If you’ve ever watched Wallace & Gromit or Shaun the Sheep over the years, then this news is sure to excite you. I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve watched The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave since I was a kid, and I genuinely thought the moon was made of cheese after watching A Grand Day Out until I got to school and the teacher explained to me, sadly, that it wasn’t. Now, the famous British stop-motion studio behind the duo, Aardman Animations, is working with The Pokémon Company on a brand new project set to drop in 2027. It takes a lot of time to film anything in stop-motion, after all!
All we have to work off is an Instagram post and a press release from The Pokémon Company HQ. Taito Okiura, the company’s Vice President of Marketing and Media states that, “This is a dream partnership for Pokémon. Aardman are masters of their craft, and we have been blown away by their talent and creativity. What we have been working on together ensures our global Pokémon fans are in for a treat!”
The Instagram clip shows a Pokéball being made from plasticine in the traditional Aardman way; so I’m hoping we will see our favourite characters in a whole new light with some of the nostalgic tricks I’ve grown up with from the early Wallace & Gromit adventures.
Aardman’s Managing Director Sean Clarke states that the company feels “sincerely privileged to be trusted with bringing [The Pokémon Company’s] characters and world to life in a brand-new way. Bringing together Pokémon, the world’s biggest entertainment brand, together with our love of craft, character and comedic storytelling feels incredibly exciting.”
So what could all of this mean? My instincts suggest a film; Aardman has so much experience underneath their belt with films like Arthur Christmas (which I am watching tonight coincidentally as it’s one of my favourite Christmas movies), Flushed Away, and of course, Chicken Run. It could also be a series along the lines of Pokémon Concierge but with a Wallace & Gromit aesthetic; I definitely wouldn’t be angry about that! I guess all we can do now is speculate, but hopefully, we’ll have more information to share with you in the coming months! I’ve got a serious craving for Wensleydale cheese now, Gromit!
