This week, Kim Masters speaks to Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham, the co-directors of Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. Park, a four-time Oscar-winner (nominated again this year), recalls his first Academy Awards ceremony, where he was in competition with… himself.
“I was so nervous,” Park remembers. “It was 1990 and I'd never been to LA, nevermind the Oscars, and I had two speeches ready, with two lists of credits, one for each film. My biggest worry was that if I did win, I'd then thank the wrong set of people.”
Park and Crossingham share how they balanced claymation, a notoriously time-consuming medium, with modern filmmaking tools in the latest Wallace and Gromit adventure. Park also recalls the many notes he received during both of the filmmaking experiences he shared with Dreamworks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg. Plus, the pair explains why animating even a mostly motionless character — like the menacing criminal mastermind Feathers Mcgraw — is surprisingly difficult.