By Famed “Wallace and Gromit,” “Chicken Run” and “Shaun the Sheep” creators Aardman Animations made their name on turning modelling clay into stop-motion animation wonder.
Now, however, its signature style is in jeopardy following the closure of its only clay supplier Newclay Products according to The Telegraph.
Newclay announced it was closing its factory in March this year, with Aardman’s staff moving quickly to buy up all remaining stock of the clay, around 400 kg/880 lbs, which is not made elsewhere.
That remaining stock ensures they can finish work in the studio’s production pipeline. The last stock was enough to allow the animator to create one more film – a new “Wallace and Gromit” work opening next year.
Aardman is already on the hunt to find a new supplier if it is to continue, and there are obvious questions now about the future of the studio’s output. The studio previously did a CG animated feature with “Flushed Away” which was their biggest box office failure for years.
The modelling community has relied on the clay called Newplast, a nylon-reinforced air-drying clay that’s an ideal modelling material and is easily manipulated.
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