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88-515: Aardman Animations Limited , stylized as AARDMAN since 2022, is a British animation studio based in Bristol . It is known for films and television series made using stop motion and clay animation techniques, particularly those featuring its plasticine characters from Wallace & Gromit , Chicken Run , Shaun the Sheep , and Morph . After some experimental computer-animated short films during

176-518: A $ 7,027 average from 2,491 theatres. Overall, the film placed second behind Me, Myself & Irene . In its second weekend, the film held well as it slipped only 25% to $ 13,192,897 for a $ 4,627 average from expanding to 2,851 theatres and finishing in fourth place. The film's widest release was 2,953 theatres, after grossing $ 106,834,564 in the United States and Canada. In the United Kingdom, it

264-488: A big deal." On 1 October 2006, right before the release of Flushed Away , The New York Times reported that due to creative differences, DreamWorks Animation and Aardman had decided to end their contract. The deal was officially terminated on 30 January 2007. According to an Aardman spokesperson: "The business model of DreamWorks no longer suits Aardman and vice versa. But the split couldn't have been more amicable." Unofficial reasons for departure were weak performances of

352-447: A company they were eager to make their presence felt in the animation market in an attempt to compete with Disney's dominance of the field. Katzenberg explained that he had "been chasing these guys for five or six years, ever since I first saw Creature Comforts ." DreamWorks secured their first animated feature with the film, and they handled distribution in all territories except Europe, which Pathé handled. The two studios co-financed

440-563: A director since Chicken Run . Two additional films were announced in June 2007: The Cat Burglars , a stop-motion animated heist comedy film directed by Steve Box , about cat burglars that steal milk, and their plans to pull off 'the great milk float robbery'; and an untitled Nick Park project (which would later become Early Man ). The studio is also known to provide generous resources and training to young animators by providing awards at various animation festivals. For example, The Aardman Award at

528-534: A dog was clearly more suitable as a loyal pet/companion than a cat and also because a dog would be easier to make and animate in Plasticine. Embedded in the ABC News article is a video interview with Lord and Sproxton, which gives information not only on Wallace and Gromit, but also Shaun the Sheep and others. On 9 November 2018, Aardman Animations announced that Lord and Sproxton would be transferring majority ownership of

616-600: A five-piece, " Viva Forever ". The video took over five months to produce, considerably longer than the group's box office hit movie, Spice World . He is also the co-creator of the Finnish-British animated series Moominvalley , based on the Moomins books. 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,

704-478: A full-length animated feature film i.e. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , which laid the foundation for other studios to try to make full-length movies. In 1932 Flowers and Trees , a production by Walt Disney Productions and United Artists , won the first Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film . This period, from the 1920s to the 1950s or sometimes considered from 1911 to the death of Walt Disney in 1966,

792-598: A longer running manga or animated series. As the OAV market is not adapted to the rigors that are faced by television shows or feature films, they have been known to show gratuitous amounts of violence and/or pornography. Some OAV's have registered such strong acclaim that they have been remade as anime television series as well as theatrical releases. Since most new OVA's are derived from other animated media, many animation studios that have previously worked on animated series or movies, and adaptations of Japanese manga, have now entered

880-476: A new Wallace and Gromit short film, called A Matter of Loaf and Death . The first film made in partnership with Sony was the computer-animated Arthur Christmas (2011), which is Aardman's first 3D feature film. 2012 saw the release of The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (known internationally in America as The Pirates! Band of Misfits ), Aardman's first 3D stop-motion film and Lord's first film as

968-506: A new animation studio, Studio Ghibli , which would be used for the personal works of Miyazaki and his close friend, Isao Takahata . Many of Ghibli's works have become Japan's top-grossing theatrical films, whether in live-action or animated form. The market for 'OAV's or ' Original Anime Video ' later the acronym would be better known as 'OVA' meaning 'Original video animation' as the term 'OAV' could often be misunderstood for 'Original Adult Video', began in 1984. These are often tended towards

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1056-425: A new supplier. On 1 March 2024 Emma Hardie was announced to be the newly created role of Executive Commercial and Brand Director. She will be oversee financing, distribution, licensing, marketing, and planning of the studio's animated intellectual property. She takes up the role, which includes a seat on Aardman's executive board, on April 15. Peter Lord was also stepping down from Aardman’s executive board to focus on

1144-704: A number of shorts for Channel 4 , including the Conversation Pieces series. These five shorts worked in the same area as the Animated Conversations pieces, 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 Lord, one by Barry Purves , one by Richard Goleszowski and one by Nick Park . In 1990, Park's short, Creature Comforts ,

1232-508: A profitable enterprise and many have entered the made for television market since, with Joseph Barbera and William Hanna refining the production process for television animation on their show Ruff and Reddy . It was in 1958 that The Huckleberry Hound Show claimed the title of being the first all-new half-hour cartoon show. This, along with their previous success with the series Tom and Jerry , elevated their animation studio, H.B. Enterprises (later Hanna-Barbera Productions ), to dominate

1320-410: A romantic relationship. Nick and Fetcher, two rats that have been helping the chickens throughout the escape, decide to set up their own egg farm, but they fall into a circular debate over whether they must use a chicken or egg to start it. Chicken Run was first conceived in 1995 by Aardman co-founder Peter Lord and Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park. According to Park, the project started as

1408-526: A slate of individual projects as the Creative Director. He also intends to act as an ambassador for the company and British animation. Along the announcements Sarah Cox and Daniel Efergan have received promotions to Chief Creative Director and Executive Creative Director of Interactive & Innovation respectively. On 8 March 2024 Aardman and the BBC announced a new collaboration called Things We Love , based on

1496-413: A spoof on the 1963 film The Great Escape . Chicken Run was Aardman Animations ' first feature-length production, which would be executive produced by Jake Eberts . Nick Park and Peter Lord , who run Aardman, directed the film, while Karey Kirkpatrick scripted, with additional input from Mark Burton and John O'Farrell . When a chicken speaks, each sound corresponds to a different beak that

1584-550: A very small core group. After being bought out or sold to other companies, they eventually consolidated with other studios and became larger. The drawback of this setup was that there was now a major thrust towards profitability with the management acting as a damper towards creativity of these studios, continuing even in today's scenario. Currently, the independent animation studios are looking to ensure artistic integrity by signing up with big animation studios on contracts that allow them to license out movies, without being directed by

1672-606: Is a 2000 animated adventure comedy film produced by Pathé and Aardman Animations in partnership with DreamWorks Animation . Aardman's first feature-length film, it was directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park (in their feature-length directorial debuts) from a screenplay by Karey Kirkpatrick and based on an original story by Lord and Park. The film stars the voices of Julia Sawalha , Mel Gibson , Tony Haygarth , Miranda Richardson , Phil Daniels , Lynn Ferguson , Timothy Spall , Imelda Staunton , and Benjamin Whitrow . Set in

1760-420: Is a motion picture subsidiary of Aardman Animations. It has produced 9 films so far, 3 with DreamWorks Animation, 2 with Sony Pictures Animation, 3 with StudioCanal and 1 with Netflix. Nathan Love LLC (formerly Aardman Nathan Love LLC from 2006–2019) is an American subsidiary of Aardman Animations. Joe Burrascano founded the company in 2007. The works of Aardman have received numerous awards and nominations,

1848-687: Is commonly known as the Golden Age of American Animation as it included the growth of Disney, as well as the rise of Warner Bros. Cartoons and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio as prominent animation studios. Disney continued to lead in technical prowess among studios for a long time afterwards, as can be seen with their achievements . In 1941, Otto Messmer created the first animated television commercials for Botany Tie ads/weather reports. They were shown on NBC-TV in New York until 1949. This marked

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1936-520: Is dated around 1917, but it would take until 1956 for the Japanese animation industry to successfully adopt the studio format as used in the United States. In 1961, these productions began to be aired in the US. Toei Animation , formed in 1948, was the first Japanese animation studio of importance and saw the reduction of animators as independent anime artists. After the formation of Toei Animation Co. Ltd. in 1948,

2024-601: Is subject to local intellectual property rights. The animators must also be aware of the contracts laws and labour laws prevalent in the jurisdiction to which the animation studio is subject to. There have been numerous legal battles fought over the copyright of famous franchises, such as Kung Fu Panda and SpongeBob SquarePants . This has come about as a result of the clause in Copyright contracts that states that an idea cannot be protected, only an actual piece of work can be said to be infringed upon. This means that though

2112-626: The Chicago Sun-Times gave three and a half stars out of four, writing: "So it truly is a matter of life and death for the chickens to escape from the Tweedy Chicken Farm in Chicken Run , a magical new animated film that looks and sounds like no other. Like the otherwise completely different Babe , this is a movie that uses animals as surrogates for our hopes and fears, and as the chickens run through one failed escape attempt after another,

2200-487: The Royal Air Force to build an aircraft to flee the farm. The chickens assemble parts for the plane as Mr Tweedy fixes the pie-making machine. Meanwhile, Rocky comes across a billboard advertising Mrs Tweedy's chicken pies and returns to the farm out of guilt. Mrs Tweedy orders Mr Tweedy to gather all the chickens for the machine, but the chickens subdue him and finish the plane, which Ginger persuades Fowler to pilot. As

2288-513: The highest-grossing stop-motion film of all time . A sequel, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget , was released in 2023. Aardman was founded in 1972 as a low-budget project by Peter Lord and David Sproxton , who wanted to realise their dream of producing an animated motion picture. The partnership provided animated sequences for the BBC series for deaf children Vision On . The company name originates from

2376-718: The Aardman YouTube channel, which is a YouTube Partner channel featuring the entire Creature Comforts TV series, the Morph series, Cracking Contraptions and clips from the Wallace and Gromit films. From December 2008, Aardman also started posting various flash games on Newgrounds , the majority of which are based on Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep . In 2009, Nintendo announced that Aardman would make twelve short films using only Flipnote Studio . The films were posted on Flipnote's Hatena web service provider. The first film

2464-485: The BBC asked them to whom they should make their first cheque out. Co-founder David Sproxton has claimed that the name was a result of being unable to "find another word with more A's in it than 'aardvark ' " as a schoolboy. A number of Aardman directors have worked at other studios, taking the distinctive Aardman style with them. Aardman's Steve Box directed the animated music video for the Spice Girls ' final single as

2552-740: The British stop-motion animated series Digby Dragon debuted on Nick Jr. UK in 2016. In advance of Aardman's fortieth anniversary, the BBC One aired the one-hour television documentary A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman , first broadcast in December 2015. Narrated by Julie Walters , this career retrospective includes commentary by the company's founders and staff, as well as various friends, fans and colleagues including Terry Gilliam , John Lasseter , and Matt Groening . From 29 June 2017 to 29 October 2017, an exhibition entitled "Wallace and Gromit and Friends"

2640-482: The Garden Wall special alongside series creator Patrick McHale to celebrate the miniseries' 10th anniversary, set for release on 3 November 2024. On 21 October 2024, Aardman announced that they would team up with Mattel Television Studios to produce a new Pingu series. The company name is taken from one of its early characters, a superhero created for Vision On in 1972. Unlike the claymation productions that

2728-708: The Japanese studios churned out minor works of animation. But with the release of Toei's first theatrical feature, The Tale of the White Serpent released in October 1958, the animation industry in Japan came into the eye of the general public. The success of Alakazam the Great led to the finding of the artist Osamu Tezuka , who would go on to become the father of Japanese manga with his brand of modern, fast-paced fantasy storylines. He became influenced by Hanna-Barbera productions of

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2816-837: The North American and European markets, direct-to-video animation has seen a rise, as a concept, in the Western markets. With many comic characters receiving their versions of OVA 's, original video animations , under the Westernized title of direct-to-video animations, the OVA market has spread to American animation houses. Their popularity has resulted in animated adaptations of comic characters ranging from Hellboy , Green Lantern and Avengers . Television shows such as Family Guy and Futurama also released direct-to-video animations. DC Comics have continually released their own animated movies for

2904-406: The North American television animation market during the latter half of the 20th century. In 2002, Shrek , produced by DreamWorks and Pacific Data Images won the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature . Since then, Disney / Pixar have produced the most number of movies either to win or be nominated for the award. Though the term "direct-to-video" carries negative connotations in

2992-559: The Nugget . The film, starring Thandiwe Newton and Zachary Levi , premiered on the platform on 15 December 2023. A new Wallace and Gromit film was also confirmed to be 'in the works' for a 2024 release on the BBC in the UK and Netflix for the rest the world. Also in 2022–2023, the 52 episode children's series Lloyd of the Flies aired on CITV . Aardman is one of the nine studios involved with Lucasfilm 's Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 , contributing

3080-413: The OVA market, looking to capitalize on the popularity of their flagship shows. Studios participating in such circumstances include Production I.G and Studio Deen . Although there are permanent/full-time positions in studios, most animators work on a contract basis. There are some animators that are considered to be in the core group of the studio, which can either be as a result of being there since

3168-613: The Reindeer in Legend of the Lost Tribe , was directed by Peter Peake, whose directorial credits for Aardman include Pib and Pog and Humdrum . Aardman alumni also produced many of the claymation shorts used in the 1986–1990 American television series Pee-wee's Playhouse . Aardman Animations has produced a number of animated features, shorts, videos and TV series, as well as adverts. Their major feature films are: Aardman Features Limited

3256-625: The UK's Animex Festival in Teesside provides story consultation to a promising young animator for their next film. In 2008, Aardman joined with Channel 4 and Lupus Films to launch a user-generated content animation portal called 4mations . They also designed the BBC One Christmas Idents for that year, which featured Wallace and Gromit to tie in with the showing of the new Wallace and Gromit film called A Matter of Loaf and Death on Christmas Day at 8:30pm. In April 2008, Aardman launched

3344-521: The Were-Rabbit . The following year Flushed Away , Aardman's first computer-animated feature, was released. On 10 October 2005, a serious fire at a storage facility used by Aardman and other Bristol-based companies destroyed over 30 years of props , models, and scenery often built by the Bristol-based Cod Steaks . This warehouse was used for storage of past projects and so did not prevent

3432-477: The animators may have forwarded ideas to the animation studios about certain characters and plots, these ideas alone cannot be protected and can lead to studios profiting on individual animator's ideas. However, this has not stopped many independent artists from filing claims to characters produced by different studios. Due to the wide range of animation techniques and styles, many animation studios typically specialize in certain types. Traditional animation employs

3520-547: The bigger studios. Examples of such co-operation are the joint ventures between DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures and that of Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Studios . On August 22, 2016, Comcast's NBCUniversal acquired DreamWorks Animation , appointing Meledandri oversee Comcast's Universal Animation/DreamWorks/Illumination, Disney's Disney Animation/Pixar/20th Century Animation, & Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Animation/Warner Bros. Pictures Animation. The first known example of Japanese animation, also called anime ,

3608-421: The charm of Nick Park's Wallace & Gromit , and something for everybody. The voice acting is fabulous, the slapstick is brilliant, and the action sequences are spectacular." At Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 88 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. Roger Ebert of

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3696-407: The charm of the movie wins us over." Chicken Run and its sequel have been noted for their depiction of feminism , revolution , Marxism , veganism and fascism . According to Florentine StrzeIczyk, Chicken Run points to the way that masculinity and femininity are mediated in popular film genres. It also received attention for its female-led cast . Film School Rejects called

3784-540: The chickens are organised and plotting resistance, but his wife dismisses his theories while being frustrated with making minuscule profits. One night, Ginger witnesses an American rooster named Rocky Rhodes glide over the coop's fences and crash-land; the chickens put his sprained wing in a cast and hide him from the Tweedys, who have been promised a handsome reward by Rocky's owner for his return. Inspired by Rocky's apparent flying abilities, Ginger begs him to help teach her and

3872-414: The company are famous for, Aardman was cel-animated. Peter Lord has stated that the most interesting thing about the company name is that it "means nothing" and is only a joke that two teenagers found funny. He has stated that the name came from a combination of "Aardvark" and "Superman" for the reason that they found aardvark to be a particularly funny word. Aardman Animations became their company name when

3960-484: The company to its employees in order to keep the studio independent. In January 2019, Lord and Sproxton released a book detailing the history of the studio, called A Grand Success! The Aardman Journey, One Frame at a Time . In December 2020, Netflix announced an Aardman Christmas musical special entitled Robin Robin . The 30-minute short, starring Bronte Carmichael, Richard E. Grant , Gillian Anderson and Adeel Akhtar ,

4048-416: The countryside of Yorkshire , the plot centres on a group of British anthropomorphic chickens who see an American rooster named Rocky Rhodes as their only hope to escape the farm when their owners want to turn them into chicken pies. Chicken Run was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $ 220 million and becoming the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film in history . At the time, this film

4136-423: The decline in egg production, Ginger deduces that the couple's new plan is to fatten the chickens for slaughter. After Ginger and Rocky get into an argument, Rocky holds a morale-boosting dance party during which it is revealed that his wing is healed. Ginger insists that he demonstrate flying the next day, but Mr Tweedy finishes assembling the machine and puts Ginger in it for a test run. Rocky saves her and sabotages

4224-494: The existing Watch identity by UKTV to make the inflatable eyeball (called "Blinky") in the idents blink. In October 2013, Lord (co-founder of Aardman Animations) created a fundraising project on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter . The campaign has a target of £75,000 which would be used to fund 12 new one-minute episodes of Morph. Lord was hoping to start production in January 2014 using the original stop-frame animation. Backers of

4312-472: The film "I Am Your Mother". The factory that made Lewis Newplast, the modelling clay used by Aardman, shut down in March 2023; Aardman purchased enough remaining clay to cover the upcoming 2024 Wallace and Gromit film. The Daily Telegraph initially reported that the studio may not be able to produce new films afterwards due to a lack of clay, but Aardman later released a statement clarifying that it would find

4400-656: The film's rights reverted to DreamWorks. From 2006 to 2007, the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka , Tokyo, Japan, had an exhibit featuring the works of Aardman Studios. Sproxton and Lord visited the exhibit in May 2006 and met with animator Hayao Miyazaki during the visit. Miyazaki has long been a fan of Aardman Animations' works. In April 2007, Aardman signed and in 2010 renewed a three-year deal with Sony Pictures to finance, co-produce, and distribute feature films. The next year, Aardman released

4488-574: The film, which was released on 20 June 2000 under the RCA Victor label. It was recorded at the Abbey Road Studios in London. Powell incorporated some kazoos and whistles to create an even funnier soundtrack. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 97% approval rating and an average rating of 8.1/10, based on 174 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads: " Chicken Run has all

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4576-403: The film. DreamWorks also retains rights to worldwide merchandising. Principal photography began on 29 January 1998. During production, 30 sets were used with 80 animators working along with 180 people working overall. The result was one minute of film completed for each week of filming, and production wrapped on 18 June 1999. John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams composed the music for

4664-452: The first forays of animation designed for the smaller screen and was to be followed by the first animated series specifically made for television, Crusader Rabbit , in 1948. Its creator, Alex Anderson , had to create the studio 'Television Arts Productions' specifically for the purpose of creating this series as his old studio, Terrytoons , refused to make a series for television. Since Crusader Rabbit, however, many studios have seen this as

4752-414: The home video market, while not tending to the television or theatrical audience as such. They refer to those movies that are launched as direct-to-video releases and not meant to be released in theatres. Video productions can run from half an hour productions to well over two hours. They require that premise or story be original in order to be counted as an OVA, though sometimes, the story can be derived from

4840-498: The honor of the first studio dedicated to animation. Though beaten to the post of being the first studio, Bray's studio employee, Earl Hurd , came up with patents designed for mass-producing the output for the studio. As Hurd did not file for these patents under his own name but handed them to Bray, they would go on to form the Bray-Hurd Patent Company and sold these techniques for royalties to other animation studios of

4928-421: The inception of the company or being talented recruits from other animation studios. These are the more secure positions in an animation studio, though the studio might have policies concerning the possible tenure of animators. Since studios can hire animators on a work for hire basis nowadays, many artists do not retain rights over their creations, unlike some of the early animators. The extent of these copyrights

5016-408: The last two movies, for which DreamWorks had to take writedowns, and citing the article, "Aardman executives chafed at the creative control DreamWorks tried to exert, particularly with Flushed Away ..." The studio had another film in development, Crood Awakening (eventually The Croods ), which had been announced in 2005, with John Cleese co-writing the screenplay. With the end of the partnership,

5104-575: The late 1950s and made Japan's first made for television animation studio, Mushi Productions . The success of the studios' first show in 1963, Astro Boy , was so immense that there were 3 other television animation studios by the end of the year and Toei had opened their own made for television division. The greatest difference between Japanese studios and North American studios was the difference in adult-themed material to make way in Japan. Tezuka's thought that animation should not be restricted to kids alone has brought about many studios that are employed in

5192-508: The late 1990s, beginning with Owzat (1997), Aardman entered the computer animation market with Flushed Away (2006). As of February 2020, it had earned $ 1.1 billion worldwide, with an average $ 135.6 million per film. Between 2000 and 2006, Aardman partnered with DreamWorks Animation . Aardman's films have been consistently very well received, and their stop-motion films are among the highest-grossing produced, with their 2000 debut, Chicken Run , being their top-grossing film, as well as

5280-447: The latter two winning Academy Awards . In December 1997, Aardman, DreamWorks (later DreamWorks Animation ) and Pathé announced that their companies were teaming up to co-finance and distribute Chicken Run , Aardman's first feature film, which had already been in pre-production for a year. On 27 October 1999, Aardman and DreamWorks signed a $ 250 million deal to make an additional four films that were estimated to be completed during

5368-436: The lights, but Ginger tricks Mrs Tweedy into cutting the line, sending her falling into the pie machine, causing it to explode in a mushroom cloud of gravy . The chickens celebrate their victory after defeating the Tweedys while Ginger and Rocky kiss each other, and they fly to an island bird sanctuary where they make their home. Sometime later, the chickens have settled into their new home, and Rocky and Ginger have started

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5456-441: The machine, buying them time to warn the chickens and plan an escape from the farm. The next day, Ginger finds Rocky has left, leaving behind part of a poster that shows that he is in fact part of a "chicken cannonball" act with no ability to fly on his own, making them realize that their chance to learn how to fly has been crushed. In the midst of being devastated, Ginger is inspired by elderly rooster Fowler's stories of his time in

5544-511: The major awards won include the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and BAFTA Award for Best British Film for Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit . Light Chaser Animation Studios Animation studio The idea of a studio dedicated to animating cartoons was spearheaded by Raoul Barré and his studio, Barré Studio , co-founded with Bill Nolan , beating out the studio created by J.R. Bray , Bray Productions , to

5632-403: The movie feminist, noting that "the stereotypical ' woman's work ' of these female chickens (such as their sewing and knitting ) is crucial in constructing their mechanism for escape and vital towards the revolution itself." The Islamic Republic of Iran News Network argued it was a way to disguise Zionism and Western propaganda . On opening weekend, the film grossed $ 17,506,162 for

5720-488: The name of their nerdish Superman character in that sequence. The process of using clay animation to produce a segment called "Gleebees" (1975) became the inspiration for creating 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 using real-life conversations as soundtracks. Aardman also created

5808-489: The next 12 years. Along with the deal their first project was announced, titled The Tortoise and the Hare . Intended to be based on Aesop 's fable and directed by Richard Goleszowski , it was paused two years later because of script problems. On 23 June 2000, Chicken Run was released to a great critical and financial success. In 2005, after ten years of absence, Wallace and Gromit returned in Academy Award -winning The Curse of

5896-415: The other chickens to fly so they can escape, threatening to alert the humans if he refuses. Rocky reluctantly gives them training lessons. One evening, a load of equipment is delivered to the farm, containing the parts for a chicken pie machine that Mrs Tweedy has ordered as part of a plan to convert the farm into a profitable pie-making factory. When the Tweedys increase the chickens' food rations and ignore

5984-470: The plane approaches the take-off ramp, Mr Tweedy is able to knock over the ramp before being knocked out; Ginger races to reset the ramp, but a now-alerted Mrs Tweedy attacks her. Before Mrs Tweedy can hurt Ginger, Rocky returns and subdues her, before holding up the ramp with Ginger, allowing the plane to take flight. Rocky and Ginger grab onto the runway lights, which have been snagged by the departing plane. An axe-wielding Mrs Tweedy follows them by climbing up

6072-548: The production of adult-themed adaptations of classic stories such as Heidi ( Heidi, Girl of the Alps ), One Thousand and One Nights and The Diary of a Young Girl and many more. In the 1980s, animation studios were led back to their theatrical roots due to the success of Hayao Miyazaki 's film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind , which led publishing house Tokuma Shoten to finance

6160-407: The production of their current projects at the time. In addition, the company's library of finished films was stored elsewhere and was undamaged. An electrical fault was determined to be the cause of the blaze. Referring to the 2005 Kashmir earthquake , 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

6248-473: The project would receive a variety of rewards, including early access to the new animations and a small box of clay used in the production, depending on the individual's level of funding. In 2015, the studio bought a majority share in New York-based animation studio Nathan Love, announcing the merger with a short film called Introducing: Aardman Nathan Love on 25 September of the same year of that being that

6336-556: The resulting frames are played back. Notable studios specializing in this style of animation include Aardman Animations , Laika and ShadowMachine . 3D animation is the newest of the animation techniques, using the assistance of computers and software, such as Houdini , to create 3D models that are then manipulated and rendered to create movement. Notable studios include Pixar Animation Studios , Sony Pictures Imageworks , Blue Sky Studios , Illumination , DNEG and Marza Animation Planet . Chicken Run Chicken Run

6424-412: The same time. In the countryside of Yorkshire , a flock of chickens live on an egg farm structured like a prisoner-of-war camp . The farm is run by the cruel Mrs Tweedy and her submissive husband, Mr Tweedy, who kill and eat any chicken that is no longer able to lay eggs. Led by the rebellious Ginger, the chickens constantly devise new ways to try to escape but are always caught. Mr Tweedy suspects

6512-420: The script with Rachel Tunnard. In June 2023, Gregson-Williams was revealed to be composing the sequel. Later that month, it was officially announced that the film would release on Netflix on 15 December 2023. Its Netflix release followed its world premiere at the 67th BFI London Film Festival on 14 October 2023, which would also see preview screenings taking place at UK cinemas at the same time. Chicken Run

6600-417: The sole purpose of sale in the direct-to-video market. With growing worries about piracy, direct to video animation might become more popular in the near future. With the growth of animation as an industry, the trends of ownership of studios have gradually changed with time. Current studios such as Warner Bros. and early ones such as Fleischer Studios , started life as small, independent studios, being run by

6688-463: The studio's Creature Comforts films, set to air throughout 2024. Like Creature Comforts , the six, 30-second-long shorts feature animated animals matched to the audio of real, unscripted interviews. On 6 June 2024, Aardman announced the title of the new Wallace and Gromit feature film as Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl . On 22 September 2024, Cartoon Network announced on Twitter that they had recruited Aardman to work on an Over

6776-417: The time. The biggest name in animation studios during this early time was Disney Brothers Animation Studio (now known as Walt Disney Animation Studios ), co-founded by Walt and Roy O. Disney . Started on October 16, 1923, the studio went on to make its first animated short, Steamboat Willie in 1928, to much critical success, though the real breakthrough was in 1937, when the studio was able to produce

6864-711: The title for the sequel was revealed as Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget and was announced for a 2023 release on Netflix . Zachary Levi , Thandiwe Newton , Romesh Ranganathan and Daniel Mays were revealed to be replacing Gibson, Sawalha, Spall and Daniels as the voices of Rocky, Ginger, Nick and Fetcher; David Bradley voiced Fowler due to Whitrow's death in 2017, while Horrocks, Staunton and Ferguson reprised their roles as Babs, Bunty and Mac. Bella Ramsey has been cast as Molly, while Nick Mohammed and Josie Sedgwick-Davies voiced two new characters, Dr Fry and Frizzle, respectively. Sam Fell directed with Steve Pegram and Leyla Hobart producing. Kirkpatrick and O'Farrell wrote

6952-400: The title sequence for The Great Egg Race and supplied animation for the multiple award-winning music video of Peter Gabriel 's song " Sledgehammer ". They produced the music video for the song " My Baby Just Cares For Me " by Nina Simone in 1987. Also in the 1980s, they created the trombone-playing character "Douglas" in a television commercial for Lurpak butter. Later Aardman produced

7040-513: The use of hand-drawn frames, and is used in the world of cartoons, movies and anime. Notable studios that specialize in this style include Studio Ghibli , Cartoon Saloon , Nickelodeon Animation Studio , Disney Television Animation , 20th Television Animation , Warner Bros. Animation , Cartoon Network Studios , Titmouse , Ufotable , Studio Chizu and CoMix Wave Films . Stop-motion animation uses objects that are incrementally moved and photographed in order to create an illusion of movement when

7128-407: Was DreamWorks Animation's most successful release, but this was overtaken by Shrek the following year . 23 years later, a sequel, titled Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget , was released on Netflix on 15 December 2023. Its Netflix release followed its world premiere at the 67th BFI London Film Festival on 14 October 2023, which would also see preview screenings taking place at UK cinemas at

7216-580: Was called The Sandwich Twins and was released on 16 September 2009. The remaining eleven films were released on a weekly basis until Christmas, and can also be downloaded using Hatena. In the same year, the headquarters of the studio moved into a new building, designed by Alec French architects, in Gas Ferry Road, Bristol, although work needing large-scale sets is still carried out in sheds in Aztec West and Bedminster . In April 2009, Aardman Animations edited

7304-480: Was placed on the character. Pathé agreed to finance the film in 1996, putting their finances into script development and model design. DreamWorks officially came on board in 1997. They beat out studios including Disney , 20th Century Fox (which had distributed the Wallace & Gromit shorts in the U.S.), and Warner Bros. and largely won due to the perseverance of DreamWorks co-chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg ; as

7392-609: Was produced by Chris Moll, producer of the Wallace & 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

7480-484: Was released on the platform on 24 November 2021. On 9 August 2021, it was announced that Gurinder Chadha was directing a musical claymation feature set in India, telling the story of an elephant dreaming about becoming a dancer. On 30 November 2021, Aardman began producing The Very Small Creatures for Sky Kids and Apple TV . On 20 January 2022, Netflix announced a sequel to Chicken Run entitled Chicken Run: Dawn of

7568-618: Was shown at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne . A report on this exhibition was shown on Australian ABC News Breakfast on Wednesday, 28 June, featuring an 8-minute interview with producers Lord and Sproxton. The exhibition revealed that in Park's very early sketches, Gromit was originally a cat, but Park soon changed him into a dog, since it was generally agreed that

7656-413: Was the first Aardman production to win an Academy Award . Park also developed the clay modelled shorts featuring the adventures of Wallace & Gromit , a comical pair of friends: Wallace being a naive English inventor with a love of cheese, and Gromit his best friend, the intelligent but silent dog. These films include A Grand Day Out (1989), The Wrong Trousers (1993) and A Close Shave (1995),

7744-641: Was the third highest-grossing film of the year with a gross of $ 43 million. With an additional $ 75 million from other markets, it grossed $ 224,834,564 worldwide. Produced on an estimated budget of $ 42–45 million, the film was a huge box office hit. To date, it is still the highest grossing stop motion animated movie . Chicken Run was released on VHS and DVD in the United States on November 21, 2000 by DreamWorks Home Entertainment . Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released Chicken Run on Blu-ray in North America on January 22, 2019. In January 2022,

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