A Bristol studio, founded by two school friends in 1972, that makes stop-motion and animated films and series such as Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep and Chicken Run.
Aardman Animations is the Bristol studio behind Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, Morph and Chicken Run. It is best known for stop-motion, where real models, usually made of clay, are moved a tiny amount and photographed one frame at a time, but it also makes computer-animated work such as Lloyd of the Flies (2022). Its films include Chicken Run, Flushed Away, Arthur Christmas, The Pirates!, Early Man and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. Its own news coverage says it has won four Academy Awards and 18 BAFTAs.
Two childhood friends, Peter Lord and David Sproxton, started making films at the kitchen table as schoolboys. They registered the name Aardman Animations in 1972, moved to Bristol in 1976 and made Morph for the BBC children's programme Take Hart. Nick Park joined in 1985, and Wallace & Gromit followed. On its About page, Aardman describes its mission as "to create entertainment for all and to be the most inspirational animation company in the world". It lists its core values as integrity, excellence, humour, independence, collaboration and openness. In 2026 Lord and Sproxton were knighted for services to the creative industries and to charity.
Aardman's headquarters is on Gas Ferry Road in Bristol, in a building it has occupied since 2009, with a studio at Aztec West in the north of the city. Large sets have been built in workshops at Aztec West and in Bedminster. Bristol is a good place to learn about screen work, because the city also hosts the BBC Natural History Unit and many independent producers. Aardman supports its local community, including Wallace & Gromit's Grand Appeal, the charity of Bristol Children's Hospital, which it says has raised more than £70 million since 1995.
Aardman became employee-owned in 2018, when the founders passed majority ownership to the staff so the studio could stay independent. The About page says its partners work with the executive board to support a positive working environment. The people named on that page include animators, directors, writers and model-makers, alongside a wider team behind the scenes. Sir David Sproxton said at the 50th anniversary in 2026 that "the technology's changed but the fundamentals of what we do haven't". That is the founders' own view of their work.
A studio like this needs far more than animators. Model-makers build the characters and sets, directors and writers shape the stories, and producers and production managers keep schedules on track. There are also designers, lighting and camera specialists, editors, sound and music people, and the finance, marketing and merchandise teams that look after the brands. Aardman also runs training courses called Craft Your Story and supports young animators through the Aardman Award at the Animex Festival. Drawing, making things with your hands, storytelling and film all point towards the work done here.
Website: www.aardman.com
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