My introduction to Aardman’s art started with Chicken Run in 2001. It was an immediate love.

Aardman’s Wallace and Gromit was not popular in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. But luckily for me some good people from the USA and UK opened a library in my city, where I could read books in English, watch movies on VHS and just talk to native English speakers. I used to go there every single day after school and immerse myself into British and American culture.

So in 2001 some friends from UK showed me Chicken Run. I was amazed by how stylish and beautiful clay animation can be. I then asked my friends if there were more of these kind of films. They then showed me some of Wallace and Gromit shorts. I never missed an Aardman movie since. Fast forward 18 years and one can imagine my delight when I started studying for my Master’s degree in Bristol, the hometown of Aardman Studios!

Bristol is full of references to Aardman creations, Wallace and Gromit being the most popular. But this summer a new exhibition at M Shed showcases all production stages of Early Man, Aardman’s 2018 film.

So this Sunday I introduced my wife and 5-month old daughter to the work behind clay animation films. The exhibition features original puppets, sets, props and backstage footage used when creating Early Man.

The set and dinosaur puppets from the opening scene:

Nick Park’s sketchbook, the creator of Wallace and Gromit and Early Man.

The tribe puppets. Each puppet is about 20 cm high.

A model maker’s set.

The process of puppet creation starts with a sketch. The sketch then is transformed into a digital drawing, so that model makers can create its clay version. One notable detail is that each character is followed up with a personality description.

All the puppets have steel skeletons or armature to support them to move and stand. Slide right to view more.

Tribe hunting items. Surprisingly, the spearheads were quite big.

Hognob, the early dog.

Following are some photos of the exquisitely crafted sets and the exhibition layout. Slide right on some photos to view more.

Props had different mouth sets. I remember reading an article about how the creators of Paranorman 3D-printed thousands of tiny puppet faces, from the most subtle changes of expression to the most extreme.

In general, I definitely recommend the exhibition. Creating puppet films may seem like a lot of fun, but as seen in this exhibition, moving each puppet frame by frame can quickly become a daunting task. The result, however, is a breath of fresh air in the age of CGI.