Having previously received three Best Animated Short Film Oscars for Creature Comforts and the Wallace & Gromit adventures A Close Shave and The Wrong Trousers, director Nick Park picked up another coveted golden statuette on Sunday for the feature Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Animation Magazine was able to grab a few minutes with the acclaimed filmmaker before he boarded a plane back to Bristol, England, where he returned a hero to his home town and the folks at Aardman Animations.
Animation Magazine Online: You’ve previously won three Oscars for your short films. Is it different to win for a feature, or is an Oscar and Oscar?
Nick Park: It is different. It’s been fantastic in the past with the short films. It’s always been an honor and an amazing thing. In some ways, you’d think, ‘Well, he’s getting used to it,’ even though it’s ten years ago, actually. But it’s new again. I’m just as thrilled as the first time, especially as it’s now for a feature film. So, in a way, it’s a first in itself. You can never get blas’ about these things.
What does the win mean for you as a filmmaker? Will it open new doors for you?
I don’t know. It’s the honor, really. An Oscar is the top, isn’t it? Every other award, people say is the Oscar of design or fashion or something, and this is the Oscar of Oscars!
Was this more satisfying than even winning the BAFTA for Outstanding British Film?
It’s hard to compare, in a way. The BAFTA was an amazing thing because we were up against live-action movies and, in a way, that was a dream that I had never dared to even dream, really, that we would be taken so seriously as filmmakers. Of course, with the Oscars we can’t compete with live action because we have our own category now, which is not a bad thing. I think it’s just so looked up to, the Oscars. I don’t know if it will make any difference or open any doors. It’s just the thrill of it. The way the Academy votes’they take art very seriously.
What do you think this means for stop-motion animation? Do you think it will make studios take another look at the style of animation and maybe greenlight some more stop-mo features?
I’m not really sure. I know it is stop-motion and, interestingly, the other films that were nominated were traditional animation. But I actually think it has something to do with the technique, but I don’t think it’s anything inherently against CGI. I think it’s more to do with what is out this year.
Mike Johnson, co-director of Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, told us he’s trying to get another stop-motion feature off the ground but it’s still a hard sell because everyone wants to use CG these days. Now that Wallace & Gromit has won the Oscar, do you think producers might say something to the effect of, ‘if it’s good enough for the Academy, it’s good enough for us?’
Sure. I basically do clay animation because I love it. I think if it’s done well, if you have a good story, good characters, good design and that sort of thing, then I don’t think the technique ultimately matters. Although, having said that, I always think that how Wallace & Gromit is done with the clay and where it came from is all to do with technique. It’s how you express humor and all the aesthetic qualities that clay has’the way you can light it and the expressions you can achieve and the human observations. Gromit was born out of clay. He probably wouldn’t have been the same if I had designed him on a computer screen.
So Were-Rabbit would have been a completely different film had you used CG?
Absolutely. As I’ve seen in films like The Incredibles or Madagascar, if someone good has their hands on the computer, they’re able to tame the beast and control it. We’re all artists, no matter what the technique. The only thing I personally have against CG is when it doesn’t have an artist in control and the computer is leading, calling the shots and dictating the style and the feel. I really admire CG films like The Incredibles, where there’s a real design sense and the computers have kind of bowed to the artists.
As a four-time Oscar winner, a lot of avenues are open to you. Do you plan to stay with stop-motion or would you consider directing a CG feature?
I’m not against the idea. I’ve often thought it might be interesting, but I think, at the end of the day, I’m a clay man myself. I’m a plasticine man. I think it’s just because of where I’ve come from. I just find working with clay suits me. I love the rough and readiness of it and the hand-made quality. It’s all part of one thing’the humor, the technique. The clay provides a vehicle for my own storytelling and my own humor. So, in a way, it’s not a choice for me. If I was to work on a CG film, I would hopefully do something that really lends itself to CG. You use the strengths of the medium you’re working in.
When asked about a Wallace & Gromit sequel, your co-director, Steve Box, told us he’d love to make another film with you, but it’s ultimately up to you.
I have ideas. I can’t stop having new Wallace & Gromit ideas. I’d love to collaborate with them more, because they are living, they’re kind of writing their own stories now. That’s the nice thing about having established characters. But having just been though such a long-haul project, I don’t want to just get on a treadmill and do something for commercial gain or to satisfy popular demand. I think the idea has to come first and, like Were-Rabbit, it has to be something that really inspires me and almost grabs me by the scruff of the neck and demands to be made.
What’s next for you? Just taking some time off?
Yeah, I think I’ve got to have some time off and have some space. I need to get inspired again. And I think my brain needs a rest!
Sony Pictures Animation’s flagship CG project, Open Season, is slated to get a day-and-date IMAX 3D release as it rolls into conventional theaters on Sept. 29. The animal comedy will be digitally converted to 3D and re-mastered via the patented IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology. Sony Pictures Releasing will be the exclusive distributor to IMAX theatres worldwide.
