Park, Nick (1958– )

English animator. He specializes in stop-motion animation using clay figures, and his creation of the much-loved characters Wallace and Gromit earned him international fame, along with several Academy Awards.

Park lights and photographs his films as if they were real action features and he mixes genres (slapstick, soap opera, film noir, science fiction) to immense comic effect. Every film is packed with a wealth of often humorous detail especially in the props and decor.

He met with early success with his first two shorts, A Grand Day Out (1989) – the first to star Wallace and his faithful canine sidekick Gromit – and Creature Comforts (1990), for which he won an Academy Award. The next two Wallace and Gromit instalments, The Wrong Trousers (1993) and A Close Shave (1995), both earned him further Academy Awards. In 2000, his first feature film, Chicken Run, was released, followed by The Wallace and Gromit Movie: Curse of the Wererabbit (2005), which won an Academy Award for best animated film. His television series Creature Comforts was shown in 2003.

Parks was educated at the National Film School in Beaconsfield, England. He was made a CBE in 1997.