A massive fire swept through Aardman Animation’s warehouse this weekend, destroying everything. "Today was supposed to be a day of celebration, with the news that ‘Wallace and Gromit’ had gone in at No. 1 at the U.S. box office, but instead our whole history has been wiped out," Aardman spokesman Arthur Sheriff said. "It’s turned out to be a terrible day."
That warehouse housed everything from Aardman’s past, including props and claymation figures from the company’s humble beginnings, through Oscar winning bits and up to the latest Wallace & Gromit characters and sets.
Nick Park, the man behind Wallace & Gromit, showed unusual sensibility for someone involved in the movie business, looking beyond himself and referring to the horrible, tragic earthquake in Pakistan that most Americans can’t be bothered about: "Even though it is a precious and nostalgic collection and valuable to the company, in light of other tragedies, today isn’t a big deal," he said. No one was in the warehouse at the time of the fire.
I was going to make a joke about a Browncoat setting fire to the warehouse in retribution for this weekend’s box office take, but I’ve gotten so much mail about my latest editorial in just 12 hours that I think I’ll leave that one be.
Imagine that they all melted like Belloq and friends in Raiders on our message board!