Wallace and Gromit creator reveals whether Aardman Animations will use AI in future - and what they won’t compromise on

This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.

This year, RT's Christmas cover stars are two award-winning film and TV favourites. But unusually in the cut-throat world of showbiz, they are also old pals going back 30 years. In fact, the cover, conceived and designed by Nick Park, celebrates Shaun’s screen debut in A Close Shave. Back then, Shaun walked into Wallace and Gromit’s home and ate everything in sight. Now he has a taste for Radio Times… hopefully, without swallowing any crucial TV listings!

It’s a busy time for Aardman Animations. There’s a Christmas Day episode of Shaun the Sheep on BBC One called Fleece Navidad, and in 2026, to mark the studio’s 50th anniversary, a big Aardman exhibition at London’s Young V&A, plus a film outing for Shaun, The Beast of Mossy Bottom. So, what better time for a reunion?

While the beloved pair say "cheese" for their cover shoot – remaining characteristically silent, yet with a mischievous glint in their eye – RT sits down with Park at Aardman’s Bristol HQ to discuss making Christmas out of clay...

A grand cover

It’s a pleasure to be asked to design another cover. We’ve had a few: my downstairs bathroom is full of framed ones. I leapt at the opportunity and it was a privilege to get involved. Radio Times has been an iconic magazine since way before I was born, and you can’t have Christmas without it, so I just couldn’t resist having my characters on the cover. My aim was to make it as Christmassy as possible and evoke feelings of warmth.

Cracking ideas

I think through sketching – more so than through writing. I like to draw on paper, but

I have an iPad Pro, which I love. I probably spend three days to a week doodling different ideas. That’s where a lot of film ideas come from. Wallace and Gromit are my favourite characters to sketch. I draw them in my sleep. They’re just very natural now – I’ve been doing them for so many years.

Season's bleatings

I played around with this idea of Gromit opening a mystery gift, and then out pops Shaun the Sheep, like "I’m back," doing something silly and surprising Gromit, like playing

the trumpet or maracas. Another idea, which I thought was very warm and quaint, had Shaun and Gromit sitting on the sofa drinking hot chocolate with their slippers in the foreground. Then I sketched out Shaun chewing the edge of the Radio Times. I didn’t think that would be liked, because it was destroying the cover, but that was the favourite.

Inventing new jokes

Little gags and Easter eggs appear in all the films, and it’s no different with Radio Times.

We want them to come through, so when the magazine is lying on the coffee table, there’s always things in there to look at and notice. There’s a portrait of Wallace on the wall, but the frame is obviously one he’s made, because he’s compensated for his ears so the frame goes around them. I thought that was a nice little touch.

Part of the festive furniture

I start to riff on things, like what’s on the mantelpiece; what’s on the tree; what would

look good on Gromit and Shaun’s mugs. We thought it’d be good to see Feathers McGraw as a ballerina in a tutu on the top of the tree, but there wasn’t room to put that in. We also had him as a ballerina in the snow globe. Then, him as a snowman in a snow globe, with a carrot for a nose.

They write themselves

How would Gromit react to Shaun reappearing? Well, they’re good mates, it’s a reunion. I think there would be a bit of reticence on Gromit’s behalf, a Gromit eyeroll, like, "Oh no, he’s back" – that agent of chaos in the house. He’s got enough with Wallace. All Gromit wants is a quiet life, but he loves Shaun really. There’s a little bit of antagonism between them, but it’s friendly. It’s great to have characters that kind of write themselves. You can put them in any situation, and they’ll find their own comedy.

Retro versus modern

Gromit and Shaun started off together, but since Shaun got his own series, we’ve sort of separated the worlds, because they’re slightly different, with different rules. With Wallace and Gromit, everything’s a bit retro. They rarely have a TV on, until Vengeance Most Fowl. They don’t have mobile phones and they don’t really have computers, but if they do, they’re like antiques. Shaun the Sheep is more flexible in terms of the modern world. There’s social media and you can dial for pizza! I don’t think we’d merge the two worlds in a story, but we had the Farmer from Shaun the Sheep in Vengeance Most Fowl. In the first Shaun the Sheep Movie, we talked about whether Wallace and Gromit should go through the background at one point on the motorbike. I think we’d only ever do it if it’s unexpected and a joke guest appearance.

Styling the stars

It would be quite expensive to make the puppets from scratch, so this Gromit on the cover has been in Vengeance Most Fowl in this same dressing gown, and this Shaun has been in the series. A sitting-down Gromit is differentto a standing or walking-on-all-fours Gromit. The model-makers made Shaun a brand-new jumper similar to his original one, but with a Christmassy pattern, so he looks super cute.

Animated animals

It takes the best part of three weeks to get everything together – the set, the decorations, the props, with about a dozen people working on the Christmas cover. I find it harder to pull together a photo than an animation, because a photo has one moment that has to say everything. We’re doing about 10 seconds of animation to go with the cover. On a feature film, the animators usually get through about two to three seconds a day. Wallace and Gromit are my children, so I’m very fussy about who animates them. For this, I particularly wanted one of my favourite animators and long-term colleagues, Jay Grace. He’s one of the best, very sensitive and really knows what he’s doing. It’s not just about moving your puppet. It’s about making the audience believe that it’s a living, breathing character.

Feat of clay

When Toy Story came out [in 1995], we thought, "How long have we got?" But we’ve managed to survive CGI. In fact, there’s been a resurgence of interest over the years in our stop motion animation. We use CGI as well, but AI is a whole new thing. Obviously a lot of people will be fearing for their jobs. We want to embrace the technology and find in what ways it’s going to be useful to us, maybe to do animation a bit quicker, but we’re going to be very cautious not to lose our values. The clay is our USP and we pride ourselves in that. Authenticity is the most important thing. It’s where the charm is.

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Shaun the Sheep: Fleece Navidad airs on Christmas Day at 4:35pm on BBC One.

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