This story was updated on Monday morning:
It’s a plasticine shortage, Gromit! For Aardman Animations fans, 2023 may very well go down as the year of the Plasticinocalypse. Earlier this year, the only factory making the plasticine used by Aardman for beloved stop-motion projects such as the Wallace and Gromit shorts and this year’s much-anticipated feature Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, closed down. The Telegraph reports that Aardman bought the entire remaining plasticine in the factory’s warehouse and will be using it to produce the upcoming Wallace & Gromit movie that was originally slated for a 2024 release date.
Newclay Products, which created Aardman’s specialty plasticine , closed its doors in March. The company’s director Paul Dearing said, “It’s always given us both tremendous satisfaction that Aardman used our product. They thought it was the best material of its type in the world.”
Plasticine was first created by William Harbutt, an art teacher in Bath, England, in 1897. He created a non-toxic, sterile, soft and malleable clay that didn’t dry when exposed to air for his sculpture students. Aardman has been using the material for its beloved stop-motion projects since 1972 because it’s easy to mold and keeps its shape. According to The Talegraph, Aardman is looking for another replacement for plasticine or thinking about creating its own substitute for the popular material.
The next big date for Aardman is December 15 — that’s when the studio’s much-anticipated sequel Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget premieres on Netflix. You can read more about the making of the movie, which is directed by studio veteran Sam Fell, in next month’s issue of Animation Magazine (Issue No. 336).
UPDATE: All’s well that ends well! On Monday morning, Aardman posted a message noting that it has found a new supplier for its precious plasticine. Here is the studio’s note on social media.
Source: The Telegraph, Gizmodo.com
