Aardman's History

Aardman has a deserved reputation as a world leader in model animation. The studio has had seven Oscar nomination, and has won four. In 1972 Peter Lord and David Sproxton registered the name Aardman Animations. In 1976 they created "Morph" (shown Left) for the children's programme'Take Hart'. 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.

In 1986, Peter Gabriel suggested that theycollaborate with director Stephen Johnson and the Brothers Quay to create a new rock video“Sledgehammer”. In 1989 the studio was again commissioned by Channel Four Television to createa 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 Nick Park's “Creature Comforts” (Shown Right), which went on to win the 1990 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

In 1993 Aardman passed another milestone with the completion of Nick Park's Oscar winning “The Wrong Trousers”, Aardman's first 30 minut

e film. 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.

A television series was commissioned and shown on BBC2 in 2001. “Angry Kid” (Shown Left), 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.

“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” (shown Below) grossed over $220M at the worldwide box office.

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.

“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.