Wallace and Gromit will return

Aardman working on another project featuring claymation duo

Feb 1, 2007

Aardman Animation says that, despite the recent divorce from DreamWorks, they will unleash another Wallace and Gromit adventure

Unlike this complete and utter pillock, I'm a huge fan of Wallace and Gromit, the stars of Aardman Animation's Claymation stable. I loved the cheese-loving inventor and his mute dog in their award-winning short films, cheered them on again in 2005's Curse of the Were-Rabbit, was mystified when North American audiences didn't "get it," and cheered yet again when Were-Rabbit won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film.

And, despite the fact that Flushed Away wasn't as strong as it could've been (take a bow, DreamWorks), I enjoyed that flick, along with my close friend and his seven-year-old son, and was surprised when it got . . . you know.

So yeah, I'm pretty buzzed that Aardman Animation has announced that Wallace and Gromit will return. I'm also aware that the Bristol-based studio had to say something cheery after they and DreamWorks split yesterday.

"Wallace and Gromit are alive and kicking," Aardman spokesman Arthur Sheriff announced on Wednesday. "There is a project on the table right now."

"It could be television, it could be a feature film," Sheriff said. "That depends on how the storyline develops. It will go into production as soon as (Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park) has finished writing it."

The Aardman spokesman claimed the split with DreamWorks was amicable but added: "What we have achieved is our freedom to make the film we want to make."

One thing is for certain: the next Wallace and Gromit project will be done in Claymation, unlike the CGI Aardman flirted with in Flushed Away.

"Nick loves creating stories for Wallace and Gromit and he feels they only really work in plasticine," Sheriff said. "He is a creative filmmaker, he doesn't sit around the table discussing money deals with the executives."

Of course, another big issue facing Park and Aardman is replacing all the equipment lost in the fall 2005 warehouse fire, that destroyed many props and sets. That happened just after Were-Rabbit's theatrical release.

The copyright of the article Wallace and Gromit will return in International Animated Films is owned by Dominic von Riedemann. Permission to republish Wallace and Gromit will return in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.