Prepare to be utterly charmed and perhaps a little bewildered! Ever wondered what your favorite cheese-loving inventor, Wallace, would look like sporting a postal worker's uniform and a jaunty straw hat? Or how about his loyal canine companion, Gromit, with a set of rather alarming teeth? These delightful, and at times surprising, questions are vividly answered at the Young V&A in east London, where a spectacular exhibition celebrates the genius of Aardman, the world-renowned stop-motion animation studio.
But here's where it gets truly fascinating: Delving into the archives, we uncover early sketches that reveal a Wallace almost sporting a Hitler-esque mustache and a Gromit who could, and did, speak! Imagine that! Thankfully, these designs were carefully refined. Gromit thankfully remained mute and toothless, and Wallace's visage softened from a long, thin face to the wider, friendlier one we all adore, a transformation partly inspired by watching Peter Sallis, the original voice of Wallace, utter the word "cheese."
The exhibition, titled "Inside Aardman: Wallace & Gromit and Friends," opened its doors on Thursday and will be enchanting visitors until November 25th. This comes hot on the heels of the studio's latest venture, the third Shaun the Sheep movie, "The Beast of Mossy Bottom," released just two months prior. This year marks a significant milestone for Aardman as they celebrate their 50th anniversary, solidifying their status as one of the UK film industry's most beloved and enduring success stories, boasting an impressive collection of four Oscars and eight Baftas.
Did you know that Aardman's very first film, "Chicken Run," remains the highest-grossing stop-motion movie of all time, raking in a staggering $225 million? That's roughly five times its production budget! And more recently, "Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl" made waves as the BBC's most-watched scripted show in two decades when it aired on Christmas Day in 2024. The exhibition itself is proving to be a massive hit, with ticket sales mirroring those of the main V&A site. Over a quarter of the tickets have already been snapped up, and the first three weeks are completely sold out!
And this is the part most people miss... The exhibition showcases over 150 meticulously curated items, including never-before-seen models, sets, and storyboards directly from Aardman's extensive archives. These treasures are all the more poignant given the devastating fire in 2005 that tragically destroyed thousands of items, including the original models from "Creature Comforts" and "Chicken Run."
The exhibition's design is a stroke of genius, aiming to immerse visitors in the experience of touring Aardman's actual studios. As Chief Curator Alex Newson explained, it offers children "a peek behind the curtain" and, hopefully, sparks their own creative ambitions. Across four expansive rooms, you'll find boards detailing the crucial roles within the studio – from writer to puppet maker to director of photography – and the specialized skills each position demands.
It all began with Aardman's co-founders, Peter Lord and David Sproxton, who started their creative journey as schoolboys in the 1960s, meticulously crafting models on Lord's kitchen table in Woking. "Our working hours were constrained by mealtimes," Lord reminisced, "We had to finish by 6pm and get out of the way." They even borrowed a 16mm clockwork camera from Sproxton's father, a privilege that Lord noted was "unusual and privileged." He added, "Now it’s democratic because everyone’s got a camera. And it’s such a powerful thing for young people to be able to bring something to life."
Officially founded in 1976, the studio received a significant jolt of fresh energy with Nick Park's arrival in 1985. Today, Aardman employs a team of over 500 talented individuals.
Newson further elaborated, "Aardman is an incredibly complex and skilled operation. It’s also slow. Each animator only produces around two seconds of footage a day. Yet it’s one of the most accessible creative processes; even a small child can grasp it."
For the younger audience, the exhibition is a playground of creativity. Repeat visits are not only encouraged but are included in the ticket price! One area allows children to create their own 20-frame stop-motion short using Playmobil figures, while another provides a veritable treasure trove of everyday objects – think rubber gloves, drumsticks, and coconuts – for them to craft their own sound effects.
Many of the models on display are designed to be touched, as are samples of their flexible metal armatures. A particularly engaging scene featuring Feathers McGraw, Wallace and Gromit's cunning penguin adversary, allows visitors to manipulate the lighting rig, demonstrating the profound impact of subtle lighting adjustments on mood and drama.
While the exhibition is sure to captivate audiences of all ages, its design is specifically tailored for children. "What we see with kids is that they run to the interactive things first," Newson observed. "Without those things to do, they won’t engage with things in cases and on the walls."
Among the static displays are incredibly detailed models, such as Gromit's beloved vegetable patch, the iconic local museum from "The Wrong Trousers," and a truly magnificent and intricate ship from the 2012 film "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!" Lord confessed this ship is his personal favorite exhibit, describing it as "a totem for the whole production: wonderful, bonkers, mad."
Here's a quirky detail that might surprise you: The exhibition features scores of spare mouths that were used to speed up production by being easily swapped in and out of figurines. You'll also find a fascinating array of everyday items that found their way into Aardman's creations, from cling film and tinfoil to icing sugar and, most surprisingly, lentils, which were ingeniously used as rivets on Wallace's iconic space rocket!
Screens dotted throughout the exhibition offer insights into Aardman's unique quirks, such as their "model hospital" dedicated to the delicate art of ear repair and eye wiping. One particularly captivating video captures Nick Park himself acting out storyboards with co-directors, a method to ensure the most authentic and believable facial expressions could be translated into clay.
Though Nick Park might appear unassuming at award ceremonies, this footage reveals him as an exceptionally talented and expressive performer, easily holding his own alongside the A-list actors who lend their voices to his creations.
Now, this is where things get a bit philosophical: Many of Aardman's films explore the delicate balance between embracing technological advancements and the potential for those advancements to overshadow their origins. However, this exhibition suggests the studio has masterfully found a harmonious middle ground. While thumbprints are often intentionally left on models to preserve the handcrafted feel, cutting-edge software is employed to foster innovation. "The digital processes support the handcrafted processes," Newson stated.
"Stop-motion is maybe more loved than it ever has been. It’s not an antidote to AI, but there is something about its homespun nature that resonates. It’s a counterpoint."
This sentiment of global appreciation is evident in Aardman's presence worldwide, with theme parks in Japan, Sweden, New Zealand, and Australia, as well as one near Liverpool. Wallace and Gromit enjoy immense popularity in South Korea, but it's the dialogue-free nature of Shaun the Sheep that significantly contributes to 35% of the studio's overseas business.
Further expanding their reach, Aardman presents a Shaun the Sheep circus show, slated to open in Manchester this year, along with partnerships with hotels and restaurants. Some ventures, however, are more… unexpected. For instance, the Shaun the Sheep restaurant in Dubai, with its menu featuring lamb's brain, tongue, eyes, and trotters, is likely an unofficial, and rather adventurous, endeavor.
Newson shared that the exhibition's core concepts have been honed over years of school workshops and young internships pioneered by the company. For Peter Lord, his involvement in these workshops has reinforced his belief in the enduring "simple pleasure" of working with clay. "Modelling is engrossing," he said, noting that it can beautifully complement the allure of a smartphone.
"What we do at Aardman is really technical and complicated. It requires great skill and great patience, but even so, it’s basically telling jokes and funny stories and creating good characters. Yes, we’ve done clay for 50 years. But we’ve also done play."
What do you think? Does the enduring appeal of stop-motion animation, with its tangible, handcrafted nature, offer a valuable counterpoint to the rise of AI? Or is it simply a nostalgic preference? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
