DVDizzy Forum

Anyone else on the board a fan of Aardman Animations? They're best known for their Wallace & Gromit shorts, but have also produced a few feature films:

Chicken Run (2000)
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
Flushed Away (2006)

Their next film, Arthur Christmas, is coming to theaters this Christmas season and they've got a few other project in the pipeline according to various sources.

Although I am not a hardcore fan of the studio, I do greatly appreciate their films and own Chicken Run and Flushed Away on DVD. They are one of a few animation studios that I am hoping announce plans for Blu-ray releases soon. I'd especially love to have Flushed Away on Blu-ray! So far, I believe the only Aardman productions to get HD releases have been the Wallace & Gromit shorts, released together as The Complete Collection. I figure it's only a matter of time before we see the rest of their works!

From their feature films I find Chicken Run to be the funniest.

Upcoming feature films from Aardman:

The Pirates!, Peter Lord's first film as a director since Chicken Run, a 3-D stop-motion adaptation of Gideon Defoe's cult book The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists. It will be released in 2012.

The Cat Burglars, a stop-motion directed by Steve Box, about cats that steal milk, and their plans to pull off 'the great milk float robbery'. It is touted as a 'Tarantino' cross Ocean's Eleven style picture and written by Ashley Pharaoh and Matthew Graham of Life on Mars.

and finally an untitled Nick Park project (although confirmed not a Wallace and Gromit feature).

They're also doing a Shaun the Sheep movie - which will be completely dialogue free throughout!

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/01/27/ ... eep-movie/

MJW wrote:Anyone else on the board a fan of Aardman Animations?

I am! I am!

Most of my avatars that I've used on UD has been some form of Gromit, and Gromit's latest turn in the Avatar section had him wearing the infamous lace collar.

MJW wrote:They are one of a few animation studios that I am hoping announce plans for Blu-ray releases soon. I'd especially love to have Flushed Away on Blu-ray! So far, I believe the only Aardman productions to get HD releases have been the Wallace & Gromit shorts, released together as The Complete Collection. I figure it's only a matter of time before we see the rest of their works!

I know, I'm aching for Curse of the Were-Rabbit to come to Blu-Ray. I think the reason the movies haven't hit Blu-Ray yet is because DreamWorks Animation still owns the rights to them.

albert

I enjoy most of the films from Aardman Animations (though Flushed Away is probably my least favorite). I also like their short films such as Creature Comforts and the Wallace & Gromit shorts.

PixarFan2006 wrote:I enjoy most of the films from Aardman Animations (though Flushed Away is probably my least favorite).

What's funny is that I think most people would count Flushed Away as their least favorite from the studio, but I think it's my favorite! Then again, I am a huge Kate Winslet fan and the fact that she lends her voice to Rita probably contributes to my appreciation of the film. I do know that the film didn't do well in theaters and is most likely the cause of DreamWorks choice to seperate themselves from the studio. However, I hope that they do see the profitability in home video releases of the films in their ownership and don't "punish" the fans over a soured relationship.

I'm sure some would agree that the move from stop-motion to CGI for Flushed Away may have caused some of the "Aardman charm" to fade away a bit, but I still thought the movie was visually interesting and pretty entertaining.

I actually thought Flushed Away was a little bit too "DreamWorksy" for me, with the many pop culture references and the pop music throughout the movie. That and the use of CGI instead of claymation makes it feel cheaper than it should have been.
I still like it, though. But Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit are much better, and it's below Aardman's standards.
It's great to see Aardman doing more features. Shaun the Sheep is too funny, and a feature-length movie would be great.

I've only ever seen Flushed Away and some of the W&G shorts. I have to say that Flushed Away was far funnier than I thought it would be. Still need to get around to Chicken Run sometime.

KubrickFan wrote:I actually thought Flushed Away was a little bit too "DreamWorksy" for me, with the many pop culture references and the pop music throughout the movie. That and the use of CGI instead of claymation makes it feel cheaper than it should have been.
I still like it, though. But Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit are much better, and it's below Aardman's standards.
It's great to see Aardman doing more features. Shaun the Sheep is too funny, and a feature-length movie would be great.

But hey, at least it was British pop music, eh?

I actually like the film and patiently await a Blu-ray release before buying.

For anyone interested that doesn't already have it, the Blu-ray edition of Wallace & Gromit: The Complete Collection is on sale at Target for $7.99. The title was given a "temporary price cut," and even if the label on the shelf says otherwise, when scanned, it should be $7.99. I think this price change will be in effect for a while, someone on Blu-ray.com said until May, but I don't know...

I picked up a copy while I was at Target today getting Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. I thought $8 was a good price for all 4 of the shorts, in HD no less! I haven't watched it yet; I've been buying a lot of movies lately, so this one might go away to be "given" to me as a birthday present from someone else, lol.

Has anyone seen Hamilton Mattress? It is from a director at Aardman, but not from the studio itself. I've got the DVD, but haven't watched it yet.

I really like Flushed Away.

New Aardman holiday special is coming to Netflix, called Robin Robin! Looks cute!

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/shorts/aard ... 06150.html

https://www.aardman.com/tag/robin-robin/