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Aardman boss Nick Park says the animation studio known for its stop-motion claymation will be "cautious" not to lose its values to AI, even if it is willing to embrace the technology.
"When Toy Story came out [in 1995], we thought, ‘How long have we got?’ But we’ve managed to survive CGI," Park told Radio Times. "In fact, there’s been a resurgence of interest over the years in our stop-motion animation. We use CGI as well, but AI is a whole new thing."
He continued, "Obviously a lot of people will be fearing for their jobs. We want to embrace the technology and find in what ways it’s going to be useful to us, maybe to do animation a bit quicker, but we’re going to be very cautious not to lose our values. The clay is our USP and we pride ourselves in that. Authenticity is the most important thing. It’s where the charm is."
Aardman is the studio behind Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, and Flushed Away. Its most recent movie was Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, which sees the titular inventor and his trusty hound go up against an old foe and was released in late 2024. In another embrace of new tech, that film and 2023's Chicken Run sequel Dawn of the Nugget were both released by Netflix.
Next up for Aardman is Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, which will hit theaters in 2026. In the meantime, check out our guide to the other best upcoming movies on the way.
