Watch: Morph and Chas Are Back in Twin Decks!

Aardman's oldest clay pal is back! Morph, who first appeared back in 1977, is popping back up now, following the success of the recent Kickstarter to launch 15 new shorts - the first of which, Twin Decks, is now online! Check it out below.

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!

Aardman News 9 - Watch Wallace and Gromit's Latest Outing and Win an Aardman Tour!

In our last Aardman News, we showed you a brief clip from Wallace and Gromit's latest outing, the new, Jubilee themed, "mini-animation", A Jubilee Bunt-a-thon. Now that the Jubilee extended-weekend is over, the very short short-film is now online.

Embedded above, the just over one minute long outing is more of a mini-bit really. It's funny of course - it is Wallace and Gromit after all - but it's too short to really amount to much.

Nonetheless, this isn't the really exciting news. Wallace and Gromit creative director, Merlin Crossingham, shared a link to the National Trust's website, on Twitter, toting a competition! The competition is hardly challenging:

What does Wallace say to Gromit when he sees the size of the house that they've got to decorate?

a) Oh crikey

b) Oh crumbs

c) Woweee

And although it pains me to add more competition to this - it means I have less of a chance of winning after all - email your answer to competitions@nationaltrust.org.uk by midnight (UK time) on 30th June 2012.

I haven't even got to the amazing prize yet: In addition to spending a day at Tyntesfield - an old National Trust house - you also get:

"the chance to visit the Aardman studio [in Bristol] and meet some of the teams who bring the famous characters of Wallace & Gromit to life. You'll also get the chance to have your very own private screening of your favourite Wallace & Gromit film. And after that, there's a family trip to At-Bristol Science Centre to have a look at some real life Wallace & Gromit sets."

What an utterly fantastic competition and even better prize! Be sure to enter!

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Speaking of Aardman, be sure to cast your vote in our "What's your favourite Aardman film?" poll to the right - there's less than a day left!

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.