Aardman Studios is known around the world for its seamlessly animated stop-motion train chases, hacked “smart gnomes”, tea-consuming heroes and mean penguins.
Fans can now get a behind-the-scenes look at the studio’s best-known projects and see how they went from rough ideas sketched on a kitchen table to Oscar-winning films in a major exhibition at the Young V&A in Oost. London.
The curators of Inside Aardman: Wallace & Gromit and Friends, launching in February, promise a unique opportunity to see the creative process of the studio that brought the world Morph, Shaun the Sheep and Norbot.
Alex Newson, chief curator at Young V&A, says he wants the exhibition to ‘demystify’ the animation process and show a new generation of children how their favorite films are made.
He said: “There’s a phenomenal amount of skill and technique that goes into making animations like Aardman does. But on the other hand, it’s an incredibly accessible art form. And basically anyone can make stop-motion animation at home with very minimal equipment..”
The exhibition includes 150 items, including sets and storyboards such as the train chase scene from Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Pants.
He said: “I don’t think a stop-motion sequence like this has ever been filmed before. Just to see how they planned it at the storyboard stage before filming or modernizing it is really beautiful.”
It will also feature the interior and exterior of the submarine used by Wallace and Gromit’s nemesis, Feathers McGraw, in Revenge most birds. The studio’s latest installment in the Wallace & Gromit film series critically and the viewing figures were high.
The Young V&A has been trying to secure an Aardman exhibition even before the Covid-19 pandemic. Consideration was given to hosting the Art of Aardman, which toured in 2023, but the institution, which has undergone a major renovation and named museum of the year 2024decided to work on something more suitable for the younger audience.
The exhibition will be an important part of Aardman’s 50th anniversary celebrations, which will take place in 2026.
Peter Heer and David Sproxton founded Britain’s largest animation production company while still at school, producing early projects on their kitchen tables. Aardman has become one of the most celebrated names in British filmmaking.
after newsletter promotion
One of the couple’s first creations was Morph, a stop-motion creation who appeared on the popular children’s program Take Hart. Aardman also created elements of Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer video and produced several advertisements in the 1990s following the success of Creature Comforts, the first Academy Award winner.
In 1989, Nick Park directed A Grand Day Out, the film that brought cheese-obsessed Lancastrian inventor Wallace and his faithful dog Gromit to a mainstream audience. The duo has since appeared in four shorts and two features, becoming the studio’s most beloved creations. The animation studio has won four Oscars and is venturing into video games.
In a 2009 interview, Park said he believed Wallace and Gromit remained popular because they were distinctly British. “The fact that they are made of plasticine means that their faces can convey emotions very subtly,” he said. “Gromit says a lot just by raising one sardonic eyebrow.”
In 2018, Lord and Sproxton transferred a 75% stake in the company to their 140 employees to ensure the studio’s independence. Employees hold their majority stake in the company through a trust, similar to the way the John Lewis partnership is organised.
Source link
Aardman,Wallace & Gromit,Animation in film,Animation on TV,Film,London,Museums,Culture,Television & radio , , #grand #day #Wallace #Gromit #shine #London #exhibition #Earthman, #grand #day #Wallace #Gromit #shine #London #exhibition #Earthman, 1764023552, a-grand-day-out-wallace-and-gromit-shine-in-london-exhibition-earthman