Resources

Animators

Aardman

Aardman was founded in Bristol in 1972 by two young animator friends, Peter Lord and David Sproxton. The company was named after a character in one of their early films made for BBC Television. They specialised in model animation, using plasticene - a technique perfected by the American animator Will Vinton, who coined the term 'claymation'. Aardman established its reputation with a children's television character, Morph, so-called because of his ability to change shape. Morph first appeared in 1976 with Tony Hart in the BBC's programme Vision On. The character proved so popular that Aardman made a series, The Amazing Adventures of Morph in 1980.

Meanwhile, Lord and Sproxton were developing a novel approach to animation, aimed at an older audience. In their series of Animated Conversations (BBC, 1978) and Conversation Pieces (Channel 4, 1982), they developed their technique of using real-life conversations, recorded documentary-style, as the basis for character animation. This technique was taken a step further by Nick Park, who joined Aardman in 1985, in his Oscar-winning Creature Comforts (1989) where real-life interviews were 'spoken' by zoo animals.

With his Wallace and Gromit films, Park rapidly became the star animator of the studio. Aardman has also nurtured the talents of other animators like Steve Box, whose Stage Fright (1997) won a BAFTA Award, Richard Goleszowski, responsible for Rex the Runt (1998 and 2001) and Creature Comforts (1995-2003), and Darren Walsh with his Angry Kid (2000-2003).

Aardman began making TV commercials in 1984 and has produced a clutch of memorable adverts for British and US television. Amongst their work are commercials for Lurpak, Crunchie, Polo mints, Lego and Cadburys.

Their move into feature film production in 1997 had been long planned and involved a big expansion for the studio. Chicken Run, directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park, was the first of a number of films produced in association with Steven Spielberg's studio, DreamWorks. Chicken Run was released in 2000 and proved highly popular. The next major production, Curse of the Wererabbit (2005) will be Aardman’s first Wallace and Gromit feature.