Wallace and Gromit Creator Says Aardman Will Embrace AI—Without Losing Its Soul
Authenticity, not polish, is the new power move—the wellspring of real charm and the edge audiences actually trust.
Aardman is not about to swap fingerprints-in-the-clay charm for a prompt box. Nick Park says the studio will use AI where it helps, but not at the expense of what makes an Aardman film feel like, well, an Aardman film.
Park on AI: curious but careful
Speaking to Radio Times, the Wallace and Gromit creator sounded open to new tools but very clear on the line he will not cross. He remembered the early CGI panic when Toy Story hit in 1995 and it felt like the clock might be ticking for stop-motion. Instead, Aardman rode out the CGI wave, kept making the tactile stuff, and actually saw more people lean in to the handmade look. They already use CGI in places when it makes sense. AI, though, is a different kind of question.
'We want to embrace the technology and find in what ways it is going to be useful to us, maybe to do animation a bit quicker, but we are going to be very cautious not to lose our values. The clay is our USP and we pride ourselves in that. Authenticity is the most important thing. It is where the charm is.'
Park also acknowledged why the topic is tense: people are worried about their jobs. His position is basically: test the tech, keep the identity. Fair.
Where Aardman is at right now
If you need the refresher, Aardman is the stop-motion house behind Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, and Flushed Away. The studio has been dipping into new distribution tech too, not just tools on the animation side.
- Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl — released in late 2024 on Netflix; the duo face an old enemy.
- Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget — the 2023 sequel, also a Netflix release.
- Next up: Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom — headed for theaters in 2026.
So yes, Aardman is using modern pipelines and streaming partners. But if you were worried AI might sand down the fingerprints and squish out the charm, Park sounds like he would rather speed up a few steps than mess with the soul of the thing. Good luck prying the clay out of their hands.