Creature Comforts

Last updated

Creature Comforts
Creature Comforts.jpeg
Created by Nick Park
Directed by Richard Starzak (series 1-2)
David Osmand (series 3)
Merlin Crossingham (series 3)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
United States (series 3)
Original languageEnglish
No. of series3 + 1 film
No. of episodes33 (1 special, 26 British episodes & 7 American episodes) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers Peter Lord
David Sproxton
Nick Park
Miles Bullough (series 2)
Kit Boss (series 3)
Ellen Goldsmith-Vein (series 3)
Peter McHugh (series 3)
ProducersJulie Lockhart (series 1-2)
Gareth Owen (series 2-3)
Kenny Micka (series 3)
Running time10 minutes (series 1-2)
22 minutes (series 3)
Production companies Aardman Animations
Gotham Group (series 3)
Original release
Network Channel 4
Release15 July 1989 (1989-07-15)
Network ITV
Release1 October 2003 (2003-10-01) –
9 October 2007 (2007-10-09)

Creature Comforts is a British adult stop-motion comedy mockumentary franchise originating in a 1989 British humorous animated short film of the same name. The film matched animated zoo animals with a soundtrack of people talking about their homes, making it appear as if the animals were being interviewed about their living conditions. [1] It was created by Nick Park and Aardman Animations. The film later became the basis of a series of television advertisements for the electricity boards in the United Kingdom. In 2003, a television series in the same style was released. An American version of the series was also made. A sequel series, Things We Love, first aired on BBC One in 2024. [2]

Contents

The original film

The original Creature Comforts (short film) was five minutes and a few seconds long and was conceived and directed by Nick Park and produced by Aardman Animations, featuring the voices of British non-actors in the same vein as the "man on the street" Vox Pop interviews. It was produced as part of a series called Lip Synch for Channel 4. The film won Nick Park the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1990.

The film shows various animals in a zoo being interviewed about their living conditions. These include a family of polar bears, Tracey, a depressed female gorilla, a Brazilian puma, a maternal brown four-eyed opossum, and a hippopotamus calf who complain about the cold weather, the poor quality of their enclosures and the lack of space and freedom.

By contrast, a tarsier, Alex, a former circus chicken, a tortoise, and an armadillo praise their enclosures for the comfort and security they bring, and a family of polar bears, particularly one named Andrew, talk about both the advantages and disadvantages of zoos for the welfare of animals. Rather than the subject being one-sided or biased towards one viewpoint, there is a strong balance of opinions in the film, with some interviewees who are happy with their living situation, some who are not, and some who have a neutral opinion.

The voices of each character were performed by residents of both a housing estate and an old people's home. Stop motion animation was then used to animate each character, and the answers given in the interviews were put in the context of zoo animals. The polar bears were voiced by a family who owned a local shop, while the puma was voiced by Nick Park´s Brazilian friend.

The advertisements

In 1990, Nick Park worked with Phil Rylance and Paul Cardwell to develop a series of British television advertisements for the electricity boards' "Heat Electric" campaign. The creative team of advertising agency GGK had seen the original Creature Comforts film and were hugely impressed by it.

They were convinced that a series of short films modeled on the original film would be ideally suited to television advertising – as long as the advertising was handled with sufficient sensitivity to preserve the integrity and charm of Park's work. The initial result of their collaboration was three thirty-seconds Creature Comforts advertisements, made in the same style as the original film. This led to a series.

Although there had been a tradition of vox pop advertisements going back to the soap powder adverts of the 1960s, the Creature Comforts series was distinctive in its juxtaposition of real-life dialogue and animated creatures. The series featured a variety of endearing plasticine animals, including a tortoise, a cat, a family of penguins and a Brazilian parrot. The characters were seen in their own domestic settings, chatting to an unseen interviewer behind a large microphone.

The characters' dialogue was obtained by taking tape recordings of everyday people talking about the comfort and benefits of the electrical appliances in their homes and then using extracts of these – complete with pauses, false starts, repetitions, hesitations and unscripted[ citation needed ] use of language (such as "easily turn off and on able"). The selected interviewees spoke in a range of down-to-earth regional accents, and the overall effect was of natural conversation. [3] The adverts' warm and cosy tone reflected the warmth and homeliness of central heating.

There was a certain charm about the animations, with their quirky humour and sharpness of observation – such as in the antics of the non-speaking characters and in the odd little things happening in the background. The animations had an unusual expressiveness, with the wit often coming from tiny nuances – such as a dog scratching his ear at a particular moment.

The characterisation was strengthened by having each voice carefully matched to a suitable animal in a combination that would produce a memorable impact. These features were rounded off by a gentle closing voiceover spoken by Johnny Morris. Morris appealed especially to older audiences, who would remember him and his animal conversations on the television programme Animal Magic .

The campaign was a great success [4] and its run was extended over three years. The advertisements received critical acclaim within the advertising industry – with Park, Rylance and Cardwell picking up many top creative awards in Europe and America, including "Best Commercial of the Year" in the 1991 British Television Advertising Awards and "Most Outstanding European Campaign" in the 1991 D&AD Europe Awards. In fact, Creature Comforts was subsequently voted by media professionals (in leading trade outlets Marketing and Brand Republic) as one of the top television advertisements of the last fifty years. [5]

As well as attaining a very high level of viewer recall, the advertisements were much loved – particularly the ones involving Frank (the tortoise), Carol (the cat) and Pablo (the parrot). In awarding them a place in The 100 best British ads of the century, the United Kingdom's leading advertising journal Campaign commented "The power of a campaign which can make consumers feel warm towards a utility cannot be underestimated". [6]

The many popular awards won by the Creature Comforts advertisements included being voted fourth in the all time 100 Greatest TV Ads by readers of The Sunday Times and viewers of Channel 4 in April 2000. [7] Their position among the classic advertisements of British television was confirmed when Creature Comforts was voted fourth in ITV's Best Ever Adverts by viewers of ITV in 2005. [8] Finally, in a YouGov survey during 2006, Creature Comforts topped the list of the United Kingdom's alltime favourite animated or puppet characters used in adverts. [9]

The Creature Comforts advertisements have now attained a place in popular culture, and are probably better remembered than the original film that spawned them. [10] However, it is claimed that many members of the public mistakenly remember the commercials as advertising gas heating, the main competitor to electricity. [11]

Influences

The Creature Comforts advertisements were produced in the period 1990 to 1992 and in some ways they were indicative of the shape of things to come in British television advertising. Many commentators believe that there was a fundamental shift in television advertising from the unbridled consumerism and egoism of the 1980s to what is sometimes termed a more "caring" approach in the 1990s. The Creature Comforts advertisements are cited as an early example of this phenomenon. [12]

The format of the Creature Comforts advertisements was so successful that it was replicated in other campaigns in the following decades. In later years, however, members of the public became increasingly conscious of the potential uses of their vox pop interviews. [13] This made it difficult to recapture the spontaneity and innocence of the early Creature Comforts advertisements. Although lookalike animations became relatively commonplace in television advertisements, they were usually scripted and rarely possessed the painstaking attention to detail of the original advertisements.[ citation needed ]

Credits

The series

In 2003, a series of Creature Comforts films directed by Richard Goleszowski was made for the British television network ITV by Aardman Animations. The series was distributed globally by Granada International who also handled home video rights except in the United Kingdom, United States and Australia, which were retained by Aardman. [14]

The series has since aired as repeats on Comedy Central, usually late at night. Starting in 2005, it has also aired in Australia on ABC, in The Netherlands on Veronica, on pay television channel US TV, and on the Internet, as well as on the Aardman Animations YouTube Channel.

A thirty-minute special in which the regular characters attempt to perform and interpret the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was first aired on 25 December 2005. [15] The special was broadcast in Canada on the CBC on 26 December 2005.

Humour pervades all aspects of the series, for example:

The series gently mocks the constructed performance sometimes given by members of the general public when being interviewed for television vox pops and documentaries. This includes the attempts to present a cogent but simple conclusive answer to a general question, a sound bite, and the attempts to present a cheery spin on a complex issue while the subject attempts to hide their personal issues and problems with the issue.

The series is currently repeated on Gold.

The series is also available on the streaming service ITVX.

Regular characters

The following characters are among those who make regular appearances throughout the series. These animals are always portrayed by the same interviewees to maintain consistency throughout the series.

Introduced in Series 1

Introduced in Series 2

Miscellaneous

A special short was aired in the United Kingdom as part of Red Nose Day 2007. [17]

American version

Starting in June 2007, CBS planned to broadcast seven episodes of an Americanized version of the show, featuring ordinary American people providing the voices, in the same vein as the British original. The series was titled Creature Comforts and was seen Monday nights at 8PM ET/PT from 4 to 18 June 2007 (only three episodes were broadcast due to low ratings, and was replaced with reruns of The New Adventures of Old Christine ); [18] the series was also simulcast in Canada on the CH system. It was the first adult animated series produced for CBS since Where's Huddles? and Fish Police .

CBS also created a web presence with the help of the Creature Comforts staff. A behind-the-scenes collaborative account/blog of each episode was posted, in conjunction with the three short-lived airings. [19] The American version was co-produced by Aardman Animations and The Gotham Group.

Seven episodes of this series were produced. However, the series ran for only three episodes, before being cancelled by CBS due to low ratings. [20] Its remaining episodes were later premiered on Animal Planet in 2008 (see below). A standard DVD of the show's seven episodes was released on 9 October 2007 by Sony, now entitled Creature Comforts America. Currently, there is no Blu-ray version, even though the show was mastered in 1080[ clarification needed ] HD with a 16:9 aspect ratio. [21]

On 8 February 2008, the show won an Annie Award for "Best Animated Television Production" of 2007. [22] In Australia, public broadcaster ABC Television began airing the American season in Australia on 18 February 2008, having aired the original British version since its inception on both ABC1 and the digital only ABC2.

On 24 April 2008, Animal Planet picked up the first season of the American version. It was broadcast in both SD letterbox and native HD formats. Episodes 1&2 premiered on 24 April, Episodes 3&4 premiered on 1 May, and Episodes 5&6 premiered on 9 May. Creature Comforts was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming Less Than One Hour)" but on 13 September 2008, it lost out to The Simpsons . Teresa Drilling, one of the show's many animators, won an individual Emmy Award for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation".

American version staff

Creature Discomforts

A series of four adverts highlighting disability and featuring the voices of disabled people telling of their experiences premiered on ITV on Christmas Day 2007. Four more ads featuring new characters debuted in Summer 2008. [23] [24]

A new advert, created by Born Free Foundation, highlighted the experiences of animals in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. [25]

Things We Love

In 2024, a sequel series, Things We Love, was announced by the BBC. [26] Like the original series, audio from interviews with non-actors is synched with stop-motion animation of animals to make it seem as if they are talking about their living conditions. The sequel series is also created and produced by Aardman. [27] The first three shorts aired on 8 March 2024 on BBC One.

DVD releases

DVD titleCountry of release Region Date of releaseDVD companyCatalog NumberNotes
Creature ComfortsUnited States128 November 2000 Image Entertainment ID0106CUDVDThe original 1989 film presented in widescreen. Also includes the other Aardman animations Wat's Pig, Not Without My Handbag and Adam
Creature Comforts – Series 1, Part 1United Kingdom217 November 2003 Momentum Pictures The first half of Series 1, the original 1989 film, and other extras
Creature Comforts – Series 1, Part 2United Kingdom25 April 2004Momentum PicturesThe second half of Series 1, featuring many extras including ITV1 idents, Heat Electric adverts, and more
Creature Comforts – The Complete First SeasonUnited States127 September 2005 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment 08694Features the original 1989 film in fullscreen as an extra
Creature Comforts – Complete Series 1United Kingdom231 October 2005Momentum PicturesTwo-disc set of the first series.
Creature Comforts – Series 2, Part 1United Kingdom221 November 2005Momentum PicturesFirst half of Series 2, plus many making of extras.
Creature Comforts – Series 2, Part 2United Kingdom and United States220 February 2006Momentum PicturesSecond half of Series 2, plus extras
Creature Comforts – The Complete Second SeasonUnited States124 October 2006Sony Pictures Home Entertainment14823Two-disc set of the Second Series and the "Merry Christmas, Everybody" DVD release (see below)
Creature Comforts – Merry Christmas EverybodyUnited States124 October 2006Sony Pictures Home EntertainmentAlso included in the Second Series DVD release
Creature Comforts – The Complete First and Second SeasonsUnited States124 October 2006Sony Pictures Home EntertainmentTwo-disc set of the First and Second Series
Creature Comforts – Complete Series 2United Kingdom26 November 2006Momentum PicturesThree-disc set of the Second Series and "Merry Christmas Everybody"
Creature Comforts America – The Complete First SeasonUnited States19 October 2007Sony Pictures Home EntertainmentThe seven episodes made for the cancelled American version
Creature Comforts - Complete Series 3: In The USAUnited Kingdom224 November 2008 2 Entertain The seven episodes made for the canceled American version

The television series (United Kingdom) is now available to watch on the official Aardman YouTube channel. ()

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stop motion</span> Animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own

Stop motion is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames is played back. Any kind of object can thus be animated, but puppets with movable joints or plasticine figures are most commonly used. Puppets, models or clay figures built around an armature are used in model animation. Stop motion with live actors is often referred to as pixilation. Stop motion of flat materials such as paper, fabrics or photographs is usually called cutout animation.

Wallace & Gromit is a British stop-motion animated comedy franchise created by Nick Park and produced by Aardman Animations. The series centres on Wallace, a good-natured, eccentric, cheese-loving inventor, and Gromit, his loyal and intelligent anthropomorphic beagle. It consists of four short films, two feature-length films and has spawned numerous spin-offs and TV adaptations. The first short film, A Grand Day Out, was finished and released in 1989. Wallace was voiced by actor Peter Sallis until 2010 when he was succeeded by Ben Whitehead. While Wallace speaks very often, Gromit is largely silent and has no dialogue, communicating through facial expressions and body language.

Aardman Animations Limited, stylized as AARDMAN since 2022, is a British animation studio based in Bristol. It is known for films and television series made using stop motion and clay animation techniques, particularly those featuring its plasticine characters from Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run, Shaun the Sheep, and Morph. After some experimental computer-animated short films during the late 1990s, beginning with Owzat (1997), Aardman entered the computer animation market with Flushed Away (2006). As of February 2020, it had earned $1.1 billion worldwide, with an average $135.6 million per film. Between 2000 and 2006, Aardman partnered with DreamWorks Animation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Park</span> English filmmaker (born 1958)

Nicholas Wulstan Park is an English filmmaker and animator who created Wallace & Gromit, Creature Comforts, Chicken Run, Shaun the Sheep, and Early Man. Park has been nominated for an Academy Award a total of six times and won four with Creature Comforts (1989), The Wrong Trousers (1993), A Close Shave (1995) and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005).

<i>Rex the Runt</i> British animated comedy television series

Rex the Runt is a stop-motion adult animated claymation pixilation comedy series, primarily consisting of a television show and two short films produced by Aardman Animations and Egmont Imagination for BBC Bristol, with EVA Entertainment co-producing the first series. Its main characters are four plasticine dogs: Rex, Wendy, Bad Bob and Vince.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claymation</span> Stop-motion animation made using malleable clay models

Claymation, sometimes called clay animation or plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine clay.

<i>Morph</i> (TV series) Claymation series (1977-present)

Morph is a British series of clay stop-motion comedy animations, named after the main character, who is a small terracotta-skinned plasticine man, who speaks an unintelligible language and lives on a tabletop, with his bedroom being a small wooden box. Morph was initially seen interacting with Tony Hart, beginning in 1977, on several of his British television programmes, notably Take Hart, Hartbeat and SMart.

<i>Shaun the Sheep</i> British childrens television series

Shaun the Sheep is a British stop-motion animated silent children's television series which is developed by Aardman Animations. A spin-off in the Wallace & Gromit franchise, the series focuses on the adventures of Shaun, the eponymous sheep previously starring in A Close Shave, as the leader of his flock on an English farm. The series premiered on 5 March 2007 on CBBC in the UK, also airing on BBC Two. Since 2020, the series is streamed globally on Netflix. In March 2024, it was announced that the seventh series is in development and will premiere in 2025. With 170 episodes over 6 series, Shaun the Sheep is one of the longest-running animated series in British television.

The Chevron Cars are anthropomorphic vehicles who were part of an advertising campaign of the Chevron Corporation consisting of television spots, print ads, billboards, and toy cars available at Chevron retail locations.

Steven Royston Box is an English animator and director who works for Aardman Animations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Starzak</span> English animator, screenwriter, and film director

Richard Starzak, previously known as Richard "Golly" Goleszowski, is an English animator, screenwriter, and film director.

<i>Purple and Brown</i> 2006 British animated series

Purple and Brown is a British stop-motion animated short series made in collaboration with Nickelodeon and Aardman Animations, the creators of Wallace and Gromit. The series was devised and directed by Rich Webber and edited by Mike Percival, who also offered the voices of the characters, and first aired in February 2006, on Nickelodeon's UK and Ireland channel, and then later became a staple on the US Nickelodeon network as part of its former Nick Extra short program.

noitulovE 2005 TV advertisement for Guinness beer

noitulovE is a British television and cinema advertisement launched by Diageo in 2005 to promote Guinness Draught stout. The 60-second piece formed the cornerstone of a £15 million advertising campaign targeting men in their late twenties and early thirties. The commercial shows, in reverse, the adventures of three characters who evolve from mudskippers to present day humans before tasting Guinness in a London pub. The commercial was handled by the advertising agency Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, with a budget of £1.3M. It was directed by Daniel Kleinman. Production was contracted to Kleinman Productions, with post-production by Framestore CFC. It premiered on British television on 3 October 2005.

United Kingdom Animation began at the very origins of the art form in the late 19th century. British animation has been strengthened by an influx of émigrés to the UK; renowned animators such as Lotte Reiniger (Germany), John Halas (Hungary), George Dunning and Richard Williams (Canada), Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton have all worked in the UK at various stages of their careers. Notable full-length animated features to be produced in the UK include Animal Farm (1954), Yellow Submarine (1968), Watership Down (1978), and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005).

Christopher Sadler is a British animator, director and writer. He is primarily known for his work on Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, Rex the Runt, Cracking Contraptions, Creature Comforts and Shaun the Sheep.

Darren Walsh is a British director, writer, animator and voice artist. He uses stop-frame animation, live-action, and CG in his work. He lives in London and is represented by production company Passion Pictures, having worked previously independently and for Aardman Animations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Underdog (advertising character)</span> National Accident Helpline mascot

Underdog is a character developed by The Gate London advertising agency and animated by Aardman Animations. The character is featured in advertisements for the personal injury claims company, National Accident Helpline, a UK-based provider of personal injury services.

<i>Adam</i> (1992 film) 1992 British film

Adam is a 1992 British stop-motion clay animated short film written, animated and directed by Peter Lord of Aardman Animations. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short and the BAFTA Film Award for Short Animation in 1992, and won two awards at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in 1993. The film, which was distributed by Aardman, is based on the beginning of the Book of Genesis.

War Story is a 1989 animated short film created by Aardman Animations. It was directed by Peter Lord.

Aardman Animations is an animation studio in Bristol, England that produces stop motion and computer-animated features, shorts, TV series and adverts.

References

  1. ↑ "BBC One - A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman". BBC.
  2. ↑ "Public to star in Aardman shorts on the BBC". BBC Press Office.
  3. ↑ Delin, Judy (2000). The Language of Everyday Life : An Introduction. Sage Publications. p. 138. ISBN   0-7619-6090-2.
  4. ↑ Stuart Jeffries (16 September 2005). "Lock up your vegetables!". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 26 April 2009.
  5. ↑ "50 Years of Fame: Top 20 TV ads". www.campaignlive.co.uk. 21 September 2005. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  6. ↑ Campaign (1999). Campaign's hall of fame : The 100 best British ads of the century. Haymarket Publications. p. 86.
  7. ↑ "Top 100 Greatest TV Adverts". Channel 4 . 23 February 2009. Archived from the original on 28 December 2009.
  8. ↑ "Classic Ads - Spots and Spot Innovation". thinkbox.tv. 5 May 2009. Archived from the original on 5 March 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ↑ Park, Nick (2 January 2007). "Creature Comforts 'best ad characters'". Metro.co.uk . Archived from the original on 11 January 2010.
  10. ↑ Lane, Andy (2003). Creating Creature Comforts. Boxtree. p. 72. ISBN   0-7522-1564-7.
  11. ↑ Jeffries, Stuart (16 September 2005). "Lock up your vegetables!". The Guardian . Retrieved 26 April 2009.
  12. ↑ Dickason, Renée (2005). British television advertising : cultural identity and communication. University of Luton Press. p. 92. ISBN   1-86020-571-2.
  13. ↑ Lord, Peter; Sibley, Brian (1998). Cracking animation : the Aardman book of 3-D animation . Thames & Hudson. ISBN   0-500-01881-2.
  14. ↑ Ball, Ryan (11 September 2003). "Creature Comforts Series Gets Distributor". Animation Magazine .
  15. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : Creature Comforts (14 December 2018). "Merry Christmas Everybody! - Creature Comforts (Full Episode)" . Retrieved 25 December 2019– via YouTube.
  16. ↑ "Sarah Williams' 150 Challenges - Bristol Cathedral".
  17. ↑ Comic Relief's list of TV specials for Red Nose Day 2007 Archived 8 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ↑ Adalian, Josef (17 April 2007). "CBS, 'Survivor' go to China". Variety. Archived from the original on 20 April 2007. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  19. ↑ "CBS Shows - Popular Primetime, Daytime, Late Night & Classics". www.cbs.com.
  20. ↑ "Creature Comforts: What Went Wrong with the CBS Claymation Series?". TV Series Finale. 3 August 2007.
  21. ↑ Creature Comforts: What Went Wrong with the CBS Claymation Series? » TV Series Finale
  22. ↑ Annie Awards: Legacy — 35th Annual Annie Awards Archived 8 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ↑ "New ad campaign challenges our Creature Discomforts". Leonard Cheshire Disability. 12 November 2007. Archived from the original on 9 February 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2007.
  24. ↑ "Creature Discomforts on Christmas Day!". Archived from the original on 9 February 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2007.
  25. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : "Creature Discomforts: Life in Lockdown". YouTube . 23 July 2020.
  26. ↑ "Public to star in Aardman shorts on the BBC". BBC Press Office.
  27. ↑ "Aardman unveils heartwarming new films starring real BBC viewers". Radio Times .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.