0:00:02 > 0:00:03Your programme's starting, Gromit.
0:00:03 > 0:00:07I know you've been looking forward to this one. Hmm?
0:00:07 > 0:00:09Lost your chair, lad?
0:00:09 > 0:00:12Let me introduce the Relax-O-Matic.
0:00:17 > 0:00:18WALLACE LAUGHS
0:00:18 > 0:00:21Are we sitting comfortably? Hmm?
0:00:21 > 0:00:23Mm-hmm.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27Let's go.
0:00:27 > 0:00:28Aardman Animations.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30No cheese, Gromit.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34For 40 years they have filled the world with pure plasticine joy.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38Creating unforgettable moments.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40Every single frame is just full of stuff.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42Aaah!
0:00:42 > 0:00:44In all honesty, I really do like the silliness of them.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46We don't like potatoes, we like meat.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49Goodness me! How are they going to do this?
0:00:49 > 0:00:51Good grief! It's you!
0:00:51 > 0:00:53We have to rip that off from The Simpsons.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55And characters we fell in love with.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58Weren't you the voice of a plasticine chicken?
0:00:58 > 0:00:59I don't want to be a pie.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02- I remember kind of going... - HE GIBBERS
0:01:02 > 0:01:04And it was the most bizarre audition.
0:01:05 > 0:01:06Let's go plundering!
0:01:06 > 0:01:09I sounded rather marvellous.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12I had this idea of this English guy who builds this rocket.
0:01:12 > 0:01:13And who may have a cat.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19This is a story of how very big things can happen -
0:01:19 > 0:01:21one tiny move at a time.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24They changed the game entirely.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26We did it! Ha-ha!
0:01:26 > 0:01:29The only thing you can say is that you feel proud of it.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32Welcome to the Aardman world. Look at it, isn't it lovely?
0:01:41 > 0:01:46Bristol. Home of Banksy, Bananarama, and the inventor of the blanket.
0:01:46 > 0:01:51But most excitingly, it's the home of Aardman.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54You may not know the name but one thing is certain -
0:01:54 > 0:01:57you will know their creations.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00In fact, it's hard to imagine life without them.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03What Aardman do so brilliantly is that they appeal to every
0:02:03 > 0:02:06generation, actually. So you will very happily sit
0:02:06 > 0:02:08and watch an Aardman movie with your kids.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10Hang in there, Gromit.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12It's not only really, really fantastically executed,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15but it's proper comedy writing.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18I'm a pirate captain and I'm here for your gold!
0:02:18 > 0:02:20Personally, I regard them
0:02:20 > 0:02:26as the people who kind of revolutionised animation worldwide.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29I think their impact can't be overstated.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33We'll either die free chickens or die trying.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35I think Aardman is hated by all of us.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38Because they are so damn successful.
0:02:38 > 0:02:43And so wonderful. Brilliant. Yes, I mean, sheer hatred. Utter.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50It all began in the 1970s.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54David Sproxton and Peter Lord, two long-haired dreamers,
0:02:54 > 0:02:56had a crazy idea -
0:02:56 > 0:02:58to bring still images to life.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00I was always interested in photography
0:03:00 > 0:03:02and my father had a wind-up cine camera.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05And I said, "Why don't we get that out of the cupboard
0:03:05 > 0:03:08"and set it up and just play around on the kitchen table?"
0:03:08 > 0:03:12And we made a film. Was it called...did we call it Trash?
0:03:12 > 0:03:15- Was it that one?- Godzilla.- Godzilla. Godzilla was the first one.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18We had chalk drawings. It was complete rubbish really.
0:03:20 > 0:03:21But it was great fun.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26In 1972, they got their big break.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Their kitchen table antics were going to be seen in
0:03:29 > 0:03:30living rooms across the country.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36We had been making these very short films for Vision On
0:03:36 > 0:03:38with the character we called Aardman.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40Aardman was like a superhero
0:03:40 > 0:03:42but absolutely incompetent.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48So, simply, the Aard of aardvark and the Man of Superman.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51They were very old-school drawn animation.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54But the BBC liked it so they bought it and they said,
0:03:54 > 0:03:57"Who should we make the cheque out to?"
0:03:57 > 0:03:59We then discussed all the options. Pete and Dave Animations.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03Lord Sproxton Animation. You know? And we just...
0:04:03 > 0:04:04So we went for Aardman.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07Then something magical happened.
0:04:07 > 0:04:12A discovery that would change their lives forever - plasticine.
0:04:12 > 0:04:17In 1977, Aardman's first star was born.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22Ooh.
0:04:23 > 0:04:24I loved Morph.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27Anything in plasticine used to make me very happy.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29'There you go, all back to normal.'
0:04:29 > 0:04:33Morph was an animated comedy sidekick for Tony Hart cos
0:04:33 > 0:04:36Tony Hart was a brilliant artist but maybe not very funny.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38Ooh.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40Meow!
0:04:40 > 0:04:43It was quite ground-breaking as well when you think of it.
0:04:43 > 0:04:48This little blob of plasticine that could become whatever it wants.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50But it also seemed to have a personality.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52- MUSIC FROM SHELL - Huh?!
0:04:52 > 0:04:53I remember it very vividly as a child.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56But I would have had no concept of the fact that this was
0:04:56 > 0:04:59the start of a kind of bold, new era in British animation.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02I just really enjoyed it. Thought it was funny.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06It was the bit in Take Hart you always looked forward to.
0:05:06 > 0:05:07Sorry, Tony.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11Morph went on to have his very own series,
0:05:11 > 0:05:15he received a Blue Peter badge and made some new friends along the way.
0:05:15 > 0:05:16Uh!
0:05:16 > 0:05:18Well, I say friends...
0:05:18 > 0:05:20They have just a wonderful innocence about them.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23There is a little bit of slapstick comedy violence,
0:05:23 > 0:05:25there's a bit of magic, there is a bit of surrealism,
0:05:25 > 0:05:29but ultimately, it comes down to two...you could call them
0:05:29 > 0:05:32brothers, friends, whatever they are, just having a laugh.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36HE GIBBERS
0:05:36 > 0:05:37There's a lot of fun in slapstick.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39THEY LAUGH HAPPILY
0:05:39 > 0:05:40Uh?!
0:05:40 > 0:05:42But the real fun is character-based,
0:05:42 > 0:05:46like when Chas comes on wearing an outrageous tie.
0:05:46 > 0:05:47Mmm. Ah. Hmm.
0:05:47 > 0:05:48Eh-uh!
0:05:48 > 0:05:50HE GIBBERS
0:05:50 > 0:05:51Uh-uh-uh.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55MORPH LAUGHS
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Huh.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02And Morph just laughs at him for like 30 seconds.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04And in the end, he pats him on the shoulder and thanks him.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07You know, thanks for giving me such a good laugh.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09MORPH LAUGHS
0:06:09 > 0:06:11CHAS SHOUTS ANGRILY
0:06:11 > 0:06:14Grandmorph's home movies. I like very much
0:06:14 > 0:06:17when some old black and white film comes to light.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21LAUGHTER
0:06:21 > 0:06:25And it allows us to play a playful homage to Charlie Chaplain.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28But then later in the same sequence, there is
0:06:28 > 0:06:30some footage of Morph as a baby.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33And what I love is Morph being embarrassed in front of his friends.
0:06:33 > 0:06:34LAUGHTER
0:06:34 > 0:06:37'He was a very sweet and contented baby,
0:06:37 > 0:06:39'quite unlike Morph as he is today.'
0:06:39 > 0:06:41I do own a Morph.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44I made the mistake of showing it to
0:06:44 > 0:06:46one of my children about a year ago,
0:06:46 > 0:06:50who reduced Morph to really a...a sausage.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53Ten grand's worth just gone.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57But luckily, Peter says he can reconstruct him in about 14 seconds.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02Morph has actually been around for 39 years, I guess,
0:07:02 > 0:07:04which is extraordinary.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07PHONE DIALS
0:07:09 > 0:07:10HE CHUCKLES
0:07:12 > 0:07:13- Huh.- Huh.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17'Please hold. Your call is currently being held in a queue.'
0:07:17 > 0:07:22DISCO MUSIC PLAYS
0:07:24 > 0:07:29Phones may have changed a bit, but Aardman's longest-running character
0:07:29 > 0:07:31is still making us smile today.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36And finally, a cheerful smile.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39And the funny thing is, he's always handmade like this. Every time.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42When I think that when we started out there was Dave and me,
0:07:42 > 0:07:45the studio was probably about as big as this little box we are in now.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49We had the modelling clay and the 16mm camera
0:07:49 > 0:07:52and three or four lights. You know, that was the whole company.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55It's just quite amazing how the whole business has
0:07:55 > 0:07:57just sort of grown from him.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59Uh?
0:07:59 > 0:08:01Uh. Eh?
0:08:01 > 0:08:02HE GIGGLES
0:08:02 > 0:08:04Bye-bye-bye.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10He said you could come in when you'd like.
0:08:10 > 0:08:11- Get your meals.- Yes.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14- But he said there is no beds.- I see.
0:08:14 > 0:08:15Right.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19Meanwhile, as Dave and Pete's plasticine empire started to grow,
0:08:19 > 0:08:21little did they know,
0:08:21 > 0:08:24a young student from Preston had taken inspiration from their work
0:08:24 > 0:08:29and was about to embark on a fairly ambitious college project.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32I had this idea about an English guy who builds this rocket.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36And the joke was he builds it in the basement of his house.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39I was thinking he may have a pet. Probably a cat.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Started drawing a cat but as soon as I started making the clay model,
0:08:42 > 0:08:44a dog just was easier to make.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49I'd animated some of the film before I did any dialogue at all.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56When it came to voices, Peter Sallis was the first choice I had.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00I wrote to him and he agreed to do it for about 50 quid, I think.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03And I was really surprised that he didn't have a Yorkshire accent.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06- MIMICS PETER SALLIS:- "Hello, Nick. Thank you for sending me the script.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09"I wonder if this is how Wallace may sound like."
0:09:14 > 0:09:17Up until that point, Wallace has got quite a straight face.
0:09:17 > 0:09:22And it was only when I started animating talking like "Cheese"
0:09:22 > 0:09:25and the way he stretched his vowels, his face changes.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27HE GULPS
0:09:27 > 0:09:29Gromit, that's it, cheese!
0:09:29 > 0:09:32We will go somewhere where there's cheese.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35I'd bitten off more than I could chew with Grand Day Out.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37The script was about 20 pages long.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40And there was one paragraph that just said,
0:09:40 > 0:09:44"There is now a sequence where a Wallace and Gromit build a rocket."
0:09:44 > 0:09:47That paragraph took me a year and a half film.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53Keen to meet his animation idols, Nick invited Dave
0:09:53 > 0:09:56and Pete to come and visit his college.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58Pete had a Morph badge on his lapel.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02And I was thinking that is the bees knees,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05to actually have one of your characters on your lapel.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08I was impressed by that kind of thing.
0:10:08 > 0:10:13He was building the sets, making the puppets, doing the animation,
0:10:13 > 0:10:14just kind of doing everything,
0:10:14 > 0:10:16cos that's how it used to be back in the day.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23I'd got very disillusioned at times.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25I had absolutely no money at all.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28I was living in a grotty little bedsit in Cricklewood.
0:10:28 > 0:10:33But I had to fulfil this vision, this film I had in my head.
0:10:33 > 0:10:34We said to the film school,
0:10:34 > 0:10:36"Look, Nick is going to take forever to finish this.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39"Can we bring Nick's sets down and indeed his camera
0:10:39 > 0:10:41"and we'll help him finish it?"
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Nick moved to Bristol and joined Aardman.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48And finally finished his first animation - A Grand Day Out.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51At the time, when I did it,
0:10:51 > 0:10:55I didn't think this is going to make cinema history.
0:10:55 > 0:11:01But six years later in 1989 when the phone went and he said,
0:11:01 > 0:11:02"I've finished it."
0:11:04 > 0:11:07You know, I thought, "Oh, it's only taken him six years."
0:11:07 > 0:11:10The film not only launched Nick's career
0:11:10 > 0:11:13but two of animation's greatest characters.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19They've had their own Night at the Proms,
0:11:19 > 0:11:21they've appeared on stamps,
0:11:21 > 0:11:23they have a ride at Blackpool Pleasure Beach,
0:11:23 > 0:11:25they've met the Queen,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28and they even helped to save the Wensleydale Dairy from closure.
0:11:28 > 0:11:33CYMBALS CRASH HUGE APPLAUSE
0:11:33 > 0:11:35I think we're about to go up in the world, lad.
0:11:35 > 0:11:41It's not obvious pitch, is it? Old bloke and a dog do stuff.
0:11:41 > 0:11:46A dog, and a funny-looking dog to boot, and this kind of suburban man.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49You think, "Oh, his life must be dull."
0:11:49 > 0:11:51But what Aardman do with him, they take him to the moon.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55Wallace and Gromit have got to be up there with Eric and Ernie.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58They are in love with each other. They need each other.
0:11:58 > 0:12:03And they both get just so irritated with each other. That's perfect.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09Sorry, Gromit. That was a bit thick.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16The very kind of mundanity Wallace and Gromit's existence.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18Porridge today, Gromit.
0:12:18 > 0:12:19Tuesday.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21Set against the extraordinary
0:12:21 > 0:12:24kind of Thunderbird lifestyle that they lead.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26Geronimo!
0:12:26 > 0:12:29A great poster that was done for Were-Rabbit.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31By Wallace it says master. And by Gromit it says mind.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34And I think that really sums them up perfectly.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36Gromit is one of my favourite characters ever
0:12:36 > 0:12:38created in animation. And he never speaks.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41CARD TINKLES
0:12:41 > 0:12:45CARD PLAYS FOR HE'S A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW
0:12:49 > 0:12:51Yet there is so much expression in him.
0:12:51 > 0:12:52It's all about body language
0:12:52 > 0:12:56and the way his face presents itself to the camera.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58And making your audience understand
0:12:58 > 0:13:00what he's thinking without
0:13:00 > 0:13:02saying a word, it's so difficult.
0:13:02 > 0:13:08Come on, Gromit. A bit more...you know, alluring.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12MUSIC: The Stripper
0:13:13 > 0:13:17Ho-ho-ho. Very cheeky.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21I've seen less capable comedic human actors than Gromit,
0:13:21 > 0:13:23do you know what I mean?
0:13:23 > 0:13:25What he can do with a look.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28I say he, or the 15 people who have made him have that look,
0:13:28 > 0:13:32is sort of Stan Laurel-esque, you know? It's...
0:13:32 > 0:13:35I would say it's approaching genius if not actual genius.
0:13:36 > 0:13:41Set coordinates for 62 West Wallaby Street.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45A Grand Day Out earned Nick an Oscar nomination.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47But, sadly, it didn't win.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50And there was only one person who was good enough to beat Nick Park...
0:13:50 > 0:13:52Nick Park.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55'Sound's running. When you're ready.'
0:13:55 > 0:13:58I remember the first time I saw an Aardman animated film.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01I was sitting there in this big auditorium
0:14:01 > 0:14:03and Creature Comforts came on.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08And I was amazed.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10Well, sometimes you can't...you can't get out
0:14:10 > 0:14:12and about as much as you would like to.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14You are stuck in for some reason,
0:14:14 > 0:14:16like I'm stuck in today.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18Then yes, you get bored.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20And you get fed up with looking at the same four walls.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24There has always been stop motion work going on but nothing like that.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28Nothing that had that sense of character.
0:14:28 > 0:14:33Well, most of the cages are a bit small and...
0:14:33 > 0:14:35grotty and everything.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37I thought, "God, who wrote this stuff?
0:14:37 > 0:14:41Who are the actors that said it?" But it wasn't. It was real people.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43That's what was the magic.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45Yeah, well it's reasonably comfortable I suppose, this place.
0:14:45 > 0:14:46But...
0:14:46 > 0:14:50Me and a journalist went out trying to find people who were not
0:14:50 > 0:14:51that happy with where they are.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53If you try to compare the situations
0:14:53 > 0:14:56and the environment that you live here with the environment
0:14:56 > 0:14:59that you live in Brazil, there is a big difference.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03Here you live in a very small place
0:15:03 > 0:15:06with all the technological advances possible...
0:15:06 > 0:15:10The Brazilian jaguar guy and he hated the food and the weather.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14He's got a little flat and... He stole the show really.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16I miss the fresh meat, you know?
0:15:16 > 0:15:19Because in Brazil we are predominantly carnivores.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22We are not, you know, vegetarian.
0:15:22 > 0:15:27And we don't like potatoes, we like meat. And we like fresh meat.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29The polar bears always made me laugh.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31They were a family that ran the corner shop
0:15:31 > 0:15:33around the corner from the studio.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36My favourite food is, I'm afraid to say, steak.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38We told the youngest one, Andrew,
0:15:38 > 0:15:40"Don't be shy, say what do you think."
0:15:40 > 0:15:44And so he felt this obligation just to say anything.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47He just started talking about lion steak.
0:15:47 > 0:15:48Do you like lions as well, then?
0:15:48 > 0:15:51Do you like steak and chips with lions with it?
0:15:51 > 0:15:53Not with lions, Andrew. No.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56When you look at the success of programmes like Gogglebox, it's
0:15:56 > 0:16:00just that people are so wonderfully funny in their own world.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03It was just basically knockout scene after knockout scene
0:16:03 > 0:16:06in a row for several minutes and then it's done.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09And it's like you practically feel Nick Park dropping the mic
0:16:09 > 0:16:14and backing away going like, "That's animation." You know?
0:16:14 > 0:16:16Despite taking a fraction of the time to create,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19these more vocal animals pipped Wallace and Gromit to the post
0:16:19 > 0:16:23and scooped Nick Park and Aardman their very first Oscar.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27It's really weird to be against yourself in the same award.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31So you're not knowing whether to be happy or cry at the same time.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33And having...
0:16:33 > 0:16:36Just being there for doing these plasticine animated films
0:16:36 > 0:16:39but you're sat there with Sofia Loren and Dustin Hoffman
0:16:39 > 0:16:40and you know, all these...
0:16:40 > 0:16:42Everybody I've ever heard of is around.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44I'm thinking, "What am I doing here?"
0:16:44 > 0:16:46- LAUGHING:- You know?
0:16:46 > 0:16:47# Hoots mon
0:16:47 > 0:16:50# There's juice loose aboot this hoose... #
0:16:50 > 0:16:54And just when you thought it was safe to put the kettle on,
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Aardman start popping up in the commercial breaks!
0:16:57 > 0:16:59# Re-record not fade away
0:16:59 > 0:17:01# Re-record not fade away. #
0:17:01 > 0:17:03# I'm so excited
0:17:03 > 0:17:05# And I just can't hide it
0:17:05 > 0:17:06# No, no, no, no, no... #
0:17:06 > 0:17:09# The taste of Lurpak butter is the uppermost... #
0:17:09 > 0:17:13Every Tom, Dick and advertising Harry wanted a slice of their
0:17:13 > 0:17:16unique combination of animated wizardry and humour.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18SHE SCREAMS
0:17:18 > 0:17:20ROARING
0:17:20 > 0:17:22London's under siege.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26But beware, this gobbling brute is a master of disguise
0:17:26 > 0:17:30# You could have a steam train... #
0:17:31 > 0:17:33And back in 1986,
0:17:33 > 0:17:36they were behind one of pop music's most iconic videos.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40# ..testimony
0:17:40 > 0:17:42# I'm your sledgehammer... #
0:17:44 > 0:17:47How about some refreshments, eh, lad?
0:17:48 > 0:17:49Hee-hee.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55Now for a soothing massage.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02The first time I saw The Wrong Trousers,
0:18:02 > 0:18:04that was mind-blowing.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08It was so funny, it was such a great story and that penguin
0:18:08 > 0:18:10I think is one of the great villains of all time.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13DOORBELL RINGS
0:18:13 > 0:18:16Oh, there's someone at the door, Gromit.
0:18:17 > 0:18:18I wonder who that could be.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25Oh, it's about the room then. Well, that's grand.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Eh, would you like to come this way and inspect?
0:18:27 > 0:18:29DOOR CLOSES
0:18:30 > 0:18:34I'm asking 20 a week. That would include your breakfast.
0:18:36 > 0:18:42He doesn't do really anything before you know that he's sinister.
0:18:42 > 0:18:47It's almost just the camera angles and just a little look that he does.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51And, you know, uh-oh. There is something animal inside you that
0:18:51 > 0:18:54goes, "I don't trust this penguin."
0:18:54 > 0:18:58It was Hitchcockian. You'd never seen Hitchcock in clay animation.
0:18:58 > 0:18:59Come on!
0:19:08 > 0:19:12SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Gromit hiding in the box and the penguin looking at him...
0:19:22 > 0:19:24Oh, my God, that was the best.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27In fact, I... To this day, I say, "We've got to rip that off.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29"We have to rip that off for The Simpsons."
0:19:31 > 0:19:36What a... What a shocking calama...calama...
0:19:36 > 0:19:38Calamity.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40HE SNORES
0:19:40 > 0:19:45When he comes back and puts Wallace in the bed and he goes off to
0:19:45 > 0:19:49do the heist at the museum, he puts the rubber glove on his head
0:19:49 > 0:19:52and he just brushes it with his hand.
0:19:56 > 0:20:01That just gives him a slightly dangerous kind of humanity,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04you know, like a sort of, a slight bit of vanity.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07And I think it's just adding those little, subtle things
0:20:07 > 0:20:09are what makes them really.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11DRAMATIC MUSIC
0:20:11 > 0:20:16In terms of the music, Nick wanted some threat, jeopardy,
0:20:16 > 0:20:18that kind of thing in the story
0:20:18 > 0:20:21that wasn't there in Wallace and Gromit before.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC
0:20:29 > 0:20:34Wallace was asleep and was upside down, hanging in the museum.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37Nick wanted that sense of threat to come out.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39So we used a sort of Bernard Herrmann chord.
0:20:39 > 0:20:40You know, the...
0:20:40 > 0:20:43HE PLAYS HAUNTING NOTES
0:20:48 > 0:20:52DRAMATIC MUSIC
0:20:58 > 0:21:01And when he takes it off and it's like...
0:21:01 > 0:21:03Wallace goes, "You!"
0:21:06 > 0:21:07Good grief, it's you!
0:21:07 > 0:21:09HE LAUGHS
0:21:09 > 0:21:11Like he didn't recognise him.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14Now, let me out of these trousers this minute.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18The dramatic finale is one of animation's most memorable moments
0:21:18 > 0:21:22and one of the most impressive feats of stop-motion ever seen.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25I can't see a thing.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27What's happening?
0:21:27 > 0:21:30DRAMATIC MUSIC TRAIN WHISTLE TOOTS
0:21:30 > 0:21:33When Nick actually presented us with the idea of a train chase,
0:21:33 > 0:21:37we were thinking like, "Wow, that's great. But how do we achieve that?"
0:21:37 > 0:21:41I still have no idea how they finished it by now, you know.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44They would have had to start that in about 1900
0:21:44 > 0:21:45if I was in charge of that.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47Catch me, Gromit!
0:21:50 > 0:21:53We tried really fast-paced chase music
0:21:53 > 0:21:56but somehow it didn't have any sense of fun and it needed it.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59So we broke the rule for the train chase
0:21:59 > 0:22:01and actually did out and out comedy music.
0:22:01 > 0:22:02This sort of thing.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05HE PLAYS JAUNTY MUSIC
0:22:05 > 0:22:07JAUNTY MUSIC
0:22:07 > 0:22:09Get it, Gromit.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13Owwwww!
0:22:13 > 0:22:15Gromit, we're doomed.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21Whoaaaaaa!
0:22:21 > 0:22:23The whole of the cinematography is an illusion,
0:22:23 > 0:22:26it's like a magic trick. If you analyse the train chase, it is
0:22:26 > 0:22:29ridiculous how long that room would actually be.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32But it was a 20ft-set used in some shots over and over again.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34If you analyse when he's putting the tracks down,
0:22:34 > 0:22:37the animator was having an arm there and there, and going so fast
0:22:37 > 0:22:39that sometimes he'd have to put three arms in there.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41All yours, Gromit.
0:22:55 > 0:22:56I love a chase.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59Even though we do use a lot of sophisticated equipment now,
0:22:59 > 0:23:01we're always trying to emulate that train chase.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05Well done. We did it! Ha-ha!
0:23:08 > 0:23:12The Wrong Trousers became an instant classic, earning Nick Park
0:23:12 > 0:23:16a second Oscar and making Wallace and Gromit a household name.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20But navigating a round trip to the moon and foiling a sinister
0:23:20 > 0:23:23penguin's diamond heist was a mere walk in the park
0:23:23 > 0:23:26compared to what they would face on their next adventure...
0:23:26 > 0:23:28HE GASPS
0:23:28 > 0:23:29Oh.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31Romance!
0:23:39 > 0:23:43They said, "We wanted a female version of Wallace."
0:23:43 > 0:23:46Thank you for coming so quickly.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48AWKWARD CHUCKLE
0:23:48 > 0:23:49Hmm.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53So I said to Nick, "Why did you choose me?"
0:23:53 > 0:23:55And he said, "Well, we saw you on television
0:23:55 > 0:23:59"and we thought your voice sounded like it came out of a puppet."
0:23:59 > 0:24:02I said, "Oh, really? I'd never thought of that."
0:24:02 > 0:24:03SHE LAUGHS
0:24:03 > 0:24:05Won't take a minute.
0:24:05 > 0:24:06- Oh.- Oh.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11Wallace's love interests. He keeps on trying, bless him.
0:24:11 > 0:24:12Piella.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15Oh, crumbs.
0:24:16 > 0:24:17She was a bad apple.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19Gromit!
0:24:19 > 0:24:22Lady Tottington. He was besotted by her amazing produce.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26He's never shown any interest in my produce.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Ohhh. His loss, Lady Tottington.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30But it wasn't to be, you know. She was aristocracy.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32But Wendolene, she was great.
0:24:35 > 0:24:36Ohhhh!
0:24:36 > 0:24:38How would I describe Wendolene and Wallace?
0:24:38 > 0:24:41Same time next week?
0:24:41 > 0:24:45It's like talking about Clark Gable and Carole Lombard.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52I want no more of this rustling. Oh!
0:24:52 > 0:24:56It wasn't so bad when it was just the wool, but this is evil.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58But, like many of the classic romances,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01there was a third person in the relationship.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04In this case, an entrepreneurial sheep-murdering cyber dog.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06A bit cliched, I know.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09But in the end, it was a much more serious matter
0:25:09 > 0:25:11that came between them.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14Won't you come in? We were just about to have some cheese.
0:25:14 > 0:25:19Oh, no. Not cheese. Sorry, it brings me out in a rash.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21Can't stand the stuff.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24HE GULPS
0:25:24 > 0:25:26Not even Wensleydale?
0:25:26 > 0:25:29No, no, no. They'd never get on if she didn't like cheese.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32- Goodbye... - DOOR CLOSES
0:25:32 > 0:25:33..chuck.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36I think it's one of those extra layers in the writing of Wallace
0:25:36 > 0:25:39and Gromit that just makes them firstly, really funny,
0:25:39 > 0:25:40but actually quite touching.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43It doesn't always have to be a super happy ending into the sunset.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46But, you know, while there is eternal hope that you will
0:25:46 > 0:25:49always find the one, Wallace will keep on going.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51What's wrong with Wensleydale?
0:25:54 > 0:25:56I've done a lot of interesting things in my life,
0:25:56 > 0:25:58but that is so special.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02And when I was recording the voice, Nick turned my script
0:26:02 > 0:26:07over on the back and he drew Wallace and Gromit and Wendolene.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10This is it. Right.
0:26:10 > 0:26:11Isn't that wonderful?
0:26:12 > 0:26:15It's one of my treasures.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18Wallace and Gromit have won their creator, Nick Park,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21a record-breaking third Oscar in Hollywood.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24Whilst Nick Park was probably considering investing in a
0:26:24 > 0:26:27longer mantelpiece - Aardman received an invitation
0:26:27 > 0:26:30from Hollywood Animation studio DreamWorks.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39I, over the years, have been a great fan of Aardman.
0:26:39 > 0:26:45I sort of had this secret admiration and ambition that maybe
0:26:45 > 0:26:48someday there would be a way to work together.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51I remember flying on DreamWorks' private jet.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54I had to kind of pinch myself.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58I never thought plasticine would lead to such a glamorous lifestyle.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02We were invited to a dinner and Steven Spielberg
0:27:02 > 0:27:04and Jeffrey Katzenberg were there.
0:27:04 > 0:27:09I just remember being so excited about them, you know,
0:27:09 > 0:27:13in their quiet sort of Bristol, British way.
0:27:13 > 0:27:14Jeffrey turned to me and said,
0:27:14 > 0:27:18"So, guys, do you have any ideas that you'd like to pitch to us?"
0:27:18 > 0:27:21And in Hollywood, the Hollywood pitch is a sacred moment.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24I'd drawn a picture of a chicken digging its way
0:27:24 > 0:27:25out of a chicken coop.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28We are going to do the Great Escape with chickens.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32I remember Steven Spielberg saying, "The Great Escape is
0:27:32 > 0:27:36"one of my favourite films and I have 300 chickens on my ranch."
0:27:36 > 0:27:38HE LAUGHS
0:27:39 > 0:27:40And the pitch went great.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43The little team of animators from Bristol
0:27:43 > 0:27:45had become hot Hollywood property.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48But embarking on their first ever full-length movie
0:27:48 > 0:27:50was to prove quite a leap.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54The budget grew from a million pounds to 30 million.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56A team of six grew to over 80.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59Two actors became a whole cast of stars.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02And a small studio in Bristol became...
0:28:02 > 0:28:05Well, a small studio in Bristol.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07Aardman insisted that this Hollywood blockbuster
0:28:07 > 0:28:09was going to be home-made!
0:28:09 > 0:28:13They had just 18 months to create poultry in motion.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15It was a punt. It was a daring punt.
0:28:15 > 0:28:20We were shown around and saw this massive crew of people.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23You know, there was a sense of, "Goodness me."
0:28:23 > 0:28:26There is a sense of risk here. How are they going to do this?
0:28:26 > 0:28:31Jeffrey Katzenberg is a sort of stereotypical Hollywood movie mogul.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34He speaks his mind about everything.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38But I felt enormous respect from him at the same time.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41I asked them, "What's it like working with Jeffrey Katzenberg?"
0:28:41 > 0:28:45And they said, "Oh, my gosh. That man is a genius.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49"We hear from him with a new idea all the time.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52"He's just a wonderful partner and collaborator. It's fantastic."
0:28:52 > 0:28:56Then a production assistant walked in at that moment and said,
0:28:56 > 0:28:59"Jeffrey Katzenberg is on the line." And all three of them
0:28:59 > 0:29:03turned simultaneously and said, "We're not here."
0:29:03 > 0:29:05HE LAUGHS
0:29:05 > 0:29:08Jeffrey was sort of like Mrs Tweedy.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11GLOVE SNAPS THEY GULP
0:29:11 > 0:29:14He would come in to the coop and open up one of the roofs
0:29:14 > 0:29:17and catch us all...
0:29:17 > 0:29:19HE LAUGHS
0:29:19 > 0:29:23..messing around. No, no. It wasn't like that at all.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28It was a rocky road but they did it
0:29:28 > 0:29:30and Aardman's first ever feature film
0:29:30 > 0:29:32was about to be seen by the world.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38That opening scene of them running through that chicken coop,
0:29:38 > 0:29:40and all of a sudden you're transported to
0:29:40 > 0:29:43a stalag in the Second World War. It's just, you know,
0:29:43 > 0:29:45it's just joyful.
0:29:46 > 0:29:47I'm stuck!
0:29:47 > 0:29:49SHE TUTS
0:29:49 > 0:29:50- DOG BARKS - Get back.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55BARKING CONTINUES
0:29:59 > 0:30:02You know straight away you're in safe hands.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05You're in their world. Welcome to the Aardman world.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07And look at it. Isn't it lovely?
0:30:07 > 0:30:11No chicken escapes from Tweedy's farm!
0:30:11 > 0:30:13Chicken Run is still the highest grossing
0:30:13 > 0:30:16stop-motion film of all time.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19And the reason why the category of Best Animated Feature
0:30:19 > 0:30:21was introduced to the Oscars.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26A person in a shop once said to me,
0:30:26 > 0:30:29"Weren't you the voice of a plasticine chicken?"
0:30:29 > 0:30:33I thought, "That's my claim to fame now - a plasticine chicken."
0:30:33 > 0:30:35Morning, Ginger.
0:30:35 > 0:30:36Back from holiday?
0:30:36 > 0:30:40I wasn't on holiday, Babs. I was in solitary confinement.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43Oh, it's nice to get a bit of time to yourself, isn't it?
0:30:43 > 0:30:46They are such great characters. They are well written.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48The amount of times I've had to say,
0:30:48 > 0:30:51"I don't want to be a pie. I don't like gravy."
0:30:51 > 0:30:53CHICKENS GASP
0:30:53 > 0:30:54Chicken pies?
0:30:54 > 0:30:56THEY SHRIEK
0:30:56 > 0:30:58Yes, but...
0:30:58 > 0:30:59I don't want to be a pie.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02I don't like gravy.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04Chickens in a prisoner of war camp,
0:31:04 > 0:31:07with prisoner of war camp characters.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14- You called? Nick and...- Fetcher. - At your service.
0:31:14 > 0:31:18There are people who are slightly dodgy, who can supply things.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20We need some more things.
0:31:20 > 0:31:24Right you are, miss. How about this quality hand-crafted tea set?
0:31:24 > 0:31:27- Er, no.- Or this lovely necklace and pendant?- It's...
0:31:27 > 0:31:28Or this beautiful little number.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31All the rage in the fashionable chicken coops of Paris.
0:31:31 > 0:31:35Simply pop it on like so and as the French hens say, voila.
0:31:35 > 0:31:38- That is French. - That's two hats in one, miss.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40For parties.
0:31:40 > 0:31:41For weddings.
0:31:41 > 0:31:45Madame, this makes you look like a vision, like a dream.
0:31:45 > 0:31:46Like a duck.
0:31:46 > 0:31:47No, thank you.
0:31:47 > 0:31:49I like the escape at the end.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52SWELLING MUSIC SHE GASPS
0:31:56 > 0:31:59I think that's fantastic. And it really does get you going.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02THEY SCREAM
0:32:02 > 0:32:03Great Scott! What was that?
0:32:03 > 0:32:05A cling-on, Cap'n.
0:32:05 > 0:32:07And the engines can't take it.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09SHE GROWLS
0:32:09 > 0:32:10Aah!
0:32:10 > 0:32:16You find yourself really wanting these characters to succeed.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18SHE GROANS
0:32:20 > 0:32:22Nooooo!
0:32:22 > 0:32:24And you think, "What am I doing? These are made of plasticine
0:32:24 > 0:32:27"and I'm crying." You know what I mean?
0:32:30 > 0:32:31Uh.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37Huh?!
0:32:37 > 0:32:39- Bye-bye. - SHE SCREAMS
0:32:39 > 0:32:41Bombs away!
0:32:41 > 0:32:42Mr Tweedy!
0:32:42 > 0:32:43THEY CHEER
0:32:43 > 0:32:47Years and tears and joy all go into this.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51Like, you know, these people are serious, serious craftsmen.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01The process is pretty similar across everything we make.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04We start with the idea which is worked into a script.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06We then take that script
0:33:06 > 0:33:09and we start to visualise it in the storyboarding process.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12And then those line drawings are taken into an edit suite,
0:33:12 > 0:33:14where we start to actually build the film.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17We'll record the actual voice artists.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20We'll start commissioning sets. We'll start making puppets.
0:33:20 > 0:33:22And then we will animate it in stop motion.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28An example would be is if, you know,
0:33:28 > 0:33:31Wallace was to just roll his fingers like that.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34First of all, you'd have to take the little finger
0:33:34 > 0:33:36and move it just a little bit
0:33:36 > 0:33:39and then take a picture of it.
0:33:39 > 0:33:41You might need to move it just a little bit more
0:33:41 > 0:33:43if it wasn't quite right.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47Then you would have to take the next finger
0:33:47 > 0:33:50and put it into the position so it was just right.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53And then it might need an adjustment.
0:33:53 > 0:33:55And you'd take another picture of that.
0:33:55 > 0:33:56To be an Aardman animator,
0:33:56 > 0:34:01I'd think you'd have to be slightly...bonkers.
0:34:01 > 0:34:03In terms of obsessiveness.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07They are shy performers. That's a very special category.
0:34:07 > 0:34:12There is a kind of oddness to them all which I heartily approve of.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15And then you would probably have to move them both just a little bit.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19You have to be passionate about it. You have to be obsessed by it.
0:34:21 > 0:34:25Half of your life on your knees moving, you know,
0:34:25 > 0:34:29moving a little hand from there to there.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33You have to be able to go "eee" and then back up, click, eee, back up.
0:34:33 > 0:34:35And you have to make that noise too. Eee.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39It's like some weird sort of torture really.
0:34:39 > 0:34:40I think I'd go, "Oh, come on.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43"We've been doing this for two and a half years now.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45"Let's just put a brick wall up."
0:34:45 > 0:34:48But no, every single frame is just full of stuff.
0:34:48 > 0:34:53None of it would be advised in the careers office. None of it.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56The trouble is with animation, you start to work on a film
0:34:56 > 0:34:58and then five years later you finish it.
0:34:58 > 0:35:03"Yeah, I am an experienced animation producer. I've got two credits."
0:35:03 > 0:35:05Then you probably need to start on the middle finger.
0:35:05 > 0:35:06Move it just a little bit.
0:35:06 > 0:35:10I mean, to make that look realistic at all seems to me impossible.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13To make it look realistic and funny with perfect timing and to get
0:35:13 > 0:35:17the plasticine lips moving in sync to the dialogue,
0:35:17 > 0:35:18that's just pure genius.
0:35:18 > 0:35:22I like seeing the different fingerprints and shapings.
0:35:22 > 0:35:24And it makes it feel alive to me in a way,
0:35:24 > 0:35:26quite honestly, that CG does not.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29And this is from a guy that's doing CG.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31Human beings are able to be very expressive,
0:35:31 > 0:35:33but a lump of plasticine isn't.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37How do they do that? I don't know. That's a lot of work.
0:35:37 > 0:35:39By this time, this finger's reached the top and probably needs to be
0:35:39 > 0:35:42coming down. So you move it down just a little bit.
0:35:42 > 0:35:44But this one is still going up,
0:35:44 > 0:35:46so you need to move that one up just a tiny amount...
0:35:46 > 0:35:47HE GROANS
0:35:47 > 0:35:51Animation, it looks like pure torture to me, lad.
0:35:51 > 0:35:54Shall we see what's on the other side, hmm?
0:35:54 > 0:35:56BEEPING AND WHIRRING
0:35:56 > 0:35:59I think this remote's on the blink, lad.
0:36:01 > 0:36:02Ohhhh.
0:36:04 > 0:36:08But whilst American audiences loved the antics of some heroic chickens,
0:36:08 > 0:36:11what would they make of the quintessentially English escapades of
0:36:11 > 0:36:16a hapless cheese-loving inventor and his long-suffering canine companion?
0:36:18 > 0:36:21CREAKING
0:36:27 > 0:36:28They love the Britishness.
0:36:28 > 0:36:32I think they probably think it's a documentary, to be honest.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35I think they treat it as a documentary.
0:36:35 > 0:36:37HE LAUGHS
0:36:41 > 0:36:43Jeffrey said, "Why's his truck rusty?"
0:36:43 > 0:36:45We understand why his truck would be rusty.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48Jeffrey expected him to have a brand-new, shiny Chevrolet.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51TYRES SCREECH
0:36:51 > 0:36:53That's the British humour, I think.
0:36:53 > 0:36:55Things are cool because they are not.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00I mean, I was going to call Curse Of The Were-Rabbit
0:37:00 > 0:37:02The Great Vegetable Plot.
0:37:02 > 0:37:06But they did a lot of marketing research and came back with,
0:37:06 > 0:37:08"I'm afraid vegetables are a negative with kids."
0:37:11 > 0:37:12PHONE RINGS
0:37:12 > 0:37:15Anti-Pesto humane pest control.
0:37:15 > 0:37:16How might we be of assistance?
0:37:16 > 0:37:20Ah, yes. Lady Tottington here. Of Tottington Hall.
0:37:20 > 0:37:21'Your ladyship.'
0:37:21 > 0:37:22This is an honour.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24Oh! Ow!
0:37:24 > 0:37:27It's a disaster. I have the most terrible rabbit problem.
0:37:27 > 0:37:29Just stay right where you are, your ladyship,
0:37:29 > 0:37:31and we'll be with you in a...
0:37:31 > 0:37:33Ahhhh!
0:37:33 > 0:37:37In an hour? I can't wait an hour. I have a major infestation.
0:37:37 > 0:37:41We saw the world differently. For example, I mean, a simple example.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44Think of Aladdin. Beautiful hero, beautiful heroine with huge eyes.
0:37:44 > 0:37:45That's what they are used to.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48Instead of which, you've got Wallace and Lady Tottington,
0:37:48 > 0:37:50who are both pretty damn weird-looking.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53Sometimes in the conversation you just got the idea that they
0:37:53 > 0:37:57just wish it was a bit less British. That's all.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59"We love it...
0:37:59 > 0:38:01"but it's just a bit British."
0:38:01 > 0:38:05We have wrought a terrible judgment upon ourselves.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08DRAMATIC MUSIC
0:38:08 > 0:38:09Eh, give over!
0:38:12 > 0:38:13You're mental.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16It is very British. They've never tried to be anything else
0:38:16 > 0:38:18and I always think that's a good idea.
0:38:18 > 0:38:21And the great thing about the British sense of comedy, it
0:38:21 > 0:38:24will show you as it is but it will always say,
0:38:24 > 0:38:27"Aren't we ludicrous? Look how we carry on."
0:38:27 > 0:38:31You stupid English with your Yorkshire puddings
0:38:31 > 0:38:32and your chips and fish.
0:38:32 > 0:38:34We apologise as soon as we walk into a room
0:38:34 > 0:38:36as a national characteristic.
0:38:36 > 0:38:38- Sorry, can I just...? - Oh, sorry. Sorry.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40I'm sorry. It's not my fault.
0:38:40 > 0:38:42Oh, would you awfully mind, if it's possible,
0:38:42 > 0:38:44if you could see your way to... You know?
0:38:44 > 0:38:46I think I need a cup of tea after all that.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49Of course, you can't have a British story
0:38:49 > 0:38:51without some good old British drama.
0:38:51 > 0:38:53'Six o'clock this morning.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56'A day Aardman was meant to be celebrating.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59'Its latest movie top of the US box office,
0:38:59 > 0:39:00'but in Bristol,
0:39:00 > 0:39:04'much of the company's entire archive was going up in flames.'
0:39:05 > 0:39:08I got a phone call to say that there'd been a
0:39:08 > 0:39:12fire in our warehouse, where we kept all the archive,
0:39:12 > 0:39:14all the models had burnt down.
0:39:16 > 0:39:20A lot of the original Wallace and Gromit sets sadly went up in flames.
0:39:20 > 0:39:25And all the Chicken Run models. The whole cast really.
0:39:25 > 0:39:29It was sad because there was a lot of...
0:39:29 > 0:39:31There were memories that were lost.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35But it would take more than this to stop our plucky animators.
0:39:35 > 0:39:37Music, Maestro.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39MUSIC: Dancing With Myself by Billy Idol
0:39:39 > 0:39:41The following year, Aardman broke their own
0:39:41 > 0:39:45mould by making their first film without a lump of clay in sight.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48When we started out doing puppet animation, that was the only way
0:39:48 > 0:39:52to put good three-dimensional character animation on screen.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54Bon voyage, me old cream cracker.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59But gradually, another youthful strand came up alongside us,
0:39:59 > 0:40:01which is CG animation.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03Which actually is kind of doing the same thing.
0:40:03 > 0:40:04But in a very different way.
0:40:08 > 0:40:09HE SHRIEKS
0:40:09 > 0:40:11THEY SCREAM
0:40:11 > 0:40:13I know. I'm no fool.
0:40:13 > 0:40:18I know that everyone loves the handmade plasticine animation,
0:40:18 > 0:40:19the thing that we do best.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21Goodnight.
0:40:21 > 0:40:22Goodnight.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25Goodnight, Roddy.
0:40:25 > 0:40:27Don't let the bed bugs bite.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29- CRUNCHING - Ahhh!
0:40:29 > 0:40:30BUG LAUGHS
0:40:30 > 0:40:33But telling a good story with good characters,
0:40:33 > 0:40:35that's the most important thing. Some people say,
0:40:35 > 0:40:38"Oh, they've lost something in going away from what they know best."
0:40:38 > 0:40:41Um, I don't really care.
0:40:41 > 0:40:46You know, I'm into us being brave and eclectic
0:40:46 > 0:40:48and trying different things. That's important to me.
0:40:50 > 0:40:55In 2007, Aardman's partnership with DreamWorks came to an end.
0:40:55 > 0:40:58We declared that we were going to go our own way,
0:40:58 > 0:41:03because us making British films is terribly important to us.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05Of course, you know,
0:41:05 > 0:41:07of course I would say I want it to play everywhere in the world.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10But what I want is, I want the American public to love
0:41:10 > 0:41:12a completely British film, that's what I want.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15Not to change what we do.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18But Aardman bounced back with yet another - wait for it -
0:41:18 > 0:41:21award-winning Wallace and Gromit adventure.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24On my way, Gromit.
0:41:24 > 0:41:25TYRES SCREECH
0:41:25 > 0:41:27We're on a roll, lad.
0:41:30 > 0:41:31And boy did it deliver.
0:41:33 > 0:41:34Good day's work, lad.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36A serial-killing fruitcake...
0:41:38 > 0:41:40..an explosive finale...
0:41:40 > 0:41:45Gromit, it's a bomb. The cake's a bomb.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47..and some puppy love.
0:41:53 > 0:41:59# And they called it puppy love. #
0:42:00 > 0:42:02- Let's go plundering! - CHEERING
0:42:02 > 0:42:05In 2012, with the wind firmly beneath their sails,
0:42:05 > 0:42:10they set off on their most ambitious venture ever.
0:42:10 > 0:42:14Everything I was watching was CG and suddenly I saw Pirates.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18I sat there and I was just amazed at how beautiful it was
0:42:18 > 0:42:21because it wasn't computer-generated.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24It was a real light hitting real materials.
0:42:24 > 0:42:30'And welcome to the 59th annual Pirate of the Year Awards.'
0:42:30 > 0:42:33Initially with Pirates, we thought we'd have to do the whole thing CGI.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36Because of the number of characters and the water and so on.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39But in order for us to understand what it was going to look like,
0:42:39 > 0:42:41we built the cabin set. And it was so beautiful.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43As soon as we saw this set, we just thought,
0:42:43 > 0:42:45"Oh, let's just do it like this."
0:42:45 > 0:42:47I'm a pirate captain!
0:42:47 > 0:42:49And I'm here for your gold.
0:42:49 > 0:42:51Gold? This is a plague boat, old man.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54I'd give my right arm for some gold.
0:42:54 > 0:42:55Ah!
0:42:55 > 0:42:56Or my left. Ha!
0:42:56 > 0:42:58It was based on some children's books.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01And the books themselves are very, very funny.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03Brilliant. Anarchic.
0:43:03 > 0:43:05The script's quite peculiar when you first read it.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08You think, "This is Charles Darwin but he's not Charles Darwin.
0:43:08 > 0:43:10"and he's also in love with the Queen,
0:43:10 > 0:43:14"who is trying to murder a dodo and is also a sort of Ninja."
0:43:18 > 0:43:19Steady on.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22In all honesty, I really do like the silliness of it. I really do.
0:43:22 > 0:43:24I'm a big fan of stupidity.
0:43:24 > 0:43:26Ah-ha!
0:43:26 > 0:43:27- Oh. - BIRD SQUAWKS
0:43:27 > 0:43:30I had to do some acting, which I try to avoid in life.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33But I really had to give a performance. And I thought,
0:43:33 > 0:43:36"If I'm going to do that at least no-one can see my face."
0:43:36 > 0:43:38By nephew, where's that ship?
0:43:38 > 0:43:40Oooh!
0:43:40 > 0:43:43- DEEP VOICE:- I sounded rather marvellous
0:43:43 > 0:43:45because of a big, beardy voice.
0:43:45 > 0:43:47Mind out, captain coming through.
0:43:47 > 0:43:48Thank you very much. Thank you.
0:43:48 > 0:43:52My only slight regret is that no-one believes it's me.
0:43:52 > 0:43:55Least of all my children. They say, "That's not Daddy."
0:43:57 > 0:44:00That sequence where the bathtub goes down the stairs.
0:44:00 > 0:44:02How you'd think that sequence up in the first place,
0:44:02 > 0:44:05and then how you start to break that down and to physicalise it,
0:44:05 > 0:44:07I can't conceive of how long.
0:44:11 > 0:44:15It's just... I mean, it's just...delightful.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17DOOR CREAKS
0:44:17 > 0:44:19Ah!
0:44:19 > 0:44:21Sweet Neptune on a bike!
0:44:23 > 0:44:24I love Mr Bobo.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27There is a bit where they are up to their dastardly plan.
0:44:27 > 0:44:29He holds up a little card saying "BUT..."
0:44:30 > 0:44:31Shh!
0:44:33 > 0:44:36Again, very silly and brilliant.
0:44:36 > 0:44:38My favourite joke in the whole film -
0:44:38 > 0:44:41it made me laugh every time we had to record it -
0:44:41 > 0:44:43is the bit about the sea monster on the map.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45When the pirate captain said, "We aren't going that way."
0:44:45 > 0:44:48There is this dirty great sea monster in the way.
0:44:48 > 0:44:49Um, yeah, ah... Ah...
0:44:49 > 0:44:53I think they just add those onto maps for decoration...Captain.
0:44:55 > 0:44:57And then, of course, what's even more delicious is that
0:44:57 > 0:44:59right at the end of the film it gets paid off.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03ROARING
0:45:03 > 0:45:07See? I told you. Just added on for decoration, my foot!
0:45:07 > 0:45:09When something is as good as their films are,
0:45:09 > 0:45:13of course, you want to be involved in that. It's not...
0:45:13 > 0:45:15They don't have to beg actors to sign up.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17Actors are begging them.
0:45:17 > 0:45:19So very wise, Captain.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22I wanted to be part of that process.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24Actually, no, that's a lie. Not the process.
0:45:24 > 0:45:26I just thought, "I want to be in an Aardman film."
0:45:26 > 0:45:29You can't just say "Aaaarrr" at the end of a sentence
0:45:29 > 0:45:32and think that makes everything all right.
0:45:32 > 0:45:38Directing the actors is a huge pleasure and a privilege,
0:45:38 > 0:45:42but I have to admit that we are such control freaks in animation
0:45:42 > 0:45:44that actors do end up doing a lot of takes.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47And sometimes it's frankly embarrassing.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50On take 72 of "Avast!" I did slightly
0:45:50 > 0:45:54feel like running my cutlass through Peter Lord occasionally.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57You think, "How many more ways do you want me to say captain?"
0:45:57 > 0:45:59You know, there aren't any more ways to say it.
0:45:59 > 0:46:01And it turns out there were more ways.
0:46:01 > 0:46:03Captain! Captain. CAPTAIN!
0:46:03 > 0:46:05Cos I did 'em.
0:46:05 > 0:46:07- Captain... - HE SIGHS
0:46:07 > 0:46:09I apologise to any actors that we've driven mad in the process.
0:46:09 > 0:46:10Oo-ooh!
0:46:10 > 0:46:12Sweet Neptune's briny pants!
0:46:12 > 0:46:16Then we had Aardman's unique twist on a Christmas classic -
0:46:16 > 0:46:18answering all those age-old questions.
0:46:18 > 0:46:19Ho-ho-ho.
0:46:19 > 0:46:21That's a ho-ho-ho, Aarhus.
0:46:21 > 0:46:22Field elves jingle. Jingle, jingle.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25Drop time - 18.14 seconds per household.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30We actually set out to answer how Santa does it.
0:46:30 > 0:46:33So we are here for the parents, to help you...
0:46:33 > 0:46:35- SHE LAUGHS - ..help you explain to your kids,
0:46:35 > 0:46:37"Here's how it can all be done in one night."
0:46:37 > 0:46:39Isn't this the best bit of Christmas?!
0:46:39 > 0:46:43And we got to meet the whole Clause family.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46It certainly is, Arthur. The whole family together.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48It was a very witty idea to have
0:46:48 > 0:46:52Father Christmas as a completely bemused and bewildered chap.
0:46:52 > 0:46:57Um, well, uh... Here's to me doing an even better job next year.
0:46:57 > 0:46:59And then there is his old dad who's going,
0:46:59 > 0:47:01"Oh, it was much better in my day."
0:47:01 > 0:47:04Christmas 1941, World War II, I did the whole thing
0:47:04 > 0:47:06with six reindeer and a drunken elf.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09Then the younger son, Arthur, who is the kind of goofy misfit.
0:47:09 > 0:47:13He's terrified of heights, a fear of flying, he's allergic to snow,
0:47:13 > 0:47:15he's frightened of reindeer.
0:47:15 > 0:47:17I'm not really good with big animals!
0:47:17 > 0:47:19But he absolutely is passionate about Christmas.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23Yes, do believe in Santa.
0:47:23 > 0:47:28I particularly liked Steve, played by Hugh Laurie,
0:47:28 > 0:47:32who was addicted to espresso and technology,
0:47:32 > 0:47:35which was a very nice idea for Father Christmas's son.
0:47:35 > 0:47:40Forget Techno Tommy. He texting on his calculator after another job.
0:47:40 > 0:47:44It's a hand-held operational and homing organiser.
0:47:44 > 0:47:46The Hoho-3000.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49Wooo, whoop-de-do. Aren't you the fancy nancy.
0:47:49 > 0:47:54And the thing about it is, is the dialogue actually does resemble
0:47:54 > 0:47:58the way in which people speak, which is very rare in any form.
0:47:58 > 0:48:01Whether it's movies or even the theatre.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04But of course, some of Aardman's funniest,
0:48:04 > 0:48:06scariest,
0:48:06 > 0:48:09and most lovable characters have never uttered a single word.
0:48:09 > 0:48:14Including the most successful character in their 40-year history.
0:48:14 > 0:48:16No, no, not you, Gromit, love.
0:48:16 > 0:48:18We'll call him Shaun, eh?
0:48:18 > 0:48:21When we did A Close Shave, Shaun has a very small role.
0:48:21 > 0:48:22I think he has six minutes on-screen.
0:48:22 > 0:48:24We had no idea that it would take off.
0:48:24 > 0:48:28It was partly due to Baby Spice wearing a Shaun the Sheep
0:48:28 > 0:48:30rucksack in a photograph.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33Suddenly, Shaun the Sheep, you know, just rocketed.
0:48:33 > 0:48:37In typical Aardman fashion, another ten or 12 years later
0:48:37 > 0:48:39we eventually got round to making a series.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41# It's Shaun the Sheep
0:48:41 > 0:48:42# It's Shaun the Sheep
0:48:42 > 0:48:46# He even mucks about with those who cannot bleat. #
0:48:46 > 0:48:48His character was so obvious right from the start,
0:48:48 > 0:48:52that he was a lovable, friendly but naughty type of sheep.
0:48:53 > 0:48:54Oh-ho!
0:48:54 > 0:48:57We chose not to do dialogue. I really wanted to make silent comedy.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00You don't see a great deal of it in the modern day.
0:49:00 > 0:49:02BUZZING
0:49:03 > 0:49:06Slapstick comedy needs to look effortless.
0:49:07 > 0:49:09Ooooooh!
0:49:09 > 0:49:12It's hard enough to do it in live action,
0:49:12 > 0:49:16but to do it animated has to be even harder.
0:49:16 > 0:49:17Huh?
0:49:20 > 0:49:22I remember the audition very clearly.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24I had to do things like
0:49:24 > 0:49:26I had to vocalise Shaun being
0:49:26 > 0:49:28pulled along by a lawnmower.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31- And I remember kind of going... - HE GIBBERS
0:49:32 > 0:49:35And it was the most bizarre audition.
0:49:35 > 0:49:39After 130 episodes, the time had come for Shaun to step up
0:49:39 > 0:49:43to the big screen, leaving the farm for the big city,
0:49:43 > 0:49:46where not everyone is as friendly.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49ROCK MUSIC PLAYS
0:49:58 > 0:50:00I like noises. When you get older you make noises.
0:50:00 > 0:50:02It's a cliche, but we all make noises.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04Like when you drop your phone you kind of go...
0:50:04 > 0:50:06HE GROANS
0:50:06 > 0:50:09And then when you reach, you think, "Oh, I'll buy another one."
0:50:09 > 0:50:12With Shaun the Sheep it's dialogue interpretation.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15You are interpreting as an actor what the sheep are hearing
0:50:15 > 0:50:17when the humans speak.
0:50:17 > 0:50:19HE CLEARS THROAT
0:50:20 > 0:50:22SHAUN GULPS
0:50:24 > 0:50:26Eh...
0:50:33 > 0:50:36The laughing baa. I used to kind of do this...
0:50:36 > 0:50:38HIGH-PITCHED BAA
0:50:38 > 0:50:40THE SHEEP LAUGH
0:50:40 > 0:50:41But the whisper.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44That was quite a challenge, where you had to bring it right down.
0:50:44 > 0:50:47- It's kind of... - HE WHISPERS
0:50:48 > 0:50:51SHAUN WHISPERS
0:50:51 > 0:50:52SHEEP BAA IN AGREEMENT
0:50:52 > 0:50:55It's a weird thing to direct cos you're kind of asking
0:50:55 > 0:50:57somebody to make a little squeak and then you're saying,
0:50:57 > 0:51:00"Can you put a little bit more fear into that squeak?"
0:51:00 > 0:51:03HE BLEATS
0:51:03 > 0:51:04We take it seriously though.
0:51:04 > 0:51:08You may as well be making Apocalypse Now, The Godfather.
0:51:08 > 0:51:09It wasn't always smooth.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12You know, they'd say, "Can you just give us a simple hmm?"
0:51:12 > 0:51:14I went, "Well, yeah. Hmmyuuuh."
0:51:14 > 0:51:17They went, "No, no, no. It's just a simple hmm."
0:51:17 > 0:51:19I went, "But I don't think my character would do that."
0:51:19 > 0:51:21They go, "Well, just give us a hmm."
0:51:21 > 0:51:23I wouldn't do it. "Shall we take five?"
0:51:23 > 0:51:24I said, "All right, fine, let's take five."
0:51:24 > 0:51:26And I'd sit there and there'd be tension.
0:51:26 > 0:51:32But that's the kind of forensic look at the creative process.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35You really do have an argument about hmm or hmyuuh.
0:51:35 > 0:51:37HE LAUGHS
0:51:37 > 0:51:40You've got masses of comedy, but it's sometimes very subtle.
0:51:40 > 0:51:42DUCK QUACKS
0:51:46 > 0:51:48DUCK QUACKS
0:51:50 > 0:51:52DUCK QUACKS
0:51:52 > 0:51:53DUCK WHISTLES
0:51:53 > 0:51:57If you get physical humour right, then you can't really beat it.
0:52:01 > 0:52:02Ha-ha-ha!
0:52:02 > 0:52:04- LOUD THUNK - Oh.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07- LAUGHING:- I thought, "No messing about. He's up, he's down.
0:52:07 > 0:52:08"Off. Finished."
0:52:08 > 0:52:11But you've also got some really poignant moments that are lovely.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14Huh? Eh!
0:52:14 > 0:52:18The last sequence, where it looks like it's game over.
0:52:18 > 0:52:22And then the farmer put his arms around the entire flock.
0:52:22 > 0:52:26And it just...gives me a lump in the throat thinking about it.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29THEY ALL SHIVER
0:52:34 > 0:52:37What I love about it is there is no language barrier.
0:52:37 > 0:52:40Anyone in the world can sit down and watch Shaun
0:52:40 > 0:52:42and know exactly what's going on and enjoy it.
0:52:42 > 0:52:44# La oveja Shaun
0:52:44 > 0:52:46# Es singular... #
0:52:46 > 0:52:49Shaun and his pals are now global superstars.
0:52:49 > 0:52:53And today, Aardman's creations are enjoyed by families in over
0:52:53 > 0:52:56170 countries around the world.
0:52:56 > 0:52:59HE SPEAKS POLISH
0:53:02 > 0:53:06- AMERICAN ACCENT:- What a lot of people don't know about zoos, um,
0:53:06 > 0:53:09that there is a whole world that goes on there
0:53:09 > 0:53:10when they are not there.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13They have no idea what goes on.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16- LAUGHING:- I can't tell you more than that. Sorry.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19And I must say these two look vaguely familiar.
0:53:19 > 0:53:21Crumble will soon have your
0:53:21 > 0:53:23garden gnomes back in tiptop condition.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35Willis and Crumble has nothing to do with the Wallace and Gromit
0:53:35 > 0:53:37and I don't know why people think that.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41You must come in for a spot of tea and a home-made Marmite sandwich.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43Home-made Marmite!
0:53:43 > 0:53:48No, of course! It was our loving tribute to Wallace and Gromit.
0:53:48 > 0:53:52And my favourite part is having Nick Park playing himself.
0:53:52 > 0:53:54And it was his voice on The Simpsons.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57Good luck, Mr Park. There'd be no shame in losing to you.
0:53:57 > 0:54:01That's very sweet of you. Thank you for saying so.
0:54:01 > 0:54:02Ah! HE LAUGHS
0:54:02 > 0:54:04No worries, I'll just stick them back on.
0:54:04 > 0:54:06I'm more clay than man now.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09It's nice to be spoofed and sent up.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12It's...it's an honour.
0:54:13 > 0:54:15Oh. Oh...
0:54:15 > 0:54:17BEEPING AND WHIRRING
0:54:17 > 0:54:18Eh?
0:54:18 > 0:54:20Oh. Stop fooling around, Gromit.
0:54:20 > 0:54:22Argh!
0:54:22 > 0:54:24- FIZZING AND BUZZING - Oh!
0:54:24 > 0:54:27CHAIR CRACKLES
0:54:27 > 0:54:29CHAIR RATTLES
0:54:35 > 0:54:38Aardman and Nick Park are now working on their next film.
0:54:40 > 0:54:42200,000 years in the making.
0:54:42 > 0:54:44That's slow, even for them.
0:54:50 > 0:54:51Wow. Come in here
0:54:51 > 0:54:55for a sneak peak of my new project.
0:54:55 > 0:54:59This is Doug, who is the main character from Early Man.
0:54:59 > 0:55:03He's a plucky little caveman and he is the hero that
0:55:03 > 0:55:08leads his tribe against the superpower of the Bronze Age.
0:55:08 > 0:55:10There is going to be a lot more treacherous
0:55:10 > 0:55:13and dangerous-looking places, and prehistoric creatures.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16We've taken a bit of licence with history, I guess.
0:55:16 > 0:55:19I feel at home now that I'm back with clay characters.
0:55:19 > 0:55:23It's going to be quite exciting couple of years. Slow but exciting.
0:55:28 > 0:55:32Looking back, where we are now is miraculous.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34I mean, it's incredible, frankly.
0:55:34 > 0:55:37Nobody was making animated feature films virtually except Disney.
0:55:37 > 0:55:40The fact that we made six British
0:55:40 > 0:55:44animated feature films is astonishing.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47For me now to be at festivals and wherever and have students
0:55:47 > 0:55:50and people in their 20s coming up to me saying,
0:55:50 > 0:55:52"I was inspired by your work,"
0:55:52 > 0:55:55and, "Aardman is the reason I got into animated films,"
0:55:55 > 0:55:57it's a lovely thing.
0:55:57 > 0:56:00That's a fantastic thing to be able to do, actually.
0:56:00 > 0:56:02To come up and dream up those worlds and actually tell stories in them
0:56:02 > 0:56:06and let people sort of immerse themselves in them.
0:56:06 > 0:56:07What's to complain about?
0:56:07 > 0:56:1240 years, over 500 awards, and more unforgettable moments
0:56:12 > 0:56:15and characters that you can shake a clay stick at.
0:56:15 > 0:56:19Isn't it amazing what can be made with some patience,
0:56:19 > 0:56:21plasticine and a little imagination?
0:56:21 > 0:56:27As someone who loves animation, and as an animator,
0:56:27 > 0:56:32I'm so thankful that Aardman has been around these last 40 years.
0:56:32 > 0:56:36You know, there aren't many things that move me to patriotism.
0:56:36 > 0:56:39The Rolling Stones, obviously, Harold Pinter,
0:56:39 > 0:56:41Crystal Palace Football Club,
0:56:41 > 0:56:43but they are just really, really good film-makers.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46And they make big, and I know this is another cliche
0:56:46 > 0:56:48and you just put your fingers in your ears,
0:56:48 > 0:56:52but big-hearted and full of humanity and humour.
0:56:52 > 0:56:54And we can use some of that.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58It's a celebration of the medium of animation.
0:56:58 > 0:56:59It's great entertainment.
0:56:59 > 0:57:02It's great storytelling. There is a lot of laughs.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05But ultimately, you come away with the feeling of joy.
0:57:05 > 0:57:08Without Aardman, the world would be slightly less silly
0:57:08 > 0:57:09and slightly less fun.
0:57:09 > 0:57:13I don't care whether you are six or 16 or 66,
0:57:13 > 0:57:15they are funny and they make you laugh.
0:57:16 > 0:57:19I love them for staying British and staying Bristol
0:57:19 > 0:57:22to make these films that embrace the world.
0:57:22 > 0:57:27We need magic. We need magic more now than we ever have.
0:57:27 > 0:57:29Aardman continue to produce it.
0:57:29 > 0:57:32And my God, does magic take a lot of work.
0:57:32 > 0:57:36I passionately hope that they continue what they are doing
0:57:36 > 0:57:39because I'm not even kidding when I say that I think
0:57:39 > 0:57:41they make the world a slightly better place to be.
0:57:41 > 0:57:43Well done, old pal!
0:57:49 > 0:57:51Oh, I love a happy ending.
0:57:51 > 0:57:52Ahhh.
0:57:55 > 0:57:56THEY LAUGH
0:57:58 > 0:58:00You came. I knew you would.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07Really what they've done is make everyone happy.
0:58:07 > 0:58:14And that is surely...the only legacy anyone who works in that
0:58:14 > 0:58:15world could really wish for.
0:58:17 > 0:58:22Oh, guess what's next, lad. It's live churning from Wensleydale.
0:58:34 > 0:58:35Oh, eh! Eh.
0:58:48 > 0:58:49Whew! He-he!
0:58:55 > 0:58:56Bye. He-he.