Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park warns AI could kill ‘human touch’ of stop-motion animation
In another warning about the tech, Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park has said he fears the rapid rise of artificial intelligence could erode the “human touch” of stop-motion animation.
Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park is warning the rapid rise of artificial intelligence could erode the “human touch” of stop-motion animation.
The 65-year-old spoke to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme ahead of the opening of a new exhibition about his work in Preston, reflecting on the risks of using generative AI in animation, saying it could reduce creativity to “a bit of a mush”.
He said: “There’s lots of fear isn’t there about what’s coming with AI and Generative AI but a lot of excitement at the same time.
“And it’s very hard to know exactly what to make of it just yet. We have always been grasping technology, even in the traditional stop motion way that Wallace and Gromit are.
“We still use the clay and silicon and real materials because that’s all part of the charm. And I don’t think we ever really want to let go of that.
“The human touch is so important and yet you know it is tempting when you think of an idea you will put it into a Chat GP whatever, bot, and see what it comes back with.
“But I fear the human touch going and everything becoming a bit of a mush.”
Nick added: “I say in a way the medium doesn’t matter but it does in a way because Gromit was born out of clay, I don’t know if it would’ve happened if he was CGI in the same way.”
Since their first appearance in A Grand Day Out in 1989, Wallace and Gromit have remained synonymous with hand-crafted clay animation.
Their latest outing, Vengeance Most Fowl, premiered on the BBC on Christmas Day in 2023.
The characters are now the focus of an exhibition at The Harris Museum in Preston, featuring original models, concept artwork and early sketches.
Nick said: “Coming from Preston as well, my home town, to be opening the refurbished museum with my own exhibition after all these years, I never would have imagined it.
“Before the Internet, the Harris Museum and library was a great source of everything and inspiration. I used to pour through all the books looking for any information I could find on how to do animation.
“When I was studying art, foundation art in Preston, I was always there looking for art books.”
Wallace and Gromit’s second short film, The Wrong Trousers (1993), and third, A Close Shave (1995), both won Academy Awards.
Their first feature-length film, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), also won the Oscar for best animated feature.
