• Swindon & Wiltshire Culture
• Monday February 17 2025
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Bristol’s Aardman wins two Baftas, sets sights on Oscars

Bristol-based animation company Aardman Studios has scooped two Bafta awards for the latest feature-length outing for modelling clay icons Wallace and Gromit.

The duo’s creator, Nick Park, picked up a gong in the inaugural Children’s and Family Film category before winning a second trophy for Best Animated Film for Vengeance Most Fowl.

The film’s success at the ceremony in London last night (Sunday) will give the company further optimism about their chances at the Oscars, for which the Bristol-produced film has been nominated in the Best Animated Film category. The Oscars will be held on March 2.

Aardman – which has been based in Bristol for more than 40 years – has previously won four Oscars from seven nominations. Its trophy cabinet includes Oscar statuettes for The Wrong Trousers (1993) and A Close Shave (1995).

Vengeance Most Fowl was released in cinemas before being shown on BBC One on Christmas Day and then released worldwide via Netflix.

In the race for the biggest Christmas TV ratings, the BBC transmission of Vengeance Most Fowl came second behind another BBC production: Gavin and Stacey: The Finale.

But over the first month of the year it chalked up 21.6 million views – breaking a BBC iPlayer record for the most streams in a 28-day period in the history of the platform.

‘Bring back the Made in Bristol’ label

The success has promoted West of England Metro Mayor Dan Norris to call for Aardman to return the Made in Bristol label to the end credits of Aardman releases.

The Mayor has long highlighted the disappearance of Made in Bristol credits that used to appear at the end of many productions, including early Wallace & Gromit animations like Feathers McGraw’s 1993 debut, The Wrong Trousers, and world-famous nature documentaries from the BBC Natural History Unit.

He has previously called on the BBC to reinstate the words Made in Bristol, which they dropped in 2016, and further suggests that content filmed and produced by companies across Bristol and the wider West of England region is properly acknowledged in all programmes’ credits.

“Our region produces content that’s watched by over 800 million people around the world each month, thanks to the hard work of creative people in the West of England,” said the Mayor.

“Wallace & Gromit are the crown-princes of that success. The duo have been at the heart of our global renown for film and TV for decades. The pair’s latest double-win at the Baftas will add to Aardman’s acclaimed animators’ overflowing awards cabinet, which we all hope still has room for another Oscar next month.

“People deserve to know that these national treasures are from right here in our part of the world. It’s past time for the BBC to recognise and celebrate Bristol’s role again in their end credits.”

Pictured: Wallace and Gromit on a scaled red carpet set on the actual Baftas red carpet – by Aardman Studios