Here, you’ll discover news, reviews, and new projects from Aardman Animations. Aardman has created several claymation classics you’ll remember, and young kids everywhere will love to watch for the first time.
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Aardman Links
Aardman Movies List
- Chicken Run 2
- A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
- Early Man
- Shaun the Sheep Movie
- The Pirates! Band of Misfits
- Arthur Christmas [Arthur Christmas characters]
- Flushed Away
- Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
- Chicken Run
Aardman History
Aardman Animations is a name tantamount to goofy animals and quirky animations. On the other hand, the company’s times gone by cover a bigger part, as you’ll find out in this piece. Let’s return to Ye Olde Britain, where the Aardman Animations story begins.
David Sproxton and Peter Lord were good friends during their early years in Bristol, where they grew up. The two remained close friends despite studying at different colleges. But if you would like to make your vision of creating your animation movie a reality, who should you call on? Keep on reading.
Aardman Animations Limited, also known as Aardman or just Aardman Studios, is one of the most distinguished animation studios in the world. The company based in Bristol has gained prominence for its stop-motion clay animation techniques, which involve videoing 3D items frame by frame. In particular, it is known for its short films featuring plasticine characters Wallace and Gromit, as well as the Oscar award-winning The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave.
Following a few experimental animation short films in the late 90s, starting out with Ozwat in 1997, Aardman got into the computer-animated film market using Flushed Away in 2006. Aardman Studios have been able to make 1 billion dollars globally an average of 147 million dollars for every film.
Every single stop-motion film that they have produced ranks amongst the best-earning films. Chicken Run, which is their first feature film released in 2000, is Aardman’s top-grossing stop-motion film of all time.
Peter and David met in school in the late 1960s and started creating short animation videos using a 16mm camera owned by David’s dad. The duo was initially motivated by Terry Gilliam’s animation techniques for the much-admired Monty Python’s Flying Circus BBC series.
However, Ray Harryhausen founded the animation techniques that revolved around clay. The legendary Ray Harryhausen’s work is featured in film classics such as One Million Years B.C., Jason and the Argonauts, and The Voyage of Sinbad. These films provided the most significant influence on the developing style used by Sproxton and Lord.
The pair began making their new film, and in 1972, they developed an ‘idiotic Superman’ film known as Aardman. BBC later acquired the Aardman film, broadcast as a series of animated films. Taking on Aardman Animations as the company name, Sproxton and Lord started producing the animation series Vision On, a BBC television program for deaf kids.
During this period, Aardman Animations Limited began focusing on using plasticine clay, partly because the method was mostly overlooked in the English animation channels.
After developing a Greeblies’ segment in 1975 through clay animation, this turned out to be a motivation for developing Morph, an uncomplicated character. During the same period, the duo moved nearer to BBC studios, making their initial venture into adult animation and completing the two films Confessions of a Foyer Girl and Down and Out.
Besides, Aardman Studios made the title series for The Great Egg Race. After that, the company provided animation for the music film of the Sledgehammer song by Peter Gabriel. In 1987, they also created the music video for Nina Simone’s song My Baby Just Cares for Me.
Subsequently, Aardman Studios created numerous for Channel 4, the UK’s first independent television channel. Amongst the various shorts was the Conversation Pieces series, which worked in a similar area as the Animated Conversation pieces. At this time, the co-founders started signing up more animators.
Three of the new arrivals made their managerial debut at Aardman Studios via the 5 Lip Synch sequences. Of the Lip Synch series, one short was directed by Nick Park, the other by Richard Goleszowski, the other by Barry Purves, and the last two by Peter Lord.
In 1991, Creature Comforts, the short directed by Nick Park, became Ardaman Studios’ first production to win an Academy Award. Moreover, Nick Park created clay-molded films. These films, which featured the escapades of Wallace and Gromit, included A Close Shave in 1995, The Wrong Trousers in 1993, and A Grand Day Out in 1989.
In 1997, Aardman Animations Limited partnered with DreamWorks Animation and agreed to finance as well as distribute Aardman’s first feature film, Chicken Run. By this time, the Chicken Run film had been in production for a year.
Near the end of 1999, the DreamWorks animation partnership swiftly turned into a solid deal that guaranteed Aardman Studios 250 million dollars. The agreement was to create an extra four films that were to be accomplished within the subsequent 12 years.
In 2000, Aardman launched Chicken Run film to incredible financial success. Five years later, the pair Wallace and Gromit resumed in Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. In 2006, Aardman Studios launched Flushed Away, their initial computer-animated feature.
In 2007, Aardman terminated their contract with DreamWork Animation. They had a different film, Crood Awakening in the making. The Crood Awakening film was announced in 2005, with John Cheese writing the screenplay. Nevertheless, seeing as the partnership had ended, the film’s rights were changed back to Dream Works Animation.
Since 2007, none of the feature films made by Aardman Studios have been as attractive to enthusiasts as the ones they produced earlier. Both The Pirates! In Adventure With Scientists! (also called The Pirates Band of Misfits) Arthur Christmas didn’t get much attention from the media or fans. All the same, the two films raised reasonable sums at the box office and were adequately reviewed.
Aardman Studios did not only work on films. Apart from films, they also made television sequences for several firms and channels, like Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon, and numerous different shorts, though none of them became a great hit. Aardman also made some music videos for the legendary Justin Bieber. They also created lots of TV advertisements for firms from Nokia to PG Tips.
Aardman Animations Limited remains a busy company. It would be fair to say that their achievements have continuously been matched by their secret, overlooked projects. Even though their worldwide successes have made them household names, even their minor projects are still loved by the British community.
Also, check out Nickelodeon Movies.