Joshua Smith

Aardman Report

Who are Aardman?

Aardman animations, known as Aardman studios is a British animation studio based in
Bristol. They are known for creating short and long films with stop-motion clay animation
with 2 of their famous characters are a duo named Wallace in Gromit appearing as the main
characters in some of their earliest work. They mainly work with clay but have also done
computer animation, entering that market in 2006 with Flushed Away. All their films are
among the top-grossing stop-motion films.

Aardman Academy
The Aardman Academy was established in 2013 to nurture and encourage new talent and to
help meet the growing demand for animators in the UK. The flagship intensive 12-week
Certificate in Character Animation course launched in partnership with the National Film
and Television School and Creative Skillset. The Aardman Academy team work with
universities to develop bespoke
enhancement short courses and
masterclasses for students and lecturers. All
courses take place at their studios based in
Bristol, and are led by highly experienced
animation professionals.

Who were the founders?

The founders of Aardman are Peter Lord and David Sproxton. Their animating partnership
started at school when they both found each other sharing an interest in animating.
Aardman started as a low-budget back garden studio creating anything from short clips to
trailers for publicity. Later, Nick Park joined Aardman and took the role of Director, Producer
and writer in a few films like Chicken Run,
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-
Rabbit and Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of
Loaf and Death. One of Nick’s earliest work is
Wallace and Gromit: A grand day out. The
characters Nick created became household
names known not just in the UK but
internationally around the world.

The company name

The company name came from one of the early characters, a superhero for ‘Vision On’ in
1972 called Aardvark. They then combined it with superman, they said they used Aardvark
because they couldn’t find another work that has more A’s in it. The word Aardvark means
“nothing”.
Joshua Smith

What is the history of Aardman?

1972-1996
Peter Lord and David Sproxton, the creators of Aardman, started their animating
partnership at school. In 1972, they registered the name Aardman Animation. When they
graduated, they moved to Bristol in 1976 where they produced their first animation, Morph,
for a children’s programme called ‘Take Hart’. Peter and David was more interested in
creating animations for adults. In 1982, Channel Four Commissioned Conversation Pieces, to
develop its innovative technique of animating puppets in real-life conversations. They
wanted to show that real people could be
characterised with insight, humour and sensitivity.
In 1985, Nick Park joined Aardman after meeting
Peter and David at the National Film and Television
School when he was working on a film. Park Nick
created Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the
Sheep.1993 was the year The Wrong Trousers was
created and became Oscar Winning and become
one of Aardman’s most successful films willing over 30 awards. In 1995, Nick produced his
third Oscar winning film, A Close Shave. Wallace and Gromit became a household name with
a good reputation.

1998 to present day

In 1998, Aardman won a BAFTA for an 11-minute film called Stage Fright commissioned by
Channel 4. 2000 was the year Chicken run was released. It was a fill length theatre film. The
film was funded by DreamWorks. The film was directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park. It
received a lot of good reviews. Since release the film grossed over $220M at the worldwide
box office. In 2005, Wallace and Gromit’s first feature film The Curse of the were-Rabbit
published by DreamWorks. The film was awarded for the best animated feature film, best
British film and a BAFTA. 2007, was the year Aardman entered the market of CGI films with
Flushed Away. The film was published by DreamWorks and nominated for a BAFTA. Later
that year, Shaun the Sheep began, it was inspired by Nick’s Close Shave. In 2011, a part of
the Sony Pictures animation deal, Aardman created Arthur Christmas and in 2012, The
Pirates! -In an Adventure with Scientists was released. 2013 was the year the people of
Bristol saw 80 giant Gromit sculptures for ten weeks around the streets. It was a high-profile
charity event attracting 1.2 million visitors, contributing over £100 million to Bristol’s
economy. In 2015, an exhibition celebrating Aardman for its 40th anniversary in 2016.

What do they Produce?

Aardman produce mainly stop-motion TV and full feature theatre films with the props made
from plasticine. They have also worked with computer animation, creating full-length films
with computers. Not only films and TV episodes, they also create lots of animated adverts
for companies and charities. Some of the biggest animations they made for companies are:
DFS, featuring their new film Early Man in the adverts; Change 4 Life, they do small
Joshua Smith

plasticine people that only have faces, the advert is to warn people about sugar and other
fatty foods and swapping foods for a healthier life; PayPal, another plasticine animation;
gates foundation. Aardman has also created short films lasting from 5-12 minutes long,
these short films are award winning or nominated for awards, most of them are from some
of their early work with Nick Park but have done some recently like ‘The matter of Loaf or
death’. They also produce short simple games for themselves or for other businesses, BBC
being one of the main organisations they make games for.

What have they Produced?

Aardman have created lots of different animations for TV and DVD. Wallace and Gromit is
one of their main and popular Characters dating back to the 1980s since Nick Park joined.
Aardman have created many characters for lots of different films and TV series. A list below
shows what Aardman has produced in order of date.
Chicken Run (2000)
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
Flushed Away (2006)
Arthur Christmas (2011)
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012)
Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015)
Early Man (2018)
Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (2019)
Chicken Run 2 (TBA)
These are just the films that have or will create. They have also created many short films; a
list below shows them.
A Grand Day Out (1989)
The Wrong Trousers (1993)
A close Shave (1995)
Creature Comforts (2003)
A Matter of Loaf and Death (2003)

How are their finances

Looking at some of the jobs available at Aardman, the jobs are well paid, a junior role like a
junior compositor is an hourly contractor and pays at about £17/hr. So, when I look at a
directors role like a Creative Director, they would be earning about £63,000 a year. The
company is very successful being at least nominated for all their work and winning many
awards. The company was once at a £1.2 million loss in 2012 but managed to turn it round
Joshua Smith

to a £2.1 million profit. When the accounts filed for the end of year report, it was shown
that Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists! Arthur Christmas and Wallace & Gromit – The
Curse Of The Were-Rabbit contributed to its £18.7million turnover. Looking at results from
the Aardman Holdings Ltd, it shows a turnover of £26.3 million in the year ending of 2016
from £23.6 million the year before.

Who works here?

There are lots of people who work at Aardman doing different jobs that all go to the same
project. I have done some research watching videos of Aardman tours and came up with a
list of jobs. Assistant director, director, assistant animator, animator, prop engineer
(riggers), receptionist, set artist, art director, artists, designers pop/set, graphic artist,
painters, producers, editors, modellers, sculptures, storyboard artist and production
manager. This is just some of the jobs I could pick out, there would be lots more working for
Aardman so they are able to meet deadlines with their films. Current jobs
they are looking for involve: Unity Developer which is a part of the
interactive team at Aardman and responsible for creating interactive
experiences for family audiences.

Level of Responsibility
Each role at Aardman has each their own responsibility, A directing role
would be more important as their decisions change what happens in the
final cut of the film. Someone who works as a producer manages people
to work with set budgets, makes executive decisions and organises many
other things. An assistant manager is to help support the animator in
making sure the progress runs smoothly. An assistant animator makes sure everything
needs to be ready and there for filming, so the set props and additional characters are ready
off stage. A rigger is there to do some tedious work, requiring precision and creativity,
working with high levels of detail, they are responsible for helping animators in parts that
may be challenging. For CGI, they are responsible for using computer programs a lot of the
time to form skeletons the animators will use to animate a character. A sculptor is someone
who works with designers and modellers, they use a variety of materials and props to create
props for the set. They are responsible for the quality of the props that are in the frame of
the camera and are usually good at drawing so they can design the props before they make
it.
Joshua Smith

Organisation structure
Each person working at Aardman is only softly
managed, this is because it manages tensions,
prepares for the unpredictability of creativity
and having some self-direction to help Aardman
employees know the things they need to work
to. They are set up and organised to creativity
flourishes through the studio also making the
company collaborative and open and are
against having high hierarchy. Sproxton likes to
let people to get on with the job without him
getting in the way of things. Below is an image
that is not what Aardman uses but one a game
company one is more likely to use, however it is
something that is similar and relatable for
Aardman in the structure with similar roles.