Watch: The New 'Early Man' Trailer Pits Stone Against Bronze

Aardman's next feature film, Early Man, is set in prehistoric times, but one where Dinosaurs co-exist with humans and in which the heroes have to fight against a powerful and technology more advanced tribe.
Like always with the Bristol Studio, the new Early Man trailer promises there's a lot of fun to be had, and the world created by Nick Park and his creative team looks great. Watch the trailer below.

Watch: Here is the First Full Trailer for Aardman's 'Early Man'

Nick Park (Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run) is back behind his stop-motion camera for Early Man, the new Aardman movie set in prehistoric times. The film will be out early next year (On 26 January in the UK and 16 February in the US), and we've got our first full trailer. Watch the 2:30 video below.

Watch: A Funny First Teaser for Aardman's 'Early Man'

Next year Aardman will bring us Early Man, the first feature film directed by animation legend Nick Park since Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit in 2005; and we have a first teaser for it just below, introduced by Eddie Redmayne who voices Dug, the protagonist of the film.

Aardman's 'Early Man' Is Now in Production

Aardman as announced via a very short teaser that their next film, Early Man, is in production. We've caught a few pictures of the project before but this is the first time we're seeing Dug and Hognob move. Watch the 16 seconds clip below.

Eddie Redmayne Will Voice the Main Character in Aardman's 'Early Man'

Aardman just announced that Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything, The Danish Girl, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them…) would voice Dug, the main character in the studio's upcoming film Early Man. StudioCanal, who is distributing the movie also gave us the release dates for the UK, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. Read the full press release below.

Aardman Gives Us a New Sneak Peek at 'Early Man'

Nick Park with his new hero, Dug

Earlier today, the BBC aired a documentary about Aardman called A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman. It mostly featured the many past successes of the Bristol studio, but ended with a sneak peek at what's coming next: Early Man. Never-seen-before concept arts were shown, and we've got that for you after the break.

'Early Man' Goes Hunting in a First Poster

We shared a first picture of Aardman's Early Man last week. But here's something more official and more revealing: this is the first time the faces of the two main characters are shown. More after the break.

Catch a First Glimpse of Nick Park's 'Early Man'

We reported a few days ago that Nick Park was working on a new stop-motion film for Aardman set in prehistoric times called Early Man. At the Cannes Film Festival, Film Divider caught some demo footage, a teaser image (that you can see above) and something that looks like a more detailed synopsis than the one we've seen before.

Nick Park's Next Film is 'Early Man'

Be excited! Be very excited, animations fans, because Nick Park (Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run) is working on a new stop-motion movie, as it was announced by Aardman today. The film will be called Early Man.

Aardman News 12 - No Pirates! Sequel in "The Foreseeable Future"

Briefly, some disheartening news for Aardman fans from mid-January that I just noticed now: Peter Lord, the director of the Oscar-nominated The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists, said that the planned sequel is not happening.

Aardman News 10 - News and Stories from Wallace and Gromit in the Radio Times

Last week the Radio Times featured British institution Wallace and Gromit on their front cover, to promote the plasticine-duo's appearance at the BBC Proms. A large classical music festival, the Proms was a big stage for the hapless inventor and his mute mutt to appear on, and RT spoke to the pair's creator, Aardman's Nick Park, about the appearance and other things Aardman.

As well as discussing the logistics of their appearance at the Proms, music used in the appearance and Gromit's favourite composers ("Poochini and Bark"), Nick Park also spoke about Wallace and Gromit's origins and more. Very interestingly, Park spoke about Gromit's beginnings, and how he was originally conceived as a cat! However, he adds:

"when I came to model the cat out of clay, I just found a dog easier to make... so Gromit became a dog"

He also spoke briefly about Gromit's early characteristics; the article quotes Park that:

"[Gromit] was going to be a bouncy, extrovert character but on the first day of shooting, he was too hard to move. I found it much easier just moving his brow." It was a Eureka moment. "It gave him a personality, an inner, discerning mind. Suddenly he became a contrast; a child more intelligent than his father."

As well as speaking about working with current Wallace and Gromit Creative Director, Merlin Crossingham, and their respective favourite (non-Aardman) animated films - "The first ten minutes of Up. The Incredibles. Toy Story 3." says Park, an evident Pixar fan, whilst Crossingham cites Disney's The Jungle Book, DreamWorks' Kung Fu Panda and, also, The Incredibles - we also get a little bit on Aardman aspirations.

Park tells Radio Times that he aspires to do something that Disney have done in the past, and Pixar have famously done repeatedly: produce a tear-inducing, emotional film, in the manner of Bambi or Toy Story 3. Park says that he wants to make a film much more serious and emotional than Aardman's usual light-hearted, quirky take, saying:

"We need to tell our own stories, rooted in our own culture, but do it with the equivalent emotion of Hollywood... Billy Elliot did it, and The Full Monty did it, but I don't think we have it yet in animation. Films that get you in the gut. It can be done, but we avoid it because we don't wear our emotion on our sleeves as a nation. We avoid it because we have seen it done badly with Hollywood schmaltziness and triteness."

Wow, that's certainly something I'd love to see Aardman tackle in the future! As much as I adore the studio's quirkiness and more light-hearted takes, originality is what they do best, and this sounds like a very original idea. And we may not have to wait that long to see how it turns out, because Park also - briefly - spoke about his next film, confirmed as not a Wallace and Gromit film; based on an idea he's had for over 10 years! An idea that may well be an emotional one.

We can't wait to hear more from Nick's next project, and will keep you informed as we learn more (on a somewhat related note, this is our tenth Aardman News feature *blows party whistle*)!

All quotes via 14-20 July edition of Radio Times.


In an Aardman mood now? Why not check out our interview with The Pirates! director Peter Lord last month!

Interview: Peter Lord, Co-founder of Aardman and Director of The Pirates!

Today I had the fantastic opportunity to speak to the very kind, very friendly and very, very talented Peter Lord on the phone, from Aardman's headquarters in Bristol. Peter, who is a co-founder of Aardman, co-directed their first feature film, Chicken Run, and directed their most recent film, The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists. Despite his very busy schedule as one of the famed studio's top-brass, Peter was kind enough to speak to me for just over half an hour about all things Aardman.

I'd also like to take this time to extend my sincerest thanks to Emily Metcalfe, Julie Lockhart and Amy Wood from the Aardman publicity and production team for helping to set this up. As a huge fan of Aardman, it was a great honour to interview Peter.

Topics covered in our conversation include the history of Aardman, critical reaction to the studio, why their films have never caught on in a big way in America, working with DreamWorks and Sony and The Pirates! and The Pirates! 2. Be wary though, there is some (very) mild language used. Check out the full interview after the jump break:

Aardman News 8 - Wallace and Gromit in A Jubilee Bunt-a-thon

Before you get too excited, this isn't a new Wallace and Gromit feature film, nor is it even really a short film - what this is, is a "new mini animation" featuring the plasticine duo preparing for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The 1 minute long short film, more like the previous Cracking Contraptions series than the half hour TV specials, is being released by the National Trust at a series of events this summer - for a list of locations, visit the National Trust's website. The short film, entitled A Jubilee Bunt-a-thon, sees barmy inventor, Wallace, and his loyal pooch, Gromit, putting up the bunting to celebrate the Queen's big day and you can see a 30 second clip from it above.

There's also a wonderful behind-the-scenes look at the production of Bunt-a-thon (below), showing the painstaking and wonderful process that stop-motion animation undergoes. The video features some words from the duo's creator, Nick Park, and from Creative Director, Merlin Crossingham (one of those fantastic names that makes you proud to be British) who said:

"To complete a minute of film, we have three animators, working flatout for 3 weeks."

It really puts into context the hard work that goes into, not just stop-motion, but animation in general! Look forward to this short film probably making its way online later this year.

The Simpsons at 500

The Simpsons, Matt Groening's brainchild, the most iconic show in recent memory, the mould from which shows like Family Guy and South Park seek to establish themselves, has reached the gigantic milestone of 500 episodes. The show, which started on The Tracey Ullman Show way back in 1987 as a series of shorts, has been a mainstay on TV as a series for 23 years.

The practically unparralleled achievement is a true feather in the cap of arguably one of the greatest TV shows of all time and The Simpsons has been getting a lot of well deserved coverage because of the approaching accomplishment. The Guardian has compiled a list of the top ten episodes of The Simpsons here, crowning the 007 spoof, You Only Move Twice the greatest episode of The Simpsons ever. Personally, I'd agree with The Guardian's choice of that and of Cape Feare as the top two, although I'd probably rank their first full episode, Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, in the top three though. Although, fans and critics alike seem fairly unaminous that the show's finest hours were in its first decade or so, there is no arguing with the fantastic brilliance of the show, and recent episode's like Angry Dad: The Movie showed the show's timelessness and how it is still capable of utter brilliance and witty self-parody. The Guardian also has an article about its choice of the top ten things that make The Simpsons great.

BBC News has a couple of clips from the upcoming 500th episode here, as well as some words from Wallace and Gromit creator and Aardman head honcho, Nick Park, about the honour of guest starring in The Simpsons.

Matt Groening has also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Valentine's Day (read more here).

The Simpsons' 500th episode will feature guest appearences by controversial WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange and will air in the US tomorrow.

For more on the show's creator, Matt Groening, read our Bitesized Biography about him.

Arthur Christmas Unwrapped Tomorrow

Aardman's latest feature, the Christmassy collaboration with Sony Pictures Animation, Arthur Christmas arrives in cinemas over here in the UK tomorrow (whereas, US readers will have to wait until the 23rd), and, as such, Aardman and Sony have swamped us with clips.

Above, we have highlights of the star studded premiere of the film. In addition to the creative talent from the studio - director and writer, Sarah Smith, and Aardman head honchos, David Sproxton, Peter Lord and Nick Park - the premiere was attended by members of the film's cast including Bill Nighy (Grandsanta), Ashley Jensen (Bryony) and Outnumbered's Ramona Marquez (Gwen). In addition to some new clips of the film, the video also show's Nighy and Jensen helping to turn on the famed Regent Street Lights.

If this magical event encapsulates the film as a whole, we're all in for a treat when it hits cinemas tomorrow. But, speaking of clips, Sony also rolled out a plethora of new clips from the movie (below), but, be warned some clips are a little spoiler heavy.

 

 

  

I particularly loved that last clip, 'Elf Delivery', it was jaw dropping, both in the ambition of the story, and in terms of the beautiful animation. The film, from these clips at least, looks funny, gorgeous and touching. I can't wait to see Arthur Christmas (I'll be heading out to see it next weekend, so look out for a review around then).

Aardman News 5 - Arthur Christmas Trailers and Park's Back

Finally we have enough substantial Aardman news to return to the Aardman News feature here on the blog as today we get a couple of big Aardman nuggets to think about.

Firstly, we have two new, full length, trailers for Aardman's next feature film, the CGI film, Arthur Christmas. Arthur Christmas, a film about how Santa really delivers presents to every child in the world in one night, and what happens, when he misses one, stars the voice talent of James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent and Bill Nighy (a pretty all-star British cast to say the least) and is directed by Sarah Smith.

The trailers (UK one above, US one below) are fantastic, witty and provide far more details on plot, characters and looks at the breath taking, stop motion immitating, CGI animation used in the film - I particularly liked the bit concerning the reindeers' names: "Dasher. Dancer. What are the others called? I could never ruddy remember... Bambi?".

In addition to these two brilliant trailers for the studio's next film (on which they are collaborating with Sony Pictures Animation - the studio behind Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs) we get the extremely exciting news (courtesy of Bleeding Cool) that Wallace and Gromit creator, and four time Academy Award winner, Nick Park is working on a new project!

We currently know nothing of the project other than the fact that it is NOT a Wallace and Gromit film, but that it will be made using Aardman's trademark, stop motion style, as opposed to the CGI animation of Arthur Christmas.

I couldn't be more excited about all things Aardman!

Thanks to Bleeding Cool and Slash Film.

A Trip to the Wallace and Gromit Exhibit at the LIFE Science Centre - A Grand Day Out!

The replica of Wallace and Gromit's home which houses the exhibit.

On Sunday, I had the opportunity to visit the Wallace and Gromit: A World of Cracking Ideas exhibit at the LIFE Science Centre in Newcastle. The exhibit has been open for the past five months or so and is open until the 31st October and it was fantastic.

Me standing in the doorway of 62 West Wallaby Street.

The exhibit, running to promote the Intellectual Property Office and to encourage young inventors to create some "Cracking Ideas" features everything from a full sized replica of the famous duos house at 62 West Wallaby Street, to working inventions like the Hat Barometer to actual props from the Wallace and Gromit films!

Left - Everyone's favourite sheep, Shaun the Sheep. Right - Me with Shaun

Left - Wallace andc Gromit's famed garden. Right - Me crouching by the duo's garage.

Left - Wallace's broom prop from A Matter of Loaf and Death. Right - Record props from A Matter of Load and Death.

Left - The actual Gromit's Greenhouse set from the 2005 Best Animated Film Academy Award winning, Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Right - Wallace and Gromit's Living Room from A Matter of Loaf and Death.

Without a doubt, one of the highlights of the exhibit (and indeed of the past few months for me) was seeing actual sets used in the Wallace and Gromit films, including ones from 2005's Curse of the Were-Rabbit; it was unbelievable.

Left - The set of Wallace and Gromit's Dining Room from A Matter of Loaf and Death. Right - The set of the Italian Restaurant from A Matter of Loaf and Death.

Left - A set of Wallace and Gromit's Kitchen. Right - A birdseye view of the famed pair's Living Room.

Left - A painting of a young Wallace and Gromit adorning one of the walls in the exhibit. Right - a replica of the stairs down to the house's basement.

Left - A collection of Wallace and Gromit memorabilia I picked up at the exhibit. Right - Me posing in my Mickey Mouse T-Shirt and Google hoodie with Aardman's iconic pair.

Overall, this exhibit was brilliant, a collection of the kind of stuff Aardman and Wallace and Gromit fans dream of, and I would encourage anyone and everyone who can to head to LIFE in Newcastle to visit before the exhibit ends in October. The exhibit would be a fantastic visit for young children, although it is perhaps those of us who have dedicated so much to the brilliant films that will enjoy it more.

To see times and more details visit this website, I would definitely recommend the exhibit as I had A Grand Day Out!

The Simpsons Parodies Animation

In the latest episode of The Simpsons, Angry Dad: The Movie, in which Bart endeavours to turn his little animations about Homer from series 13 into an animated film. From there the episode turns into a veritable plethora of animated parodies.

The episode parodies Pixar (or as it is called here, Mixar, above) showing John Lasseter and co. turning up to the Golden Globes on the famous Pixar scooters, also parodying Randy Newman (below), who sings "You've got an enemy" to Bart. It also then parodies Luxo, Mr. Potato Head and WALL E (above). We also get a parody of a Pixar film, condiments, a film about what happens when food comes to life when people aren't around, I can't imagine where they got that idea from!

They also parody Aardman and Wallace and Gromit, with Willice and Crumble, there's even a special guest appearance by W&G creator Nick Park (above).

You can also see snippets of parodies of DreamWorks' Kung Fu Panda and Disney's The Lion King (top). As well as a parody of Sylvain Chomet and The Triplets of Belleville.

The episode is hilarious and is definitely one of the best episodes of The Simpsons in recent memory. The episode also contains little digs at celebrities i.e. Ricky Gervais' somewhat questionable hosting of The Golden Globes this year.