Nick Park
Nick Park is an animator, director, screenwriter, film producer, film director, cinematographer, and television producer who has received an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, one of the most concrete markers of achievement in the field of animation. He is a citizen of the United Kingdom and works in the English language.
Park was born on 6 December 1958 at 5 and 7 Weavers Yard. He attended Our Lady's Catholic High School and went on to study at Sheffield Hallam University. These formative years of education preceded a career that has encompassed a wide range of creative roles across animation and film production.
Over the course of his career, Park has accumulated a substantial number of honours. In addition to the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, he received an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, an Annie Award, the Winsor McCay Award, the Royal Designer for Industry award, and the Commander of the Order of the British Empire. His name is recorded in the Library of Congress Name Authority File under the authorized form "Park, Nick," establishing his place as a documented figure in English-language cultural records.
Quotes by Nick Park
After studying in Sheffield, I went down to London to do my post-graduate degree at the National Film and Television School, embarking on the movie that would eventually become 'A Grand Day Out.'
Gromit was the name of a cat. When I started modeling the cat I just didn’t feel it was quite right, so I made it into a dog because he could have a bigger nose and bigger, longer legs.
I always considered Ray Harryhausen’s work so fine that it was way out of my league: in terms of realism and naturalism, in terms of animal movement.
With some CGI, I think the brain slightly perceives that things aren’t real. There’s no gravity, the light’s not quite real, the shadows aren’t quite real.
I have to admit to not being the greatest technician, but stop motion animation gives me licence to create machines that wouldn’t otherwise be possible – inventions that seem real and actually work.
But I think people see ‘Wallace and Gromit’ as something akin to an elderly couple. These two know each other so well. Nothing can split them apart.
The clay figures don't keep well. They do keep for a year or two, and then the clay cracks up and falls off the skeleton. I guess they could demand a facelift.
