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Animator Park 'ecstatic' about Oscar nomination

BBC Nick Park has grey hair and is wearing a floral shirt. He is sat on a sofa with a Gromit sift toy next to him and is holding a Gromit shaped mug. On a window ledge behind is a vase of red flowers, a penguin character, and the Wallace character from his animations.BBC
Nick Park said it was a "surprise and real privilege" to be nominated for a fifth Oscar

Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park said he was "ecstatic" to receive another Oscar nomination.

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl has been shortlisted in the Animated Feature Film category at this year's Academy Awards.

Preston-born Park and his Bristol-based Aardman Animations team have already won four Oscars.

Park said the latest nomination had come as a "surprise and real privilege".

BBC/Aardman Animations/Richard Davies/Stuart Collis Wallace and Gromit are pictured in their living room, sitting on the sofa, along with a gnome.BBC/Aardman Animations/Richard Davies/Stuart Collis
Wallace and Gromit have been delighting audiences young and old for many years

"You don't get get used to it," said Park, who added: "You cannot expect it.

"We didn't make the film for this and it still comes as incredible to be counted up there.

"Every artist loves to have their work rewarded in some way or other and it's a great reflection on our amazing team of animators and all the talented people, the director of photography, the music, everything that has gone into the film.

"So many people have worked so hard."

His Bristol-based company still uses traditional stop motion animation.

Objects have to be painstakingly moved between every frame.

"We try to stick to the fact that it is very much much about the clay models and the stop motion animation," Mr Park said.

"It's a very old technique, but I think it brings with it a kind of humour, and a kind of of humanity in the way that you can get expressions on the face.

"You can do all kinds of amazing things in CGI, but it's worth sticking with [stop motion] because it's almost the limitations are what helps us create the gags."

Park has previously won Oscars for Wallace and Gromit films The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and short film Creature Comforts.

He described Aardman Animations as "an amazing place to work" and a "privilege because you are surrounded by this powerhouse of creativity".

The 2025 Academy Awards will be presented on 2 March in Los Angeles.

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