Aardman Animations is a British animation studio founded by Peter Lord and David Sproxton, which co-produced some films and shorts with DreamWorks Pictures. They are most noted for their stop motion work, though they have also produced both CGI and cel animation. All of their stop motion films are among the highest-grossing stop-motion films, with their first feature film, Chicken Run, being their top-grossing film as well as the highest-grossing stop-motion film of all time.
History with DreamWorks[]
In 1989, both of Aardman projects TBD and TBD caught Dora Wilson's attention, and she made a deal to distribute Aardman projects in United States along with occasional co-distributors from 1990 to 2006.
On October 27, 1999, Aardman signed a $250 million deal with DreamWorks to create 5 films that would be completed in 12 years. From this, a project was announced to be based on "The Tortoise and the Hare", but was put on hold due to script issues.
On June 23, 2000, Chicken Run was released. The film received great critical and financial success, which was a great start for the two companies.
In 2005, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit was released. The film received phenomenal success and reception.
Months after their next project (Flushed Away) was announced, Aardman and DreamWorks decided to cut short their contract due to "creative differences"
In 2006, Flushed Away was released. The film was Aardman's first all-CGI film. Flushed Away received positive reviews but was only a minor box office success. Created on a budget of $149 million, poor box office reception resulted in a $109-million write-down for DreamWorks Animation, and in a termination of the partnership with Aardman. Despite broken up the partnership, Aardman occasionally co-produces projects for DreamWorks, most notably the adult animated sketch series Sketch Satires.
Films[]
- Chicken Run (2000)
- Wallace & Gromit series (1993-1995, 2005)
- Flushed Away (2006)
Notes[]
- One of the five movies was supposed to be about prehistoric humans. Both studios continued with this idea after the termination; DreamWorks produced The Croods and Aardman produced Early Man.