Aardman Animations, Ltd. is located in Bristol, England. It was founded in 1972 by Peter Lord and David Sproxton. They are known for their clay stop-motion projects. Their first animation series was Morph. Morph was a clay stop-motion comedy released in 1977. 12 years later, the animation studio produced two more series, "Creature Comforts", and the famous comedy animation show, "Wallace and Gromit". Both of the series got the creator, Nick Park, an Oscar for the "Best Animated Short Film". In 2000, the company released the highest grossing stop-motion movie of all time, "Chicken Run". The movie made $225 million on a $45 million budget. It was also co-financed by DreamWorks Pictures.
|
|
|
In 2006, "Flushed Away" was released, a project produced by Aardman Animations and DreamWorks Animation. The was generally received good, with an average rating of 74%. It was made on a $149 million budget due to being made in CGI. It resulted in a $178 million box office, and a $109 million write-down for DreamWorks Animation. That forced the company to terminate their partnership with Aardman Animations.
|
"Shaun the Sheep", Aardman Animations' most famous T.V. series, first aired on CBBC in 2007. Like "Wallace & Gromit", this series is stop-motion. In 2015, a film titled "Shaun the Sheep: Movie" was released theatrically. The movie earned $106 million on a $25 million budget. It was well received by critics and fans. In 2011, the studio released a CGI movie titled, "Arthur Christmas". It made $147 million on a $100 million budget. The next year they released "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!". The movie made $123 million on a $55 million budget. This year, "Early Man" was released.
|
|
|
This video shows the making of their latest movie, "Early Man". |
Key People
Impact on the animation industry
Aardman Animations is a unique studio has impacted the animation film industry by creating the most detailed stop motion animations. This company has popularized stop motion animations the most, by creating shows such as "Morph", "Creature Comforts", "Wallace & Gromit", and "Shaun The Sheep". All of these pieces of animation involve clay-based stop motion. Movies such as "Coraline", and "The Boxtrolls" exist due to Aardman Animations contribution to the animation industry.