‘Wallace and Gromit’ is out of clay: the workshop that supplied the Aardman studio has closed

Aardman Studio, that is, the creators of animations such as Wallace and Gromit And chicken coop, the clay is running out. They barely have enough in stock to make the next movie. The workshop that regularly provided them with the material has been closed, the British newspaper reports. Telegraph.

The animators have previously revealed that their magic is done with sugar figurines, aluminum foil and clay, but the sequel to their 2005 hit The curse of the were-rabbit (winner of an Oscar for best animated film in 2006) has very measured material.

Why is that clay so special, can’t they use another one? Since its founding in the early 1970s, the Aardman studio has used Lewis Newplast, a moldable material developed organically by a Chislehurst professor working in his garden.

It has been described as an animator’s dream: easy to model, yet retains its shape under the intense studio lighting.

But in March 2023, the only factory that produced it, on the edge of the city of Torquay, closed forever. As soon as they found out, Aardman rushed to buy up all the inventory still in the factoryenough for one more movie, the new one Wallace and Gromit which will be released in 2024.

Then you have to find an acceptable replacement or wait until they invent one.

The studio’s creative spirit has not diminished. A small army of artists uses Newplast’s last stock to remove the cast Chicken coopwhose second adventure (Dawn of the Nugget) will be released in theaters and on Netflix in December this year.

What does Aardman use as emergency supplies? Silicone models on metal frames, dipped in sugar to give them a matte finish. On a working day, each animator produces one second of film. That means two and a half minutes of film per week.

director of Dawn of the NuggetSam Fell, is known as ‘the savage of the stop motion’, and works under the supervision of Peter Lord and Nick Park, founders of the studio.

The film is for all audiences, without losing the eccentric essence of Aardman. The chickens’ life is now a paradise, on an island far from civilization. Ginger and Rocky have welcomed a daughter just as adventurous as those who dream of flying far away, beyond, where there are roads and houses. His parents obviously don’t want to know about that.

Little Molly escapes and so Ginger and Rocky are once again confronted with the reality of farms, which have taken a turn since the events of the first film, now they are entertainment centers for chickens, where they teach them to long for the day of the first movie. nugget.