The fourth instalment of the Aardman Podcasts, short Monthly films with Dave Sproxton talking about the history of Aardman, has gone up.
Although perhaps not as exciting as the earlier instalments, where we saw some new footage and heard new stories, this video describes the important point at which Dave Sproxton and Peter Lord met Nick Park and invited him to work with them.
This period of Aardman’s history is well documented already, but it’s still very interesting to hear it first hand from Dave Sproxton in such an open environment. Comparing it to the last three videos I think this one really has a feeling of ‘something is happening’ and big changes are taking place in the animation world as Nick Park makes his impact.
However, what’s perhaps most fascinating is how much Dave Sproxton puts the emphasis on 'Creature Comforts', especially the Jaguar, and he almost ignores ‘A Grand Day Out’. Indeed, despite the fact that ‘A Grand Day Out’ sparked the Wallace and Gromit revolution that changed the way animation was viewed by the mass public more than almost anything else in history I don’t think we hear the words ‘Wallace and Gromit’ said in this video.
I know ‘A Grand Day Out’ obviously wasn’t as groundbreaking as ‘Creature Comforts’ in itself, and maybe the video editing had something to do with it, but I was just surprised not to hear much about it. The next video will no doubt cover ‘The Wrong Trousers’, and possibly ‘A Close Shave’, so I really look forward to seeing how those subjects are discussed! Of course, it was around this time that Dave Sproxton started taking more of a producer’s role, rather than the hands on animation he had been so involved with in the past, so it will be interesting to hear his thoughts on that.
Timmy is joining with Fairy Non Bio and Fairy Fabric Softener to front a new campaign.
The promotional push kicks off this month and will give customers the chance to collect three Timmy Time books by redeeming their receipts for Fairy products.
The Timmy Time books were created especially for the promotion by Egmont UK’s dedicated customer publishing department, CanDo. Egmont is, of course, the licensed publishing partner for Timmy Time in the UK.
The campaign is expected to reach more than 20 million UK households and will be backed by TV and press advertising and a microsite.
“We are really excited to be working with Fairy to provide UK families with exclusive Timmy Time books that we hope will encourage parents to sit down and share warm moments with their little ones,” said Sean Clarke, head of Aardman Rights. “Fairy is a strong fit for the Timmy Time brand and provides us with the opportunity to reach our target consumer, the primary purchaser, perfectly.”
New Wallace and Gromit 'Football' npower Advert Launched
May 12, 2010 at 04:52 PM
Wallace and Gromit’s npower adverts keep on coming, and this time they’re promoting npower’s support of England hosting the 2018 World Cup.
The latest advert is called ‘Hand of Dog’, and starts off with Wallace selling WAGs pies (by firing them from a canon obviously!) before the machine goes haywire and it’s up to Gromit to save the day with a scene reminiscent of the infamous Diego Maradona handball that knocked England out of the 1986 finals:
An online 40-second version of the TV ad features the famous line from the 1966 World Cup, "They think it's all over... it is now".
Kevin Peake, marketing director at Npower , said: "We believe a successful bid to stage the Fifa World Cup in England would be fantastic for the country and particularly for Britain's businesses. Wallace and Gromit illustrate, in their fun and endearing way, how hosting the Fifa World Cup in 2018 could also benefit businesses' revenue."
Here at 62 West Wallaby Street we’re in favour of these adverts – they’re funny, and a chance to see more of Wallace and Gromit. Despite this the advert hasn’t been without its critics – some people suggesting Aardman are just selling out. Anyone who has really followed Aardman over the years, however, will know that adverts are a huge part of what they do anyway, and as long as the adverts retain Wallace and Gromit’s charm I’m fully in favour of them.
The runup to The Wrong Trousers Day for the Wallace and Gromit’s Children’s Foundation has really begun – and this year the theme is ‘Wear your pyjamas with pride!’
The Wrong Trousers Day is one of the most popular charity days of the year, and more and more people take part as word of it spreads.
You donate £1 and wear the wrong trousers to work, school, shopping or just at home. The theme, being pyjamas, suggests you wear them all day – but that’s not the only option and you can wear any different trousers, just as long as they’re different to your usual ones!
You can now register for a FREE Wrong Trousers Day pack at http://www.wrongtrousersday.org, so hop on over and get ready to celebrate the day in style!
Our Merchandise Database is not only one of the most exciting projects on 62 West Wallaby Street, but one of the most exciting projects on the whole internet!
We aim to do what no one has managed before (not even Aardman!) – to build a complete, yet understandable, list of every Aardman product in history. This is obviously a massive task, and one that is a long term project.
However we have now made a big move forward by completing our database of Wallace and Gromit products produced since the Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Or, at least, we’ve completed it with every product that we know of! What we need now is YOU. If you know of any Wallace and Gromit items that have been made since 2007, but that we haven’t got in our database, please get in touch!
Indeed – if you are a collector of Wallace and Gromit pieces please get in touch. Our database includes the American calendars, but that’s about it for foreign items – as we know there’s a huge amount of stuff in Japan for one! If you know about foreign Wallace and Gromit (or Aardman) items, or if you know a lot about Wallace and Gromit products produced before 2007 please get in touch.
I know a lot of people don’t have the time to become deeply involved, but we don’t need loads of time – even if you can only say “I’m a collector – get in touch if you have a query about an item” that’s great! If you have more time than just to be a contact point we can perhaps work out the best way in which you could help the site by doing something you enjoy. If you are able to take photos, write reviews, or just provide information that would be so helpful!
We are currently planning an expansion of the database to open ‘Timmy Time’, ‘Shaun the Sheep’ and ‘Morph’ sections as well, and with reviews of (quite literally) hundreds of products coming out on a daily basis (one review a day! Check the banner at the top of the site for more) our Merchandise Database is the place to be for anyone interested in Aardman stuff!
p.s. Don't miss our latest Aardmag - with an exclusive comic strip and look at all the new products for 2010! Click the banner below for more!
SO...! We’ve been away quite a while, a good few weeks, and a lot has happened in that time! What’s our plan for catching up then? Well:
---This article will cover all the top news stories we may have missed recently
---On Wednesday 5th May we’ll be releasing the next issue of the Aardmag! This will be the first ‘Aardmag Mini’ – a smaller version of the regular magazine, and more information on ‘Aardmag Mini’ and how often you might see it will be revealed in the issue. But don’t be put off – it’s still going to be packed with fantastic features!
The issue will have part 2 of our EXCLUSIVE Wallace and Gromit comic – ‘Martians on the Moon’ – and trust me, the artwork will blow you away! We’ll also be covering all the latest merchandise for 2010, including some exclusive news from the Toy Fair that you won’t have heard before!
We’ve listened to your feedback from our survey last year and are currently changing the format of the Aardmag to fit in with what you want to see.
--- The Merchandise section on this website is also one we’re taking really seriously, so to tie in with the Aardmag’s launch we’ll be publishing a big update to the section on Wednesday 5th, hopefully creating a list of every Wallace and Gromit item that’s been made since 2007!
We’ve got big plans for the future of the section as well, that we’ll be setting out on Wednesday, so if you’re a collector, or are just interested in Wallace and Gromit merchandise, don’t go anywhere!
--- And what for the future? Well keep checking back because we’ve got such big plans! Aardmag #6 has an interview with someone really exciting (any guesses?... Hint: We’ve spoken to him once before?...), we’ve got a new Aardman Unleashed section in the works on the show I consider ‘The Undiscovered Gem in Aardman’s Crown’, and we’ve got a potentially mind boggling project for the future that I’m currently discussing with Aardman! And there’s more besides!!
And if you want to keep up to date with the news, even if we fall behind here sometimes, and want to ensure you never miss an update why not follow us on Twitter? You’ll find us at: http://www.twitter.com/62wwsnews!
All the latest news:
...First came the news that the ‘World of Cracking Ideas’ exhibition was moving from its temporary home at London’s Science Museum to Glasgow! With new exhibits it’s certainly not to be missed by any Aardman and Wallace and Gromit fans – you can find more information and book tickets here: http://www.glasgowsciencecentre.org/
Nick Park (apparently...!) said:
"It’s great to see the World of Cracking Ideas exhibition making its way from London all the way up to Glasgow. Inventiveness has always been central to Wallace's character and it is fantastic that Wallace & Gromit can excite young people about innovation in this way. I hope Wallace & Gromit fans in Scotland and Northern England will enjoy the exhibition in its new home."
...Meanwhile Wallace and Gromit are very busy because they’ve also opened another exhibition, this time in Merseyside! The exhibition at the ‘Spaceport’ is, as you might guess from the name, centred around space. Full of facts about the moon and other planets, Wallace and Gromit give the exhibition a really fun feel. You can find more information and book tickets here: http://www.spaceport.org.uk
Nick Park (again, apparently...!!) said:
“It’s been 20 years since we first sent Wallace & Gromit into Space and it’s great to see them back out there again, delving more deeply into the mysteries of the universe. Hopefully their efforts will help educate others about some of the amazing facts surrounding Space exploration and recent advances in technology.”
...Meanwhile Aardman had a fantastic night at the Children’s BAFTAs! ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death’ scoped the ‘Children’s Choice Award’, voted for by the viewers, so naturally Aardman and Nick Park are chuffed to bits! Meanwhile Shaun the Sheep won the British Academy Award for ‘Best Children’s TV Series’ – BAA indeed! Congratulations to all involved!
...And I cannot recommend the ‘Home Sheep Home’ game more highly! I played it before it was release, and just fell in love, but no one predicted quite how popular it was going to become! Literally millions of people have played it now. Set aside hours of your time and give it a play – you won’t regret it! Find it here: http://www.shaunthesheep.com/games/homesheephome/
...Possibly the most exciting news, however, is a third advert for NPower – staring Wallace and Gromit. Wallace creates a widescreen television... By stringing loads of smaller televisions together! Gromit saves the day by realising just how much energy Wallace is using – his television is a Monster!! Well worth a watch, you can see it on Youtube below. Here are some fun facts from http://www.wallaceandgromit.com about the making of the advert:
• The advert took 4 weeks to create
•The scary film Wallace is watching, ‘Revenge of the Killer Watts’ was made at the same time as the rest of the advert was shot and features a haunted house built from foam core, an animatable door that slams open in the “we’ve created a monster” shot, and extra gravestones and trees for the foreground.
• The flying bats in the opening shots were produced by one of Aardman’s 2D artists and were then added to the TV footage.
• The smart energy monitor was designed to make it fit into Wallace & Gromit’s world. The real monitor looks very modern so it was “Wallace-ified” by being made to look metallic and given rivets.
• Aardman used 31 TV’s in the commercial that took a day to rig into position. Some of them had miniature lights built into them which helped them look more like working televisions.
• Gromit’s shadow as he walks toward Wallace with the smart energy monitor is in homage to the vampire film, Nosferatu.
• In preparation for the shoot Wallace was given a full makeover - his trousers were fixed, his tank-top repainted and he was also given clean teeth and new eyes. Gromit was also given a new nose and eyes.
...If you’ve got an iPhone, iPod Touch (or even an iPad!) you might know of the Wallace and Gromit Comics, made by Titan, that you can download as Apps. Well Titan has released another FREE App to download – the comic in question being ‘Washday Blues.’
...And if you’re interested in the history of Aardman do not miss the Aardman Podcasts – a new video (just under 10 minutes each) goes up every Month with Dave Sproxton explaining a detailed history of the company.
Even I’ve discovered new facts from the videos, and they’re filled with fantastic old films (like Dave Sproxton and Peter Lord’s first ever animation!) so there’s something for any fan. So far three videos have been released and you can see them here:
...And that’s about it for the latest news and updates! We’ll be more on ball in the future, make sure to check back daily for our new reviews (one goes up at 3:00pm every weekday!), and especially next Wednesday for the next Aardmag! See you soon!
You might have noticed this website falling behind in updates here or there over the last couple of weeks.
This is because I am currently working on a massive project for my company. Unfortunately this massive project is also one that is extremely urgent – and literally every day counts.
It is a long-running project, but I hope to return it to a normal schedule within a week or two. From then on I will be running the sites again as normal alongside the project.
This project is potentially a big success for my company, and if it works out as I hope then I will be able to channel much more time and resources into all my websites in the long run.
On www.62westwallabystreet.co.uk The Aardmag will return with a bumper issue in a few weeks, however we have some exciting content to come before that. We are also working on some other very exciting exclusive projects behind the scenes.
Meanwhile on www.drwhofigures.co.uk there are some really exciting new projects in the background, and the site will enter ‘V4’ officially soon. Fans will also be interested in a new website we are working on, due to be announced on April 1st...
Visitors to both websites will be pleased to know that our ‘review-a-day’ scheme will run with great strength for weeks (potentially Months) to come. It will restart here soon!
So please just hold on – in the long run the websites will be improved by this wait. Until then please accept our apologies and I hope you can still enjoy the vast array of content we have on offer already!
Disappointing news from LA – the Oscar for best Animated Short did not go to Nick Park and ‘Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death’, instead going to ‘Logorama’ – a computerised short animation set in a world of corporate logos.
The champagne is back on ice at Aardman HQ in Bristol, and the aeroplane flight home from LA for the Aardman crew won’t be as joyful as they had hoped. But still – the Aardman team don’t work just for awards; remember that Nick Park didn’t even know that the Oscars had a short animation award until he was nominated for ‘A Grand Day Out’ and ‘Creature Comforts’!
And what of Logorama – the film that will go down for beating Nick Park? It’s a very good film, there’s no denying that. But – and I know I’m biased – I did have a few niggles with it that, for me, meant it didn’t really contend with Wallace and Gromit much.
Logorama took 6 years to make - but that seems to have been 6 years of fitting as many corporate logos into every shot as possible, rather than on developing the story... The original idea is original and imaginative, but the finished piece doesn’t seem to have evolved much from the original storyline. Also, and I don’t know if this was supposed to be OTT for effect or not, the voice acting and profanity-filled script took the quality of the film down for me as well really.
But of course I’m going to say Wallace and Gromit is better, I’m not running a Logorama fansite (!), and that’s merely my opinion.
Looking on the bright side – maybe it bodes well for the future? Nick Park hinted once or twice, while in LA, at ideas for his next project. He even mentioned a 3D stop motion film, like ‘Coraline’. Missing out on an Oscar won’t hurt the Aardman crew, instead I think it will only serve to fire them up and aim even higher.
And anyway - the film still has the BAFTA and the Annie, and it still drew in those incredible millions of viewers on Christmas Day 2008 (and its repeats), so it’s definitely not a failure for the Aardman studio!
So it’s a shame – but congratulations for the Nomination, congratulations to Logorama for winning, but I don’t think that’s the last time we’ll see Aardman in LA...
Robert Harrop 'Wrong Trousers' figurines announced
Feb 26, 2010 at 11:32 AM
The new Robert Harrop Designs catalogue for the first quarter of 2010 has been sent out to members of the Collector’s Club, and I am delighted to report two new exciting pieces to the range – both taken from ‘The Wrong Trousers.’
The most vivid images from the Wrong Trousers are the train chase, Wallace in the Techno Trousers, Feathers McGraw and Gromit leaving home. However these are such well known images that they have, of course, been tackled in the past.
While I still think there’s room for Robert Harrop to make something based around the train chase, it would have been a little unoriginal if they had just produced static Techno Trousers/Feathers McGraw/Gromit leaving home statues. They have therefore picked a really original and unusual scenario for their first Wrong Trousers piece, but it’s one that still contains familiar images.
As you can see below the piece chosen is the Techno Trousers, with Feathers McGraw sitting on them and Wallace hanging asleep from within them, climbing the museum wall to commit the famous diamond theft.
What a brilliant choice! It’s such a striking image, I know the Techno Trousers ability to walk on walls really fired my imagination when I was younger for instance. I can’t look at this piece without hearing the Techno Trousers hydraulic sounds, and the music from the scene itself. Priced at £69.99 it is limited to just 750 pieces worldwide.
Of course that is the higher end of the Harrop price mark (at least for their ‘normal’ ranges), so what is there for those who want to spend a little less? Well fear not because the second ‘Wrong Trousers’ piece is, I believe, the most original and exciting Robert Harrop Wallace and Gromit figurine to date. I laughed out loud just to see the picture, it’s such an inspired choice.
The moment when Feather’s McGraw turns to look at Gromit, hidden in his cardboard box, and we see the ‘Metabix’ logo with cartoon dog underneath is one of the best sight gags in the history of Wallace and Gromit - and it is now superbly recreated in beautiful Harrop form! You can remove the box to see the Gromit model underneath or cover him up (with only his eyes showing).
Compare the box to the original one in the screen shots - every crease, dent and detail has been perfectly recreated. Priced at £34.99, again limited to 750 pieces worldwide, I honestly think this is a ‘must have’ for Wallace and Gromit fans and collectors.
Like the original Wallace and Gromit films the Harrop figurines continue to surprise. Just as you think you know how they’re going to move on, and just as you think you can predict the next figure coming, they outdo themselves! The best Wallace and Gromit collectables are those that are fun to have around and start a conversation. These two new pieces do just that.
Whether you have any earlier Harrop figurines or not these pieces are not to be missed!
Bronze Wallace and Gromit figurine cancelled by Nick Park
Feb 26, 2010 at 11:29 AM
We reported last year that Robert Harrop Designs were to produce an incredible bronze statue of Wallace and Gromit, standing atop a marble base, limited to just 20 pieces. Priced at £750 it could have been among the ultimate Aardman collectables.
However it has been halted, even after orders had been taken, because Nick Park and Aardman have denied Robert Harrop Designs permission to produce the piece. The reason given is apparently that they feel the bronze form does not suitably reflect the true spirit of Wallace and Gromit.
I see both sides of the argument myself. A number of people I spoke to suggested that bronze was not the best medium to show the duo in, but I myself thought it still looked marvellous and had actually placed an order for one. It does perhaps seem a shame not to allow small bronze models of the duo in light of the proposed Wallace and Gromit bronze statues that might one day live in either Bristol or Preston.
There is still possible hope for the future and I understand that Robert Harrop Designs do intend to discuss the case further. We will keep you updated on what happens – but why not leave a comment with your opinion below?
He’s done it again. Nick Park – once again – has bagged an Oscar Nomination. A Matter of Loaf and Death has made it to the final five in the Academy Award for Short Animation Film 2010. This makes a sixth Oscar nomination for Nick Park in his history of film making, and the only nomination that he lost – for ‘A Grand Day Out’ – was beaten by himself for Creature Comforts!
But A Matter of Loaf and Death has probably had the most difficult journey to the red carpet of all films. As we reported in 2008 the film was premiered too late to be eligible for the 2009 awards, and yet was too early for the 2010 awards because it was to be premiered at Christmas. It therefore looked unlikely that Aardman could put another award statue in its reception (see the latest Aardmag for more on their reception!).
The only way around it would be to delay the US release of the film, and Aardman did this by releasing the DVD to tie in with Wallace and Gromit’s 20th Birthday celebrations last autumn. In November it got down to the shortlist of finalists for the category and today made it to the final nominee list.
What does Nick Park make of this? Well I’m sure he’s thrilled, but then perhaps not as much as some would be. He always maintains that he makes films only because he enjoys the process, and before he was nominated for ‘A Grand Day Out’ and ‘Creature Comforts’ he didn’t even know there was an award for best short animation! When the news broke in 2008 that the film wouldn’t be eligible for an award Nick Park responded with relief more than anything, because it took pressure off the film. Admittedly the story was slightly different with ‘Curse of the Were-Rabbit’, when the pressure was really on it to win the Best Animated Feature award, though I expect this was fanned by Dreamwork’s somewhat.
It is nominated against ‘French Roast’, ‘Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty’, ‘The Lady and the Reaper’ and ‘Logorama’. With the immense popularity of Wallace and Gromit, and the detail and technical achievements of ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death’, I will be very surprised if one award statue doesn’t walk away with one of Nick Park’s mini bowties adorning it. However we mustn’t count our chickens so all eyes are on Sunday March 7th for the award ceremony, and we’ll be reporting live on how it does! I wonder who Nick Park will take with him?
At any rate a nomination is still a huge honour and the entire Aardman team must be really proud of themselves. Congratulations and good luck!
For one reason and another this site has not been updated in two weeks. So you don't miss anything we have just uploaded all the latest news. Here's a complete list of everything that's been going on:
You might have noticed that 62 West Wallaby Street has lacked in a few updates over the past week. Well I can now reveal that this has been because all available time has been put into a very special project...
Back in 2006, when I originally opened this website, I wanted to have a complete list of all Wallace and Gromit merchandise. Within a day of beginning that task, I realised it was an impossible mission for someone running the website just as a hobby.
Of course with our recent relaunch, and the fact that it is now operated around the clock by my Company, things have changed, so I am therefore delighted to open our new-look collectables and toys section!
To begin with, it holds complete reviews on all products that were listed in our old merchandising section (a selection of books, comics and games), but starting on Friday the 27th we will be expanding the section almost daily to cover reviews of, quite literally, hundreds of new products. To start with we will cover Wallace and Gromit products, with each featured company having a day or two in the limelight as their product reviews go up (though products from the Shaun, Timmy, Morph and other Aardman ranges are also in the works).
Because of the sheer volume of Wallace and Gromit items we have split them up into three sections – ‘1989-2006’, ‘Were-Rabbit’ and ‘2007 - 2010’. The ‘1989-2006’ and ‘Were-Rabbit’ sections will hold reviews on items from those periods and will be added to over time. They may, or may not, eventually become databases of every product from those periods of time. These areas are being developed with the help of a number of long-term collectors, and if you fall into that category and would also like to be involved then please get in touch!
The ‘2007 - 2010’ (which will become ‘2007-2010’ next year and so on) does, however, intend to be a complete database of products in those periods – with reviews of every piece wherever possible. These sections will further be split up into ‘books’, ‘toys’, ‘comics’ etc. Some ranges will have their own section, such as the Robert Harrop line of figurines.
To allow the databases to be added to even when reviews can’t be written, we have developed a ‘traffic light’ system. Under each section of products (e.g. ‘books’ etc.) you will find a list of the items with traffic lights next to them. A green traffic light means ‘a review is written’, an orange one means ‘a review is coming’ and a red one means ‘we can’t review it (can you? Get in touch!)’
There are also opportunities to add your own comments on different products and to rate them as well. This is a feature you can now use over the entire site.
We hope this will provide an invaluable checklist to collectors, as well as being a very useful resource for deciding what products to buy. All your feedback is really appreciated on this.
Aardman characters are great fun to have around your house – so why not start a collection today?...
The Culture Show is intended for those within the art world, perhaps those of a more intellectual background, than many programmes that have featured the duo in the past and this meant it could assume that the audience were already aware of Wallace and Gromit’s history. With only one hour (or 30 minutes of Wallace and Gromit really), and 20 years of history, it was invaluable to cut through and get in-depth quickly.
Nick Park spoke with raw honesty on his cultural influences, giving some pieces of information away that he hadn’t really disclosed before. It also gave us a glimpse of the real ‘Polar Bear family’ from Creature Comforts – famously the family from Aardman’s local corner shop. For Aardman fans it gave tantalising glimpses into the Aardman world – from the modelmaking workshop to, most excitingly, one of the ‘draft’ sets for ‘Pirates!’ (can you guess which one?!)
Towards the end celebrities ranging from Terry Wogan to Claudia Winkleman spoke about why they love Wallace and Gromit, each bringing in their own unique takes on the character. Most interesting were Paul Merton and Ian Hislop, the pair who can so quickly rip someone apart on ‘Have I Got News for You’, and while they laughed at the cheesy puns (geddit? ‘Cheesy’?...) and the character of Feathers there was this underlying feeling that these things only added to the film. And if Paul and Ian couldn’t ridicule it...!
But, for me, the best part of the programme was the unintentional paradox of mixing Wallace and Gromit with culture. The duo, and Aardman as a whole, are undoubtedly British icons – a massive part of our culture – but are they art? Can you really have a conversation that moves from discussing Morph one minute to the art of the Russian Revolution the next? Peter Lord says he felt Morph never got the artistic recognition it should have done, so to test whether or not his feelings were correct he gave Morph private parts and created his film ‘Adam’ – which was then nominated for an Oscar. So can Wallace and Gromit fit in with the world of The Culture Show?
The moment when Mark Kermode asks Nick Park how far Gromit was inspired by the great silent comedians says it all. Nick admits that, far from using such ‘cultural’ references, one of the best character traits of Gromit – his quick looks at the audience – were actually inspired by an Eddie Murphy film in the 80s! The silent acting of Gromit isn’t some great artistic point Nick is making to the world – it was just something he discovered that Gromit could do instead of talking! His top reference point is his own childhood naivety – seemingly a mash of the Beano and an unformed impression of the World.
But that, for me, is what makes Aardman so totally unique. These aren’t people out to be rich, these are not just people out to stand among the world’s greatest filmmakers, these are just ordinary people who had a vision, had the guts to see it through, and do what they do for the sheer joy of it!
Owners of iPhones and iPod Touches reading this site most likely have an Aardman film or two, plus a few soundtracks, on them (…or days worth of Aardman films if you’re like me!) but there’s always been a great lack of Aardman in the fast-growing world of Apps. Until now.
Titan Publishing have reprinted four comic strips originally presented in the ‘Wallace and Gromit Comic’ as Apps, with readers moving from frame to frame by pulling their finger along the screen.
Wallace & Gromit digital comic editor (and former editor of some ‘Wallace and Gromit Comic’ issues) Ned Hartley commented: “It’s really exciting to see Wallace and Gromit at the forefront of such a cracking new technology. Although I secretly suspect that Wallace would be more comfortable with the type of apple that comes with cheese.”
For any fan with an iPhone or iPod Touch these are no-brain purchases, they are definitely worth the 59p each. And the good news is that you can expect more comics over the coming weeks... More on that as it comes
Aardman have made a rare move and actively advised the Government in how to act. They urge them to be careful with taxes and not to make life even more difficult for animators and professionals who could be lured away to better jobs abroad.
Joining forces with other animations like HIT Entertainment they have written to the Telegraph and pick on some of the best known British animations – from Wallace and Gromit to Bob the Builder –making the bold statement that British-made films could be killed off if people are forced to move abroad.
We hear arguments about losing bankers and big business-people regularly, but this is indeed a situation we should keep a close eye on.
Even if it doesn’t get through to the Government, at the very least it should ring in the ears of fans of the companies who, when the time comes, must help make the correct decision using their votes. Feel free to leave comments here too.
The original letter:
SIR – The English animation industry is at a tipping point: it either survives or dies.
Thomas and Friends, Bob the Builder, Noddy and Wallace & Gromit are all programmes that have turned England into a recognised centre for animation. However, within a matter of years, we will not be producing any such fantastic properties as a result of tax breaks and government incentives in other countries.
As a group of broadcasters, production companies and animators, we are calling for the Government to put English animation on a level playing field with the rest of the world. We must remain competitive and change must come soon, before talent leaks abroad, taking the industry with it.
The Government spends millions on educating some of the best talent the industry has, only for them to ply their trade abroad, lured away by the promise of jobs. Animation has contributed millions to the British economy. As an industry that has a heritage that we can be proud of, it would be unforgivable for it to disappear from England.
The Government has the ability to save the industry. It has already put in place a system to support film-making; it can do the same for animation. We hope that come 2012, the year of the Cultural Olympiad, we still have an animation industry we can be proud of.
Oli Hyatt
Founder, Blue Zoo Productions Gregg Lynn
Managing Director, Chapman Entertainment Howard Litton
Managing Director, Nickelodeon UK Miles Bullough
Head of Broadcast, Aardman Animations Jeff Dunn
CEO, HIT Entertainment
On September 7th (year TBC), Brambles Foods will launch three cracking new sandwiches in an exciting new venture with Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Foundation. They will be supporting children in hospitals and hospices around the UK when the new sandwiches go on sale, donating 15p from every sandwich sold to the charity.
The first sandwich is the much essential, and apparently ever popular, Wensleydale and Rhubarb Chutney sandwich (in my opinion it tastes better than it sounds!) The second, a ‘Summer Pudding’ sandwich made from a fruit conserve and jammed full of even more fruit! The last is a hot eat ciabatta, filled with a specially created gorgonzola rarebit, with traditional gammon ham, and good old English mature cheddar cheese. Predictably it is named ‘I do like a bit of Gorgonzola!’
The new sandwiches will be available across the country in a whole host of retailers. Brambles Foods also aims to produce special seasonal sandwiches, alongside Christmas specials, lunch packs and promotions with the Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Foundation, hoping to raise over £25,000 for the charity.
Guy Truman, Sales and Marketing Director of Brambles Foods: “We have been looking for a long time for a charity that matched many of the original Brambles values such as humour, fun, innovation and quality that have been part of our brand for a very long time. Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Foundation’s ambitions, outlook and goals fit like a glove.”
I bring great news for collectors of the Robert Harrop Wallace and Gromit range – and terrible news for their pockets!
The @Bristol ‘Animate It’ shop has unveiled possibly one of the most collectable pieces of Wallace and Gromit memorabilia that hasn’t played some part in a film and hasn’t come from the hand of Nick Park.
The beautiful bronze statue of Wallace and Gromit on the moon, the same design as the Harrop ‘Grand Day Out’ figurines, has been cast by the Lunts Fine Art Foundry and celebrates the duo’s 20th Birthday – and as such comes in a worldwide limited edition of 20.
Understandably therefore the price point is much higher than most pieces – it weighs in at £750. Reservations are taken on a strictly first come first serve basis, and you’ll need to contact Robert Harrop Designs on 01952 884804 or email
fairly soon to get on the list!
Let us know if you’re planning on getting one as it would be really interesting to hear where those 20 lucky people are. Your thoughts on such a limited piece? Leave a comment below! ?
“Wallace and Gromit star Peter Sallis confesses he can't stand Wensleydale cheese”
Well... So proclaimed the Telegraph. As the article then reported he didn’t actually say that, but the amazing truth is that - despite Wallace and Gromit single handedly saving the Wensleydale creamery - Peter Sallis hasn’t even tried the cheese!
In fact, despite Wallace being one of cheese’s biggest fans, Peter Sallis hasn’t touched it in decades he revealed during a personal appearance at an arts festival in Prescot Merseyside. "I was actually warned off the stuff a while ago for health reasons, the simple fact is I'm just not mad about cheese. I'd much prefer a nice piece of cake.”
So that’s a bit of a turn up for the books! I’m sure there are many in his position, but rather a surprise coming from someone who has done so much for cheese!
The origins of Wallace and Gromit were also expanded upon when Sallis revealed "I didn't accept [the role of Wallace] straight away. I tried to persuade Nick to get someone else. He wanted a Lancashire accent but I can only do Yorkshire.
"But he insisted so I told him to send me a script so I could audition. So I recorded my version and packed it off to him in the post.
"He got back in touch and told me that was exactly what he was looking for. So in the end he cast me in the role, despite me trying my best to put him off.”
As Nick has said before in interviews, the tape did rather shock him with a ‘posh newsreader’s voice’ but, as we all agree now, Sallis was indeed the perfect man for the job.
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Lots of lovely stuff delivered to your door by Marks and Spencers!
Nov 06, 2009 at 05:12 PM
Although the new 20 second Marks and Spencers Christmas advert featuring Wallace and Gromit, that we told you of earlier this week, won't launch for about a week probably, The Guardian today has the full M&S advert on their website with about 5 seconds of Wallace and Gromit.
In a suitably 'Christmassified' room Gromit is at their computer (complete with rivets!) and Wallace is reading his newspaper (complete with headline 'Dog found surfing - Shock!', a joke harking back to 'The Wrong Trousers', and one that we made on our publicity flyers a Month ago!). Wallace exclaims 'Lots of lovely stuff delivered to your door, eh Gromit?!' - so it's a short taster of the full advert which sees the duo ordering online from M&S.
I have to applaud the £10 million marketing push, I think they've hit Christmas bang on the head - there's a bit of the advert for everyone. I look forward to seeing more, and we'll keep you updated.
As you might know, it was The Beano that partly inspired Nick Park as a boy - he wanted to become a Beano artist, which accounts for all his sketching, the original way in which he developed Wallace and Gromit. Therefore it is of great excitement when The Beano and Wallace and Gromit link up!
They did it once before, when Nick Park edited the 70th Birthday issue of the Beano, and this time they teamed up for another Birthday - Wallace and Gromit’s 20th!
This issue comes with its own ‘pullout mini-comic’ - and it’s important to note that by comic they don’t mean comic strip. Instead you get a mini-magazine really, complete with a short interview with Nick Park (the full version can be read here: http://www.beanotown.com/index.php?id=159 - and I do question how much is Nick’s words, for someone who didn’t know what a blog was he seems unusually quick to point readers to the official site!), a pretty tricky spot the difference, a competition (with great prizes), a Grand Day Out ‘picture story’ (laid out as pictures but has text to explain the storyline) and finally a page of (highly interesting!) facts and figures about ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death’.
Perhaps even more exciting is this issue’s ‘Bash Street Kids’ comic, where an original Wallace model goes missing (New York anyone?) and the Bash Street kids use the original Q Bikes kit to save the day. There are lots of nice points to the story, such as a photo of Nick on the wall that reacts to the storyline, and an appearance from W&G themselves at the end, and overall it’s a good, fun read.
All in all for £1.35 I think you’re getting a collectable piece of Wallace and Gromit history, with enough features to make it worth any fan buying it. Cracking comic!
Wallace and Gromit are to return to our screens this Christmas - only not in a film, but in an advert for Marks and Spencers.
They are part of a series of adverts focused on the theme “Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without”¦”, featuring celebrities revealing what makes their perfect Christmas and a range of M&S products.
The main adverts are two 50-second TV spots looking at M&S clothing, homewear and beauty products. Two adverts focus on M&S food, with a 30-second ad featuring party food and another 40-second ad featuring Christmas dinner.
Wallace and Gromit star in a 20-second ad to promote the M&S website, depicting the duo ordering cheese online and having it delivered to their home.
The TV campaign has been developed by RKCR/Y&R.
So that’s some good news - even more Wallace and Gromit to enjoy!
For at 4:25pm, one of the best time slots for CBBC, Shaun the Sheep returns to our screens with all-new episodes!
Every night join Shaun, Timmy, Bitzer, the Farmer, the Cat and more for fun and adventure down on the farm. It will also be the first chance to see the new puppets (and, as I have said previously, I honestly think you're used to them after episode 2 at the latest.)
The first 10 get a great big thumbs up from me, and I'm sure they will from you all as well!
This site will be very 'Shaunified' - with exclusive behind the scene photos and more - so stick with us in the runup!
OUT TODAY! For the second time The Beano is celebrating Wallace and Gromit - and this time the comic will have a cracking 8 page comic featuring the duo, and will be complete with an interview from Nick Park!
There will also be competitions with Wallace & Gromit prizes up for grabs.
I have a sneaking suspicion that this is much more exciting for Nick than having W&G on Google actually!
Visitors to the Robert Harrop weekend in September were lucky enough to see work being done on a new Wallace and Gromit Christmas model, and today the full images have been released.
A limited edition of just 500, the piece comes from last year's Radio Times Wallace and Gromit Christmas front cover.
It has a higher than normal price point of £69.99 but is a true collectable and worth the money. It seems to be only avaliable via stockists, and not directly from Robert Harrop, but we'll have confirmation on that later today I hope. 2:10pm UPDATE The piece will indeed be on their website to buy, though it's not quite ready yet. They can take orders over the telephone or by email for now.
There’s so much happening for Wallace and Gromit’s Birthday that we’ve created this live timeline to bring you all the news in one handy place as the day wears on.
Expect 3 big things from us during the day, including the next Aardmag!
To celebrate Wallace and Gromit's birthday Aardman have joined forces with iTunes to allow fans to download the original Wallace & Gromit film, A Grand Day Out, for just 99p.
This is being promoted as the cheapest ever iTunes download for a 30 minute film! Of course, the catch is that it's not actually 30 minutes (but shush!)
Don't go anywhere on 19th November, there's going to be a special edition of The Culture Show celebrating 20 years of Wallace and Gromit.
The show will feature contributions from the likes of Terry Wogan, Jonathan Ross and Ian Hislop, explain how and why they fell in love with the duo.
Lauren Laverne will also trace the wider history of Aardman Animations, from its origins in the 1970s and the creation of the now iconic character ‘Morph’, to its collaboration with Dreamworks.
In addition to the above, Mark Kermode, Simon Mayo and an audience of film fans will discuss the greatest and most influential animations of all time, looking at Snow White, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Wall-E and Dougal and the Blue Cat, and debating the merits of stop-frame animation, CGI and Pixar’s contemporary brilliance.
We all know that Wallace and Gromit are incredibly well known and loved, but how do you prove that?
Well when Google change their homepage for you - that’s when.
Celebrating their 20th Birthday Google but up a very special Google logo featuring our favourite duo. For today you can view it in all its glory on www.google.co.uk and, for posterity, we have it here too:
It’s a double whammy of excitement over on the official Wallace and Gromit site (http://www.wallaceandgromit.com) - they’re just celebrating their brand new redesign for W&G’s 20th Birthday and, as such, have today released an exclusive interview video with Nick Park!
They asked fans to submit questions for the great man on their forum, and on the 28th October Katie (the Admin on their boards) asked Nick the best 20. You can now view the video here:
You can even enter a competition to win the rocket at the end! See here for more.
Meanwhile their redesign moves away from the baking style that they’ve had for a while celebrating ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death’ and is now firmly a ‘Wallace’s Notebook’ style - similar to that seen in the recent ‘Grand Adventures and Glorious Inventions’ book - complete with new wallpapers, ecards and more downloads!
Aardman have also opened a new shop, with a 'buy £25 worth of items and get a free gift' promotion at the moment! See here for more.
So why not pop over and see what they’ve got in store?
Hello again, I hope everyone enjoyed my first ever blog and have come back to learn more!
Since my last and first blog, work has been hectic. Our Tea Party Underground campaign has started so keep your eyes peeled if you are in London and getting on to the tube, you may see us! I have also had a meeting about Recycling for the charity and have approached a few Corporates about sponsoring Wrong Trousers Day! Along with visiting the Science Museum to see the Wallace & Gromit exhibition one last time before it leaves London and to collect monies from the sale of our Wallace & Gromit pin badges!
I am also up in Wetherby (that’s Yorkshire for you Southerners) on Friday to hold a Press call with our beneficiary Martin’s House Hospice to help promote the Tea Party, so I have been dealing with the press and photographers all week!
Right I think that is it for a general overview of my hectic week, now to learning more about the Foundation! The Foundation funds a variety of projects that are needed for that specific local hospital or hospice. These include:
1. Sensory Therapy
To help children in hospitals and hospices to stimulate their senses to aid recovery and support interaction, discovery and communication for children with special needs and life limiting illness. These facilities will also help re-habilitate children who have suffered major trauma such as a car accident.
2. Family Accommodation
To create and run family accommodation facilities in children’s hospitals and hospices. For any parent with a sick child, it is comforting to know there is somewhere to stay close to their child. The simple act of being in hospital can compound the stress of illness for the child and without the close support of their family, their physical recovery can be adversely affected. Family accommodation is an invaluable resource to support families with sick children and create a home from home environment.
3. Therapeutic Toys
To provide therapeutic toys for children with special needs including puppets for puppet therapy to help children who might find it difficult to communicate how they are feeling when they are in hospital or being cared for in a hospice. Therapeutic Toys are a fantastic resource for sick children to help stimulate and engage them.
4. Play Therapy
Play is very important to help children adapt to difficulties they may have resulting from hospitalisation or whilst receiving respite care to make the experience less traumatic. The Play Specialists encourage the children to develop their creative skills to express their thoughts and worries and may use play techniques to help explain what is happening to them.
5. Medical Innovation
To support the provision of state of the art equipment and revolutionary new services for sick and vulnerable children which are less invasive, less traumatic and aid recovery. To ensure children receive the very best medical care possible.
6. New Child Centred Environments
With your help we will be able to support the building of and renovation of hospitals and hospices to be child focused, vibrant areas that are enhanced by art to help stimulate and distract children, hopefully making their stay in less scary and more fun. We will also ensure the needs of the entire family are catered for by supporting quiet family areas, play rooms and dinning/kitchen facilities.
7. Music Therapy
To help children with a wide range of disorders and special needs. Creating and listening to music can be of considerable therapeutic value to children, particularly in encouraging communication skills, motor skills, social/interpersonal development, cognitive development, pain management and self-awareness. Music therapy offers a valuable creative outlet for the many different feelings that the children will experience whilst in hospital. It also provides an enjoyable diversion from all the invasive procedures and treatments the child faces each day.
I hope this gives you more of an idea why the work of Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Foundation is so important and the crucial role the charity plays to your local community. If you want to learn more remember to visit www.wallaceandgromitfoundation.org now!
As I have gone on for far too long I will say goodbye
Saturday 25th October was a great day for many Nick Park fans. The great man himself performed a whole interview as part of the British Film Institute’s 53rd London Film Festival.
SATURDAY’s W&G experience started late Saturday morning when we got the tube North of the river and popped in to see Nick's W&G drawings that were being displayed at the Illustration Cupboard ( http://www.wallaceandgromit.com/forum/read/39771/1 ).
Then after a coffee break we made our way to the South Bank for the BFI Film Festival (nearest tube Waterloo). The main foyer had a little Stop Frame and Cartoon workshops set up for the youngsters.
The Grand Day Out screening was slightly delayed, so we went around the corner to find somewhere to sit down. Then I notice a couple of lads waiting by a side door with W&G videos in their hands, so I strolled up and looked outside to find a crowd of people standing by a vehicle that was close to the building, moving closer...Yes it was the arrival of Mr Park! I took over a photo print of my Wrong Trousers (fancy dress costume) and got my first autograph of the day.
When we finally got seated in the NF1 screening room everyone was sitting, waiting in anticipation for the digitally re-mastered film of the ‘Grand Day Out’”¦. I can say it was a dream to watch, then afterwards the audience burst into applause!
After the film the Journalist David Gritten was introduced to the stage where a small table with chairs and microphones had been set-up. Then after a brief introduction our man, the great Nick Park, appeared (stage right) just in front of where we were sitting!
Then he made his way up onto the stage to join David Gritten. There was a brief chat then David announced that it seemed a bit lonely up onstage with just the two of them”¦..This was the cue for a BFI representative to bring on two more guests, yes you’ve guessed right - the dynamic duo themselves - W&G! They were placed carefully on the table, but Nick couldn’t resisted having the last tweak of how the pair were standing.
It was a great little interview then questions where passed to the audience and Nick did his best to answer them all (even one from me!) Right at the end Nick had to go passed us again so I managed to get another piece of my W&G Artwork sign”¦”¦.For me the day was just grand!
Since it opened in July the Animate It! exhibition at Explore @Bristol has had more than 60,000 people through its doors.
The £400,000 permanent exhibition was developed in association with Aardman Animations and features some of the company's classic characters including dynamic duo Wallace and Gromit who are 20 years old on Wednesday. To celebrate, the exhibition will be just one attraction at a ticket-only event hosted by @Bristol with Aardman on November 14.
Guests can enjoy a series of workshops with Aardman animators, appearances from Wallace and Gromit, film screenings and much more.
To get your hands on a pair of tickets for this special event look out for 'golden tickets to the moon' hidden inside Wednesday's Bristol Evening Post. There are 300 pairs of tickets up for grabs.
The exhibition also allows people to create their own short animated films. Now budding Nick Parks can enter their creations into this season's leg of a year-long Animate It! competition. Winners of the heat, which closes on December 31, will go through to the grand final next year for a chance to win a golden Morph.
Emma Cook, exhibition manager, at Animate It!, said: "We're really encouraging people to bring in their own props to animate. It's a sure-fire way to draw the judge's eye. People are doing some really complicated things. One girl brought in her collection of Sylvanian Families to make a sports day film. About 20 characters had to go from one side of the screen to the next. Not many animators would attempt that!"
The competition will run every year for as long as the exhibition is open. This is currently three years but Miss Cook hopes it will be longer. She said: "It's incredibly popular. During this half term its been full. You can feel the buzz of creativity."
Each of the 300 vouchers is valid for two people and gives access to @Bristol on November 14 between 10am and 6pm. Full instructions will be on the voucher.
Readers who find the voucher will have to claim tickets by 5pm on Friday, November 6. Any claim after that date will not be accepted.
The vouchers will be inserted by the Evening Post team at random throughout the circulation area and will include home delivery customers. Standard Evening Post terms and conditions apply - see public notices in the newspaper on Tuesday or log on at www.thisisbristol.co.uk/competitionrules.
It’s the news so many gamers have been waiting for - all the Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures episodes will be available on the Xbox LIVE Arcade on Wednesday, November 4th. The release coincides, of course, with the 20th anniversary of the release of A Grand Day Out, Wallace & Gromit’s first animated film.
Telltale will begin taking orders November 4th at www.telltalegames.com for the Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures full season DVD. In addition to all four fun-filled episodes, the DVD will include exclusive image galleries, a “making of” video, and all the great Cracking Contraption shorts.
In honour of the claymation duo’s impressive milestone, Telltale is partnering with the Wallace & Gromit Children’s Foundation in the UK and Penny Arcade’s Child’s Play charity in North America to make a donation in selected regions for every purchase of the full PC season of Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures November 4-8.
Continuing the series of 12 short films to celebrate the run-up up Christmas, Nintendo have today released the 6th of Tim Ruffle’s (Commercial Director at Aardman) ‘Flipnote Studios’ animations.
Each one is short but really good fun - and even though the latest film, Freddy Fibs Part 1, has been released only today feedback is unanimously popular - it’s already received over 11,000 ‘Stars’ (viewers can award stars for films they particularly enjoy).
We hope to bring you more from Tim Ruffle and his creations on this site soon”¦
Children's Foundation Blog: "Welcome to my first ever blog!"
Oct 22, 2009 at 01:49 PM
Hello 62 West Wallaby Street!
Welcome to my first ever blog! My name is Rebecca, I am Fundraising Manager for Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Foundation and I hope over the coming weeks you will gain a great understanding of what we do here, our highs and lows and even get involved and volunteer your services!
I hope to open your mind to the world of charity so firstly I would like to introduce the Foundation and our history. We were born in 2003 to address the need for a national charity to champion the causes of local children’s hospitals and hospices across the UK. We were generously given Wallace & Gromit by Nick Park and the creators to encourage the great work we do and are extremely thankful to them. We have two national fundraisers Wrong Trousers Day and The Great British Tea Party which raise the majority of our donations. Other funds come from corporate sponsors, successful Charity of the Year applications and of course the wonderful personal donations we get everyday. Either from individual fundraising, gifts in kind, leaving a legacy and much more!
We are a very small charity doing big things! There is myself, Marie (Head of Corporate Partnerships), Nicola (Director) and Anna (Finance Director). Only Marie and I are full time so there is never a dull day!
So you are now thinking how can I help? Well firstly, we are always looking for corporate partners so mention us to your CSR team at work or if you think you could help us out occasionally with your expertise whether it’s PR, Marketing, Online, Design, anything really then please get in touch!
If you don’t already know, we will be celebrating 20 YEARS of Wallace & Gromit with The Great British Tea Party between 4th to 14th November! It’s a great fun way to raise money for sick children and chat to your friends / colleagues and family whilst eating some yummy cake so please register at www.wallaceandgromitfoundation.org for your free fantastic fundraising pack now!
Right next week I promise to make less asks! I will be talking about how the credit crunch has shaped the Foundation, a bit more about the projects we fund, where we work, the pros and cons of being a small charity and what ever strange things have happened to us within the week!
Enjoy your week and remember to do something charitable!
There are a number of really exciting competitions this year to tie in with the Great British Tea Party. Here's the information:
EXTREME Tea Drinking - Here’s one for Facebook fans! Ever wanted to spice up how you enjoy your tea? Well get down to an extreme destination - whether it be surfing, rockclimbing or anything else - and start drinking your tea (with proper safety precautions of course!).
Upload your pictures to the Children’s Foundation’s Facebook page and every week a winner will be chosen to receive a fantastic Yorkshire Tea goodie hamper. A winner will be announced from 13th October and then every Tuesday until the 14th.
Baking Competition - Simply take a photo of a baking creation you’ve made to celebrate the Great British Tea Party and W&G’s 20th Birthday. Send it to
and you could win 1 of 20 limited goodie bags and a copy of ‘Wallace and Gromit’s Cracking Celebrations Cakes’ - courtesy of the Quires Group - if yours is picked as the best.
Bob, our favourite N Power engineer who has now twice saved Wallace and Gromit from Energy DIY disaster, has been joined by a new friend - Pretty Penny.
29 years old, 5ft 6in, and from Huddersfield she is voiced in a warm Northern accent by Jodie Whittaker. The Aardman team drew on celebrities as their design for her. She has:
“...the hair colour of model Lily Cole, the face of newsreader Fiona Bruce and the smile of The One Show's presenter Christine Bleakley.
“Penny also has the fashion sense of This Morning presenter Holly Willoughby and the sense of humour of Coronation Street actress Sally Lindsay. “
Ironic of course, as Sally provided Piella’s voice in ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death’ - a woman with a very warped sense of humour!
Penny's launch by npower has coincided with Energy Saving Week, which starts today. Aardman and N Power hope she will encourage people to use power efficiently through her "honest, open and helpful advice".
Celebrating the exciting news that Aardman and the Tate Gallery are to produce a film made entirely by children we have opened a blog for updates on the film over in our Aardman Unleashed section.
"Don’t worry - it’s for Children in Need!" Brand new W&G advert!
Oct 16, 2009 at 03:07 PM
Today one of the promotional videos for the next Children in Need fundraising day has been released online, and it stars Wallace and Gromit!
Sitting in their trusty Motorbike and Sidecar (the originals? Perhaps not - they couldn’t get the original ones to be in the background of ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death’, they’re at an exhibition, the ones you see are replica pieces) they try to perform the famous ‘bus jumping’ stunt.
With an interesting mix of scales and forced perspective, the video should go down a treat and be a big hit with all viewers.
It’s pretty much inevitable that, when you read an article about Wallace and Gromit that’s been written by a lazy journalist, it will start ‘the cheese loving inventor and his faithful companion...’
However it is the inventing side of Wallace that came out in the ongoing World of Cracking Ideas exhibition at the Science Museum in London. Based around the duo’s home the exhibition encourages people to think of new inventions and ideas.
A full article on the exhibition will be in the next Aardmag, but yesterday’s edition of the magazine show ‘The One Show’ carried a story all about it as well. Celebrating the fact that an incredible 85,000 ideas have been submitted so far it reported on a Time Capsule that is being buried with a selection of ideas, to be dug up in 10 years time so we can see if the ideas were a good prediction of the future.
Interestingly the example invention picked out by The One Show plays a very similar role to the Autochef!
You can view the episode on iPlayer for the next week here (the Wallace and Gromit segment starts 17:30 in): The One Show (14/10/2009)
It’s not every day you look at the back sporting pages of a newspaper and find a big picture of Wallace and Gromit. However on Friday that’s exactly what happened - at least it did in The Times.
The feature was celebrating the news that our favourite plasticine duo have pledged their support to the England 2018 Football World Cup bid - with Aardman’s home Bristol being host city. Many papers and websites have picked up on the story - and despite other big names like Simon Cowell, and musicians Noel Gallagher and Sting, also pledging their support Wallace and Gromit have been picked out as the top name across the board.
The Times even carried a quote from Wallace himself:
“Along with the rest of Bristol we really would like to see the world cup here.”
It was reported that Gromit never talks publicly.
And, of course, both the picture and article make reference to the Soccamatic as the best training piece around for the England team.
So, for Wallace and Gromit fans, if we hear the news that England has won the World Cup bid we should be very excited as hopefully there will be tie-in products etc.! And, looking deeper, I think this is the perfect example of just how much of an impact Nick Park and Aardman have made.
No one knew of ‘animation’ before Wallace and Gromit - it was cartoons, just something quaint that took a long time. Now the duo are so widely accepted that they have endorsed everything from knitting groups to the aforementioned World Cup bid.
That football fans should want the support of an animated man and dog says an awful lot.
The latest ‘Wallace and Gromit Present: A World of Cracking Ideas’ challenge has been uploaded - this Month you are challenged to design an idea to get an egg from one side of the breakfast table to the other.
It’s always a strange moment when you meet your hero. Especially if your hero happens to be an entire company. For so many fans of Aardman Animations a chance to step inside those unassuming walls in Bristol and experience it properly is the ultimate dream, but is never realised. However my new job, running www.62westwallabystreet.co.uk with its online magazine ‘Aardmag’, meant that I have had that exact opportunity. The only time I had previously visited Aardman, which had been for one painfully short afternoon, I described it as, quite literally, ‘Heaven.’ Could a second visit - this time on a more professional footing for a whole week - possibly live up to that?
Monday provided a chance to experience the (aptly named) ‘New Building’ for the first time. A whirlwind tour of the fire exists alongside a 20 minute ‘Health and Safety’ Presentation was perhaps not how I imagined my visit would begin, but it started me off with the feeling that remained throughout my stay - Aardman is a paradox within itself. For it is, first and foremost, a business (at least, it all is in ‘The New Building’). People do sit down and have meetings, phones are constantly ringing, desks are piled with papers. And then you look at what people are actually doing. Someone has a workspace surrounded by children’s toys they have licensed, someone else is working on a new poster for a TV show staring ‘a little lamb with a lot to learn’. Most bizarrely of all, you step into the lift and press ‘go down’ but, instead of hearing from some unknown woman, Wallace cries out ‘doors closing - mind your paws Gromit!’
Within a day I went from only knowing the title of ‘Arthur Christmas’ to knowing the cast, crew, plot, and having seen the first 20 minutes of the Animatic. Trust me - you’ll love the scenes with ___ __ as it ____ __________ ____ ___ ____, the scene when ___ ____ skilfully sorts out a ‘______’ situation, and especially when ______ finally ____ ___ ____. Sorry, I’ve signed my NDA so that’s all you’re getting from me! By the next day I’d seen a good chunk of the new Shaun the Sheep episodes, as well as all episodes of a bizarre but superbly clever new Aardman show. During the day I’d been: a graphics designer, a journalist, a games developer, a secretary, and a whole lot more! Thursday brought a slightly quieter morning, even though work never stops here, and then in the afternoon I met Nick Park.
Yes, it was surreal as it sounds. Having watched his work more times that I probably should have done, having seen him in more behind-the-scenes programmes than I can remember and having classed him as a true ‘genius’ years ago, there he was. Just standing around in his office. Taking a big interest in the creations being sent in to the official Wallace and Gromit site, he took the time to write personal messages to all winners on their certificates. And he’s a true fan - Aardman and Wallace and Gromit memorabilia all over the place - from mini Rex the Runt keyrings to Japanese Wallace and Gromit Russian Roulette Candy (so he was the one who outbid me for them on eBay!)
And Friday was the day when, to be frank, anyone from the outside world would be reduced to a gibbering pile of ‘fan’. Hopping on over to Aztec West, where most filming is performed, we were shown around the production and filming areas for both ‘Shaun the Sheep’ and ‘Pirates!’ Shaun looks as brilliant as ever, with seemingly countless sets and crew working so very hard to produce the unbeatable show. The attention to detail in every respect must surely outweigh that put into any other children’s television, from the lighting right down to the ________ ________ (don’t you just love NDAs?).Meanwhile ‘The Pirates!’”¦Well, what can I say?! Not much as it happens, the security being so tight, but even though it’s not that far into development, it looks set to be one of the most beautiful films that Aardman has ever produced. The humour, the effects, the love - it’s all there already. But forget that - because I actually saw the ‘Nun Wrestling’ figures from ‘Curse of the Were-Rabbit’! How cool is that?!
So what will I take away from my week at Aardman as I return to my life as an everyday Superfan? Sofas, knitting, Nick Park, the canteen, the paradox, the graphics tablets, the tea on the stairs, the ____, and most of all the dedication of everyone who works there (especially the Digital department who never stop working for a tea break, knitting break, postal delivery break, desk moving break, or anything else. Honest.)
My many thanks go to everyone who contributed in any way to the time I spent with my hero - the one and only Aardman Animations.
One small piece of news, but very exciting for Australian fans.
The new ‘World of Invention’ show for Wallace and Gromit has been picked up by ABC in Australia so fans there will also get a chance to see the duo in their new Aardman show.
CBBC has signed a co-production deal with Aardman Animations to produce a live-action comedy pilot based on stage show Men in Coats.
The 13 x 15-minute show, created by Mick Dow, will be aimed at both boys and girls aged 7-11 and is currently in development.
The story follows Mik and Moe, who have left their homeland of Wursturg to seek their fortune. Dressed in the traditional Wurstburgian costume of snorkel parkas, they swear to uphold their land’s ancient decree of never speaking. The series follows their attempts to hold down a job, rent a room and simply have fun.
Inspired by the stage show, it combines performance arts with surreal magic and camera trickery. The stage show boasts sell out tours around the world and has generated 33 million hits on YouTube, placing it in the top 100 most viewed clips ever.
CBBC and WDR have signed on as co-production partners for a pilot episode, which is currently in pre-production.
Incoming CBBC controller Damian Kavanagh said: "Men in Coats will be a welcome addition to our stable of live action comedy."
Hopefully the fact that Aardman are involved will help to keep the unusual format of the stage show and provide a highly entertaining piece of television.
The super new HQ of Aarman won two big awards at the Royal Institute of British Architects South West Town and Country Design Awards.
It won both the Ibstock Premier Award and the Workspace Category. The building was praised in particular for the way in which it fits with the nautical feeling of the docks, with its wide, open spaces and ship-like interior, as well as the way in which windows are used to provide excellent lighting conditions and allow members of the public to grab glimpses of the work going on inside the walls.
Congratulations to all involved with the building!
Haynes, the world famous publisher of books revealing the inner workings of cars, motorbikes and a whole lot more, have recently signed a deal with Aardman Rights to publish a series of W&G books looking at the inner workings of Wallace’s inventions.
Sean Clarke, Head of Aardman Rights, said: “We’re really excited about this new, novel opportunity to work with Haynes to produce a fun, practical guide to Wallace & Gromit’s world, and to be one of very few properties that have featured in their own, fictional Haynes manual.”
J Haynes, Managing Director at Haynes Publishing, adds: “Haynes is delighted to be working with such a well respected company as Aardman. The fit with Wallace and Gromit is ideal and will perfectly complement our very young, but growing, children's manual range. Everyone at Haynes is excited at the prospect of working with the Aardman team to create a fabulous Wallace and Gromit "Cracking Contraptions Manual".
The first book is set to possibly be published in November 2009 - we’ll have all the news as it happens on this exciting story.
Make a date in your diary for 24th October 2009 when Aardman are going ‘Down on the Farm’ at the Windmill Hill City Farm from 11am to 4pm helping in the big appeal to keep the farm open.
There will be workshops on drawing, modelling and animation alongside a farm animal fancy dress competition.
Entry is £3.00 for adults and £2.00 for children (though under-3s go free).
It should be a really fun event for the whole family!
Make your own W&G greetings cards (no Cardomatic required!)
Oct 05, 2009 at 03:31 PM
Anyone who is a fan of Wallace and Gromit and is interested in crafts should definitely get hold of the latest issue of ‘Let’s make...Cards!’
Issue 27 of the publication that calls itself ‘the cardmaker’s favourite magazine’ celebrates 20 years of Wallace and Gromit with a 145 piece kit for making cards based on the duo. Complete with pop-out images and text, alongside coloured card and other essential items, it contains everything you need to make some great W&G pieces. The accompanying magazine includes images of 68 cards to inspire your creations.
It’s obviously aimed more at the card maker than the Aardman fan, the short article on Wallace and Gromit within the magazine containing pretty basic information, but for any crafty fan it’s a great buy.
It is pricey at £7.99, but if you think of it less as a magazine and more as a kit then the price is not bad for what you are getting. However it’s only hanging around for a Month so get down to your local stockist quickly!
For fans of the uber-cool Timmy and his show ‘Timmy Time’ great news was just announced - Cbeebies have bought 26 new 10 minute episodes of the series, which Aardman will begin filming next summer.
Expect more from Timmy on this site in the near future!
Anyone with an interest in how one ordinary Preston boy followed his dreams to art college and went on to create two of the best known characters of all time should certainly visit the Illustration Cupboard, in London, from 29 September-24 October 2009.
Celebrating twenty years of the duo The Illustration Cupboard Gallery is to hold an exhibition of Wallace and Gromit artwork produced just for the event alongside original storyboard drawings for ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death’.
All pieces are for sale, prices ranging from £500-£10,000. There will also be a limited run of 95 silk screen editions of Wallace and Gromit just for the exhibition, each numbered and signed by Nick Park.
The exhibition also ties in with the launch of the incredible new book - ‘The Art of Wallace and Gromit’ - which reproduces many previously unseen drawings from Nick Park’s sketchbooks. They range from his time developing the characters right up to unused ideas intended for ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death’. The book has already caused quite a stir in the media with a number of articles appearing on various websites and in ‘The Times’. Signed copies of the book will be on sale at the exhibition.
Although the main presentation closes on 24 October, it will continue on the ground floor throughout November. An essential visit for any fan.
Robert Harrop Weekend Reviewed - new figurines revealed!
Sep 28, 2009 at 02:59 PM
My full review of the ‘A Grand Day Out with Robert Harrop’ event can now be found here or on the Official site (make sure to check that link for all images!):
Watch out in the next issue of the Aardmag for interviews with Robert Harrop and Jim Parkyn!
Over the 20 years that Wallace and Gromit have been on our screens companies ranging from ‘Coalport’ to ‘Vivid Imaginations’ have tried their hand at figures and ornaments of the duo. However the news that Robert Harrop Designs Ltd. had been given the rights to produce figurines filled me with a lot of excitement. Probably best known for their ‘Camberwick Green’, ‘Beano/Dandy’ and ‘Doggie People’ models the company has been creating beautiful pieces for over 25 years.
As you approach their new base of operations you know you’ve reached the right place - they’re just outside beautiful Ironbridge and surrounded by Wallace and Gromit-esque old buildings, one of which, interestingly, is a wool shop (though no sign of a wool shortage there...)
The ‘A Grand Day Out with Robert Harrop’ weekend marked the grand opening of the W&G side of their Collector’s Club which currently has around 2,500 members. Although many attendees were there for the exclusive auctions and sales of special Robert Harrop pieces there was enough W&G to make it worth a visit from any fan.
Jim Parkyn, Aardman modelmaker, taught visitors how to make their very own bunny from ‘Curse of the Were-Rabbit’ and after every 50-minute session you would see people wandering around clutching their plastic bags with Rabbits safely inside. Many agreed that it was much harder to do than it looked, but all left pleased with their results and eager to try out more at home.
Elsewhere very exciting new figurines were announced, two of which were on display finished (ready to be released about mid-November) and one which was in the process of being painted. They were:
- ‘Bakers Dozen’ - the ‘13’ bakers mannequin from Piella’s bedroom (Exclusive free gift to every member of the collector’s club)
- ‘Gromit and The Bomb’ - speaks for itself! (Exclusive club yearpiece available for members of the collector’s club to buy)
- Christmas piece based on the Radio Times cover image from 2008
Also available to view were original props from ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death’ including a baker’s mannequin, various pieces of baking produce and an original cog. Other pieces of Wallace and Gromit merchandise were on sale, the most popular being the cracking W&G Wensleydale, which almost sold out after free tasting sessions convinced people of how good it was!
What sets the Robert Harrop pieces apart from companies in the past can be described in this quotation from Robert Harrop during an interview he gave to me:
“...Attention to detail and method of sculpt and production which allows us to involve the particular ‘hands on’ detail that Nick Park was very keen on. i.e. the fingerprints and the ‘thumbyness’ of the sculpt. From Nick Park’s point of view this is the key to our involvement.”
As he later expanded upon it’s the fact that the figures are exactly as collectors know them which sets them apart - for example, they have produced two BFG models in their ‘World of Roald Dahl’ range, both of which have slightly different ears. This is because the original images were different, and for collectors this is something they know and would want to see in figurines.
As far as W&G go it’s the difference between the shape of Wallace’s mouth or Gromit’s nose in ‘A Grand Day Out’ compared with ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death.’ These figures are exactly as we know and love them right down to the smallest detail and that is why I cannot wait to see more of their products.
All in all I think the weekend lived up to its name - it was indeed ‘A Grand Day Out’Write Comment (0 comments)
W&G hit DVD/Blu-Ray both sides of the Pond!
Sep 28, 2009 at 11:53 AM
Exciting news has come for DVD and Blu-Ray fans both side of the Pond.
In the UK 2|Entertain have announced a brand new boxset known as ‘Wallace & Gromit: The Complete Collection’, to be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on November 2nd to celebrate the duo’s 20th Anniversary. Confusingly it only contains the 4 30 minute shorts. However it does come with these (previously released) extras:
- "Amazing Adventures of Wallace & Gromit" featurette
- "Inside The Wrong Trousers" featurette
- "How It Was Done" (A Close Shave) featurette
- "How They Donut" The Making of A Matter of Loaf and Death featurette
What makes it an essential purchase though is the inclusion of the remastered ‘A Grand Day Out’! Fans will have a chance to see the classic film in new technical glory. If the fantastic work done on the ‘Classic’ Doctor Who episodes is anything to go by, it should make essential viewing for any viewer.
Meanwhile US fans can finally enjoy ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death’ on DVD with the release over there. This long awaited announcement is sure to please many US fans. America also already has access to ‘The Complete Collection’ on DVD and Blu-Ray.
On the weekend of the 26th & 27th September, at the same time as the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Festival nearby, Robert Harrop invite you to ‘A Grand Day Out’ to celebrate both the 20th Anniversary of A Grand Day Out and their Wallace and Gromit figurine collection. It will also be when they launch the W&G section of the Robert Harrop Collectors Club.
There are many things to do over the weekend including:
-Browse the Robert Harrop archive of over 1,400 figurines from the 1980’s to present day.
-Take a tour and see the figurines from design to master.
-Modelling workshops given by Jim Parkyn, plasticine modeller who has worked on Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep.
-Entertainment from the Jackfield Brass Band.
-Have some cheese & crackers plus tea or coffee and chat to fellow collectors and fans.
Wallace and Gromit are back! Only this time it’s not a new film but instead a ‘show’. In ‘Wallace & Gromit present: A World of Invention’ the duo will take a light-hearted look at a whole history of inventions from Wallace’s converted basement. As Aardman say:
"'Wallace & Gromit Present: A World of Invention' will take a light-hearted and humorous look at real-life contraptions, gadgets and inventions and aims to inspire a whole new generation of innovative minds by showing them real, but mind-boggling, machines and inventions from around the world that have influenced Wallace’s ‘illustrious’ inventing career."
This will be a chance to see Wallace and Gromit in a whole new way and a good chance to have more of them without waiting for another film.
Information in scarce, though there will be at least some normal animation mixed with ‘live’ film, but be sure that as soon as anything is officially released we’ll let you know!
It’s been 157 days since I took the site offline, and in that time I’ve had so much feedback I can’t thank everyone who has written in enough. I believe all have been replied to - if not please forgive me and feel free to send a prod by email! It’s been super to see how excited people are and I really hope I can live up to expectations with the relaunch!
Hopefully this information should help as I list some of the exciting new features:
- The Aardmag!
This is the most exciting content I have ever had the privilege to release on any of my websites. A COMPLETELY FREE, MONTHLY, ONLINE MAGAZINE dedicated mainly to Wallace and Gromit but encouraging people to reach out and explore the rest of the Aardman world as well.
With articles, games, posters, reviews, interviews with people from all over Aardman and more it will be the essential read for all fans. And most excitingly of all perhaps is that we have the ever-talented ‘Cavor’ on board as our in-house artist and he’s going to illustrate the magazine and is currently working on an all-new Wallace and Gromit cracking comic strip for a future issue!
I believe in high quality free content on the internet wherever possible so come and enjoy it every Month!
Issue 1 is up and if you have ideas and feedback for the future already please do send it in. A letters page is also going to be opened in a future issue so feel free to send in things for that as well. Throughout the magazine you will spot lots of other ways to get involved as well.
- Aardman Unleashed
This is an all-new area dedicated to the extended world of Aardman Animations with in-depth looks at different films from the group’s history. This will be updated over time on a regular basis and should prove to be the definitive encyclopaedia of everyone’s favourite animators.
- Reviews
Reviews of any and every product will be added over time, with some ranges having their own areas such as the wonderful Telltale Games and the absolutely stunning Robert Harrop statuettes.
- All your favourite W&G content updated!
Our 100% accurate and referenced character biographies, guides and more have been updated and remain ready to view in easier formats.
All of this will help to make the website the greatest Aardman site online. And to quote Wallace “that’s only the first part...” - there’s a whole lot more to come so brace yourself! Keep checking back for more - and to ensure you don’t miss anything sign up to our mailing list using the box on the right hand side!
Oh - and don’t forget to keep sending in your feedback - it all helps tremendously!
