10 Things We Unearthed About Nick Park’s Early Man Aardman Film

Primitive Urges?

♦ Aardman’s Early Man comes out in UK cinemas in January and here are 10 things we found out about it from a chat that Collider did with director Nick Park…

1. Park has always had a thing for dinosaurs: “I’ve always been crazy about dinosaurs and prehistoric life since I was a kid. I was obsessed with Ray Harryhausen movies.”

2. There is even a nod to the great special effects man in Early Man: “I knew my Harryhausen a little bit. We’ve even got two of the dinosaurs fighting at the beginning, called Ray and Harry, as a tribute.”

3. Park wanted to make a film that wasn’t just about cavemen and dinosaurs: “I didn’t just want to make a prehistoric movie. It had to have something a bit quirky about it, and a little bit original. It was, it was just two things came together, and that’s a way for ideas to arrest me, and make me, “Oh boy, this could be something.” I think it’s because I’ve never seen a prehistoric football match.”

4. Early Man was directed by Park on his own rather than co-directed as many of the other Aardman animation projects have been:”I just wanted to, I’ve got a couple of deputies who are animation directors, and they deal with a lot of the stuff. They take out a lot the hefty work for me, and I can stay more in editing, than script writing and storyboard and all these things, and character design and that kind of thing. But I just wanted to hold the reins myself on this one.”

5. The film does deal with football in a way but he wanted it to be accessible to audiences outside of the UK:” We tried very hard to make it universal, and not something that you have to know about British culture, and the whole football culture, which is massive. So, at the same time, I think I want the film to appeal to much more than football fans, but at the same time pay respect to football the way that fans would expect really, as well.”

6. Towards the end of the production process, days were fairly long for Park:”I’m not in that early, I tend to be about 9:00, 9:30, but we finish … I’m here ’til 7:00 at least, every night. So they’re not very long days, but I’m in Saturdays most weeks as well. It’s more the intensity of the day.”

7. Inspiration for the characters has come from a number of different places:”I keep sketchbooks all the time, and I’m sketching. Then you find out new things when you make it into a 3D actual model.”

8. Park feels more attached to certain characters in Early Man:”Obviously, I’ve got the main characters up, but the villain is what lured me, I think, and Dino is getting a lot of response as well. His model is kind of a side-kick, and he’s a referee in the match. Yeah, I love him as well, the way he’s working, but Dug and Hognob are my favourites.”

9. The director doesn’t tire of his own creations: “I don’t really. I think that’s the what the test’s really [of great characters]. I don’t get sick of them at all. I think it’s rather they offer possibilities all the time. I miss Wallace and Gromit.”

10. Park doesn’t rule out the return of Wallace and Gromit at some point: “Obviously it’s difficult with the loss of Peter Sallis, the actor who played Wallace, who passed away recently. So that makes that more difficult, but I think Peter would’ve liked them to carry on. So yeah, so we’ll find someone. We have got someone who has been his understudy as well, so hopefully.

Read the whole chat here