Nick PARK

If the international reputation of British animation has never been higher than in the last ten years then much of the credit for this must go to the Bristol-based company Aardman and their most famous director Nick Park. Born in Preston, Lancashire on 6 December 1958, Nick Park's interest in animation began as a teenager; one of his early efforts was shown by the BBC in 1975. He took a degree in Communication Arts at Sheffield Hallam University and then studied animation with the National Film School. It was here that he first met David Sproxton and Peter Lord, founders of Aardman Animation, who invited him to join them on completion of his course. His first significant work for Aardman was the beguiling short film Creature Comforts (1989) which uses animated clay figures of animals synchronised to accompany a soundtrack of voices recorded from members of the public. The meticulous creation of the claymation animals, particularly their expressive faces, provides for rich, humorous characterisations. The film won an Oscar, the first of many awards to follow. Along the way Park also worked on various advertisements, television programmes and music promos, including the innovative video for Peter Gabriel's ‘Sledgehammer’ (1987).

A Grand Day Out (1989) was started while at the National Film School, but finally completed for Aardman. It was the first appearance of Park's finest creations, the endearing duo of Wallace and Gromit, a cheese-loving, absent-minded inventor (beautifully voiced by Peter Sallis) and his rather more streetwise canine sidekick.