worldwide by DreamWorks in November 2006, it was nominated for a BAFTA in 2007. Aardman's television series, Shaun the Sheep debuted on BBC1 and CBBC in March 2007. Inspired by Nick Park’s 1995 Academy Award winning short film A Close Shave, the series has been sold worldwide. Also in 2007 Aardman produced a US version of Creature Comforts. The studio began to expand with the founding of a brand new Digital department, a division dedicated to producing digital content and creating engaging online communities, teleporting Aardmans entertainment expertise into the virtual world. 2008 Wallace and Gromit’s A Matter of Loaf and Death was broadcast on BBC One on Christmas day 2008 and enthralled a record audience of 16.15 million. It was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Short Animated Film category and went on to win the BAFTA for Best Animated Short Film. Every Wallace and Gromit adventure has now won a BAFTA and they have all been nominated for an Oscar.

In 2009 Wallace and Gromit featured in ‘The World of Cracking Ideas’ a major exhibition held at the Science Museum in London that attracted over half a million UK visitors to date. Timmy Time, Aardman’s first pre-school television production debuted on CBeebies and the much anticipated second series of Shaun the Sheep began broadcasting on BBC One. Later that year the studio partnered with Tate Museums and Legacy Trust UK on a major filmmaking project, a challenge to get children across the UK to come together and contribute ideas for an animated movie via a successful online community. The Tate Movie Project was the first of its kind, and on the film’s release in 2011 set a new Guinness World Record for the ‘Largest Number of Contributors to a Film Production’. The project won a number of innovation and interactive awards including BAFTA for Best Interactive. The company now holds three unbeaten world records. 2010 In 2010 a new six part TV series - Wallace and Gromit’s World of Invention was produced and broadcast on BBC One – an accompanying website and game were developed, extending the viewer’s experience across multiple platforms and went on to win the company its first BAFTA for New Media.

2010 also saw the launch of Shaun the Sheep spin off game Home Sheep Home, which proved a huge success and reached nearly 70 million plays within its first year and won numerous industry awards. 2011 As part of the studio's feature film deal with Sony Pictures Animation (SPE), Arthur Christmas – an action-adventure comedy set on Christmas Eve was released in November 2011 and The Pirates! - In An Adventure With Scientists — a delicious confection of piracy on the high seas, was released in March 2012 and received an Academy Award nomination the following year. 2012 In July 2012 Wallace and Gromit’s Musical Marvels, a live orchestral event featuring bespoke animation and screening of A Matter of Loaf and Death launched at The Royal Albert Hall as a flagship family Proms event. The following year, in another first for the company, the Thrill-o-Matic, an original Wallace and Gromit theme park ride opened at Blackpool Pleasure Beach as the company continued to develop and realise the commercial potential of their properties through promotions, exhibitions and live events.

2013 saw over 80 giant Gromit sculptures decorating the streets of Bristol for 10 weeks in the Gromit Unleashed trail. This was one of the highest-profile charity arts-trails the country has ever seen. The phenomenon boasted an eclectic line-up of artists, celebrities and fashion designers who created designs for the 5ft Gromits, attracting over 1.2 million visitors and reportedly contributing a massive £120 million to the Bristol economy. The trail culminated in an exhibition in September, and a thrilling auction, led by TV celebrity auctioneer Tim Wonnacott, which raised a huge £2,357,000.00 for Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal and Bristol’s Children’s Hospital. This unique charity initiative was replicated with Shaun in the City, where 120 giant Shaun the Sheep sculptures decorated the streets of London and Bristol in the Spring and Summer of 2015 which went on to raise over £1,000,000 for children’s hospitals throughout the UK.

In April 2013 Aardman announced an exciting new independent filmmaking partnership with StudioCanal to create the first feature length Shaun the Sheep movie which saw a worldwide theatrical release in 2015. Following the success of their first collaboration, Aardman and StudioCanal have gone into production on a new film from Academy award-winner Nick Park, a prehistoric adventure titled Early Man which will be released in 2018. Production continues at the studio, with the fifth series of Shaun the Sheep in production, a half hour special Shaun the Sheep: The Farmer’s Llamas being produced for Christmas 2015 and a number of feature films projects in development. As the studio’s reputation has grown both in the UK and overseas, so has the demand for its commercials, branded content and digital work. Agencies appreciate the contribution that Aardman’s directors and creatives can make to an original idea and the company has built up an impressive client list including Chevron, BBC, Serta, Department of Health, Nike, McVities, Kellogg's, Macmillan and Cartoon Network to name a few.

This work has continued to diversify with innovative high profile content created for the Imperial War Museum, unique BBC Radio trailers, Google Spotlight technology and the first ever global cinema ad for Project Everyone’s Global Goals campaign. Aardman continue to develop its attractions and live events business across the world, with an ever expanding portfolio of interactive experiences, theme parks, live shows and exhibitions in development. In March 2015, an exhibition celebrating the art of Aardman opened at Art Ludique in Paris ahead, of the company celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2016. From Peter and David's tabletop beginnings, Aardman has grown into a major, world class studio. Their work continues to be both innovative, entertaining, brilliantly characterised and full of charm, reflecting the talent, energy and personal commitment of all the people who comprise the Aardman team. Welcome | Wallace and Gromit Welcome to the world of Wallace & Gromit, the home of everything to do with the eccentric inventor and his trusted canine friend. Revisit classic film moments and get to know a little more about Nick Park, creator of one of the best-loved duos in animation.

Delve into a history filled with quirky stories and fascinating trivia, as well as following the recent news from the world of Aardman, sharing your own Wallace & Gromit creations, taking part in competitions and much more. "Won’t you come in? We were just about to have some cheese…"

Question: What is the name of Nick Park's film animation company?
Answer: Aardman