Peter Lord (2) (1953–)

The Art of Aardman is part behind-the-scenes, part company autobiography, and part scrapbook. My favorite passage is where co-founder David Sproxton describes falling in love with lighting as a child when he saw a Julius Caesar display during a museum visit. He doesn't go into specifics but one can imagine a static scene from Caesar's life, possibly his assassination, where the mood is dramatically altered depending on what lighting is used. A bright white light or an ominous red light, for show more example. The entirety of the book's layout is as gorgeous and satisfying as the artwork it depicts.

When I compare the output of Aardman Animations next to any other powerhouse of the medium, I'm continually amazed. How do they do it? Their technical craft is a marvel, no doubt about it, but they also manage to capture the heart of storytelling as well. That's an art unto itself. show less

Animated films don't generally have a strong appeal for me, but I make an exception for Wallace & Gromit movies, “Chicken Run,” “Creature Comforts” and anything else from Aardman, so I was eager to read “A Grand Success! The Aardman Journey, One Frame at a Time” by Peter Lord and David Sproxton.

Lord and Sproxton met as schoolboys and began making brief animated films, inspired by Terry Gilliam of Monty Python. Lord had the more creative mind, while his friend was more comfortable show more with technology and photography. Between the two of them they had what it takes to make Plasticine figures move on film. Soon they were making short films for British television, which led to their work on the Pee-wee Herman show in America, then Wallace & Gromit (and the genius of Nick Park), a series of Oscars and finally a thriving studio in out-of-the-way Bristol.

The two old friends fill their book with odd trivia that will amuse admirers of their work. Aardman, the name of their company, was actually the name of their first character, a comic superhero named Aardman. Gromit was a cat before he became a dog. Wallace's celebrated fondness for Wensleydale cheese actually rescued Wensleydale cheese. The creamery that produced it had been threatened with closing before the films significantly increased demand for the cheese. “Chicken Run” was inspired by “The Great Escape.”

Aardman was courted by Hollywood and made films for both Disney and DreamWorks, while resisting efforts to purchase their most popular characters. Eventually they were freed from their contracts and able to make their own films in their own way, with the British humor intact.

They could have used some help with their book, however. Their narrative often shifts awkwardly from talking about themselves in third person to first person before switching back again. In one instance, a quote from Sproxton on one page is repeated word for word on the very next page. So the book may not quite be the grand success the movies are, yet true fans will love it as I do. show less

Fortunately 2017 gets to close on a happy note thanks to The Art of Aardman: The Makers of Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run, and More with separate Forewords provided by David Sproxton and Peter Lord. One of the joys and reasons I am reviewing The Art of Aardman as my final book of 2017 is that I spent much of the last month watching or re-watching many of their shorts and films! Like many Americans I was first introduced Aardman Animations through Nick Park's Oscar winning shorts starring show more Wallace & Gromit who are prominently featured on the book's cover. Yet, as the galaxy of small characters around them on the cover indicate there is much more to Aardman Animations than just W&G and their pursuit of cheese! While Aardman is best know for their detailed and humorous stop-motion animation they have also done traditional cel animation and digital animation. The book is broken into six sections with brief introductions to each and is over-sized and full of gorgeous images with a particular focus on sketches the animators and storytellers use in developing their characters. Sadly the book could have been so much more as 20 years ago a warehouse fire destroyed many pieces of their earlier production history. Also, the book could have used a stronger authorial voice as well as an additional Foreword from Nick Park who outside of the studio founders has been a critical participant. Those quibbles aside anyone interested in the creative process, especially with animation should enjoy this book! show less

If there is a flaw to this nice little book by Chronicle it's that it is in fact too little. Aardman is a wonderful studio that has been doing amazing work for decades now, too much glorious work to be limited to just 128 pages. But, in these 128 pages, we get numerous stills from their various films and television shows and a lot of fantastic concept art and character studies. We get drawings of Wallace with a moustache and Gromit with teeth. We see early designs from Chicken Run, skeletal show more studies of the "man-pan-zee" servant to Charles Darwin and the designs that became the finished art in films like Chicken Run, Flushed Away and Arthur Christmas.
I will add on, as a final bit, my wife's one sentence summation of the book, which reflects her love of Shaun the Sheep: "Too many pirates, not enough sheep." show less