This DVD collects the first two season’s worth of episodes from Aardman Animations’s British stop-motion television series, along with the 1990 Oscar-winning theatrical short subject on which the show is based. Each episode recreates the formula of the original film, mimicking a documentary format, with actual recorded interviews serving as dialogue spoken by a series of colorful animated creatures. The results can be a bit repetitious when viewed one after the other, but the series manages to keep uncovering new ground by focusing each episode on a different theme. Throughout the course of two seasons, some characters even emerge as mini-stars, offering up droll dialogue and observations on a wide range of topics.
DVD DETAILS
The TV episodes and the theatrical short subject, the DVD set contains a number of extras that provide a glimpse of the work that goes into making the series.
- Bringing Creature Comforts to Life: Live Action Video (LAV) – director acts out action for animators.
- Creating Creature Comforts – Behind the Scenes
- Favorite Bits
The making-of featurettes are loaded with interviews from the behind-the-scenes personnel, including the animators, the directors, and Nick Park (who directed the original short subject). The highlight is a look at the interviewing process, which reveals the actual human faces of the interview subjects whose taped responses provide the voices for the animated creatures; it becomes clear that Aardman Animations has a few favorite “stars” who they know will provide the kind of dry humor that inspires the animators.