A heartbreaking day in the land of stop-animation.

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

Apologies if this has already been reported here:

Home of Wallace and Gromit burns

Aardman Animations' HQ destroyed by fire

By ARCHIE THOMAS

LONDON - With a $16 million opening weekend, DreamWorks/Aardman Animations' "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" is sitting pretty at the top of the U.S. box office chart but co-director Nick Park is in no mood to celebrate after a fire destroyed Aardman's Bristol, England, hq.
The fire brigade were called to the warehouse site at the crack of dawn on Oct. 10 but were unable to quell the blaze before the three floors collapsed, destroying priceless props and sets. The cause of the fire has not been identified.

"It couldn't have come on a worse day - we were supposed to be celebrating, but instead our history has disappeared in a couple of hours . everything has gone, from as far back as 'Morph' and all the way through to 'Chicken Run,' including all the 'Wallace and Gromit' films, 'Creature Comforts,' it's all there. Everyone is devastated," Aardman spokesman Arthur Sheriff told the BBC.

In characteristically self-effacing manner, Park said, "Even though it is precious stuff and nostalgic - and it is dreadful news for the company, in the light of other tragedies, it's not a big deal."

Bleary-eyed commuters making their way to the nearby Temple Meads station at 06.00 BST were stunned by the sight of 100 foot flames engulfing Aardman Animations. Park's state-of-the-art site is a source of great pride to Bristol's media community.

Mirroring the pic's powerful stateside bow, "Were-Rabbit" took $5 million in previews on Oct. 8 and 9 on home turf. It opens wide in the U.K. on Oct. 14.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Yeah, heard that. Very sad, but at least Mr. Park's got a reasonable perspective on it.

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

Yeah, heard that. Very sad, but at least Mr. Park's got a reasonable perspective on it.

Yes. But I bet he's had himself a good, private cry. If he hasn't, he isn't human. He'd be one of his own claymation creations!

[innerSpaceman]

Very sad indeed. Really screwed for all the production materials that are lost - but what's brilliant about movies is that the actual art survives!

Hopefully, the grosses from Wererabbit will be enough to rebuild an animation facility, and - in that sense at least - the timing of the fire was good enough to be right as a profitable movie is released.

[Morrigoon]

I wonder if they lost all the pieces to Wallace and Gromit themselves? I know that any one figure has at least 30 expressions, whether parts of faces or entire heads. Those would be tough to recreate without some notable differences.

[Ponine]

What I heard was that they lost pieces, or sets depending on the story, to the original three Wallace and Grommit films, and to chicken run and creature comforts.
They hadnt lost anything related to this newest feature.
Its a devestating loss for them as a company, and I havent felt badly about it all day since I read the story on CNN.

I've been rooting for them for a great many years, and I am saddened by this seeming damper on their otherwise wonderful day.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I wonder if they lost all the pieces to Wallace and Gromit themselves? I know that any one figure has at least 30 expressions, whether parts of faces or entire heads. Those would be tough to recreate without some notable differences.They really are made of clay of some sort, right? I'm sure they remake them over and over when filming. But they probably had molds that were lost.

I wonder how flammable that clay stuff is...

[Morrigoon]

Well, I'm just remembering a feature I saw about NBC, and they had this, it was like a tea box you'd see at a fancy restaurant, with different Jack heads, each with a different stage of emotion, and I know other pieces where they just change out the mouths or eyes. So they're not always necessarily moldable clay. But if they haven't lost the character pieces that's good I guess. Too bad about the sets though.

[Ghoulish Delight]

For any of these, they make several character pieces of different sizes, and for different needs (some are poseable, some are static, and the size depends on the perspective needed for the shot). So recreating the characters is soemthing they do all the time and not a problem. It's unlikely that every scrap of reference material for the characters was in that one building. The losses are more of a historical/nostalgic tragedy than a production tragedy.

[Stan4dSteph]

Well, I'm just remembering a feature I saw about NBC, and they had this, it was like a tea box you'd see at a fancy restaurant, with different Jack heads, each with a different stage of emotion, and I know other pieces where they just change out the mouths or eyes.They had the Jack heads on display at Disney MGM Studios when I was there in the 90's, along with a Halloweentown set. It was cool.

I saw a featurette on HBO about Corpse Bride that showed they have little mechanisms inside some of the character's heads that allow a screw to be turned to open or close the mouth.

Very sad to hear about the loss for Aardman. I've been a W&G fan for a long time. :(

[Morrigoon]

I certainly appreciate the nostalgic/historic tragedy. I wish somebody'd open a museum of stop-motion animation and display the sets and figures for these things. Imagine how cool that'd be!

[innerSpaceman]

According to the article in today's Variety, they're most upset about the loss of ALL the heavily-notated storyboards for all the films up thru Wererabbit.


Beyond the loss of the art and materials, this turns out to be a big hit for them financially - as they used to conduct tours through the facility. With so much of the exhibition materials now gone forever, this side of the business may be over for the forseeable future.

[Morrigoon]

That sucks SO bigtime.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Beyond the loss of the art and materials, this turns out to be a big hit for them financially - as they used to conduct tours through the facility. With so much of the exhibition materials now gone forever, this side of the business may be over for the forseeable future."This pile of ash on your left was the first maquette of the wrong trousers. The scorch mark to your right is where the set for Wallace's breakfast table used to be..."

[Gn2Dlnd]

In related entertainment news, Pony Pal Pokey has separated from longtime companion Gumby, citing irreconcilable differences and "inflexibility."

[€uroMeinke]

In related entertainment news, Pony Pal Pokey has separated from longtime companion Gumby, citing irreconcilable differences and "inflexibility."

I heards it had to do with the "many books" he was walking through - if you know what I mean...