There's Good News and There's Bad News
I've always been a fan of the Wallace & Gromit shorts, ever since I first saw "A Grand Day Out". You could tell the imagination and heart that was poured into every aspect of the films. I daresay "The Wrong Trousers" is one of the greatest animated shorts ever made. But I was still somewhat skeptical about whether the characters could carry a full-length movie. I mean, I love Aardman Animations, but I have to admit I was slightly disappointed when "Chicken Run" came out. It was technically sound and had a decent story and characters, but it just lacked that certain magic that Wallace & Gromit had. Well, it turns out I was worried for nothing, because the new movie "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" is an absolutely wonderful film. It has all the wit, whimsy and personality that I've come to expect from W&G, and is a technical marvel, to boot. It really boggles the mind to think that all of those characters and sets were created by hand and exist in the real world. The story and dialogue are so well-written, and the animators do a masterful job of bringing it all to life in a very challenging medium. Apparently, the public is appreciating the film, too, because it was the top movie this weekend! Hooray for Nick Park and Aardman Animations!
And now for the depressing news. Apparently, this morning in Bristol, England, Aardman Studios burned down, taking the company's entire history with it. It sounds like nobody was hurt, thankfully, but the building was almost completely demolished. None of the "Were-Rabbit" stuff had been stored there yet, but all the sets and models from "A Grand Day Out", "The Wrong Trousers", "A Close Shave", "Chicken Run" and pretty much all the other projects Aardman has ever done, are thought to have been destroyed. That must be so devastating to them. I mean, if Pixar burned down, I'm sure there's backup copies of the sets and characters of "The Incredibles" somewhere. But you can't exactly backup Aardman's stuff, so all those years of painstaking work and millions of dollars to create these plasticene marvels, and...they're all gone. Even so, I have to say that my enormous respect for Nick Park became even greater when I read his quote about the fire: "Even though it is a precious and nostalgic collection and valuable to the company, in light of other tragedies, today isn’t a big deal." The man's life's work is gone, and he's still able to keep things in perspective and be thankful for his blessings.
I guess my point to all this is that, in light of the success of the new film and the disastrous fire in England, today is a bittersweet day for Wallace & Gromit fans everywhere.
And now for the depressing news. Apparently, this morning in Bristol, England, Aardman Studios burned down, taking the company's entire history with it. It sounds like nobody was hurt, thankfully, but the building was almost completely demolished. None of the "Were-Rabbit" stuff had been stored there yet, but all the sets and models from "A Grand Day Out", "The Wrong Trousers", "A Close Shave", "Chicken Run" and pretty much all the other projects Aardman has ever done, are thought to have been destroyed. That must be so devastating to them. I mean, if Pixar burned down, I'm sure there's backup copies of the sets and characters of "The Incredibles" somewhere. But you can't exactly backup Aardman's stuff, so all those years of painstaking work and millions of dollars to create these plasticene marvels, and...they're all gone. Even so, I have to say that my enormous respect for Nick Park became even greater when I read his quote about the fire: "Even though it is a precious and nostalgic collection and valuable to the company, in light of other tragedies, today isn’t a big deal." The man's life's work is gone, and he's still able to keep things in perspective and be thankful for his blessings.
I guess my point to all this is that, in light of the success of the new film and the disastrous fire in England, today is a bittersweet day for Wallace & Gromit fans everywhere.