“Chicken Run’ Studio Aardman About To Run Out Of Clay

Who doesn’t love Aardman? Since the 1970s, the animation studio has been delighting audiences with its (mostly) plasticine creations. They gave us Wallace and Gromit, Chicken coop (including an late sequel and without Mel Gibson), Shaun the Sheepand parts of Peter Gabriel stunning video for “Sledgehammer”. And now, alas, they are in trouble.

By The telegraph, Newclay Products, the company that had long supplied Aardman with a special clay called Newplast, has gone out of business. It might not seem like a big deal, but the clay that Aardman has been using for eons helps give films their special look. The news of the company’s closure was such a shock to Aardman that they bought out everything they had left of Newplast. They now only have enough clay for one more film, namely the Wallace and Gromit film planned for next year.

When this film comes out, it will already be missing one key element: Peter Sallis, the voice of Wallace, mad inventor and cheese lover since the first short, A great day. Sally died in 2017. His last stint as the beloved character was in 2009 in the short film A question of bread and death.

Could Aardman find a new clay business? Almost certainly. Will it be the same? Maybe not. But for now, there’s always the next one Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nuggetwhich will be released on Netflix on December 15. You can watch the trailer below.

(Via The telegraph)