I'm writing more 'Wallace and Gromit' stories: Nick Park

Nick Park loves going back to the world of Britain's beloved "Wallace and Gromit" franchise. The four-time Oscar-winning multi-hyphenate talent says he is working on expanding the universe.

The creator of the franchise says he is writing some more "Wallace and Gromit" stories.

"Wallace and Gromit are good old friends of mine and they are my family. I love to come back to them," Nick told over the phone.

"So, yes I do have more Wallace and Gromit ideas. And I am actually writing more Wallace and Gromit stories," added the animator, refusing to divulge more information about it.

Nick's cheese-loving inventor Wallace and his pet dog Gromit first found their way onto the silver screen with short film "A Grand Day Out" in 1989. The first Wallace and Gromit feature-length movie was "The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit", which was released in 2005. The animated characters have become cultural icons in the UK.

The animated pair was last seen in "Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention", a mini-series which was aired on BBC in 2010. It was the last time Wallace was voiced by actor Peter Sallis, who had played him since his inception in 1989 and passed away in 2017.

The "Wallace and Gromit" universe expanded with "Shaun the Sheep Movie". Its second part, "A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon", is also in the pipeline.

"I am mostly helping the team on the new movie of 'Shaun the Sheep'. I am not directing it, but just helping with the story and other things," added the veteran, whose real name is Nicholas Wulstan Park.

Nick has made a name for himself in the animation community, and won four Oscars for the animated feature "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" and animated short films "Creature Comforts", "The Wrong Trousers" and "A Close Shave".

He also wrote and directed "Chicken Run" in 2000. He co-wrote and directed "Early Man", aired in India on Sony PIX.

The stop-motion clay animation follows life of Dug, a prehistoric man who unites with his tribe to combat a threat from Lord Nooth, the leader of a Bronze Age city encroaching on his own. The prehistoric drama is about how they come together for a football match to claim their valley.

"I have had many happy memories associated with the film. I really enjoyed making the film. I started sketching ideas way back... Almost 8 years ago," said the filmmaker, who began his career in 1985 at the British animation studio Aardman Animations.

"Making the film was a long process and it took quite a while to figure the story out. It took about 18 months to do the filming. The appearance of prehistoric world is very different from the world of Wallace and Gromit or Shaun the Sheep."

What about a sequel to "Early Man" or "Early Woman"?

"'Early Woman'...ya, that would be good. Making a feature film is such a big and long experience...Maybe one day I will come back to it. I thought of it maybe as a TV series. But not sports anymore, but with the same characters. So that is an idea, but I have got other ideas as well."

(Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in)

--IANS

sug/rb