CREATURE COMFORT Nick Park 1989 BEFORE WATCHING 1° Nick Park's biography: Nick became interested in animation as a child and started making films in his parents' attic at the age of 13. He went on to earn a BA in Communication Arts at Sheffield Art School in 1980, before moving on to the National Film & Television School in Beaconsfield, England. When there, he began working on " A Grand Day Out ," (1989) which marked the introduction of Wallace & Gromit. In February 1985, Park joined Aardman where he completed the film. He then directed " Creature Comforts " (1989). Nick Park has worked for years with the Aardman Animation Production, since his degree in animation and his first Wallace and Gromit first film A Grand Day Out . All his animation films are made with plasticine and he has become very famous with his hilarious and technically perfect films. He is most famous for this first Wallace and Gromit film and its two sequels The Wrong Trousers (1993)and A Close Shave (1995) but he has also done many short cartoons and advertisement. The three films he did in England feature his favourite heroes Wallace (a man) and Gromit (a dog) and they all won oscar in Hollywood. He became so famous worldwide that Steven Spielberg asked him to do a real film. This is how Nick Park got to work on the Chicken Run project (2000), an hilarious remake of the famous Great Escap e by John Sturges (1963) ( English and American prisoners in a Nazi camp trying to escape) with hens and a rooster. 2. Creature Comforts (1989): In your opinion this cartoon could deal with: a. humans compared to animals b. b. animals living a human life c. animals'ways of living in nature d. animals'ways of living in a zoo e. aliens from a different planet f. ways of living of Mars's inhabitants - 1 - CREATURE COMFORT Nick Park 1989 Creature Comforts shows interviews in an English Zoo, giving the animals a chance to talk about life behind bars: Used to open spaces and sunnier climates, they comment on accommodation, diet and, of course, the English weather. Combining humor with more serious overtones about zoo life, the short film earned Aardman its first Oscar for Best Animated Short Subject in 1989, and also became the model for a slew of advertisements Aardman created for the British Electricity Association and Chevron.Creature Comforts was also the first Aardman film to feature the talents of animator Nick Park, the man behind the Wallace and Gromit films that followed. Understanding the film: • The Polar bear: a) how many bears are there ? ………………………… b) There is the father grand-father mother daughter son grand-mother c) State the order in which they talk: 1. ……………… 2. ………………… 3. …………………. d) How many times do they appear ? …………………………………………………………. • TTTheThe Tapir: a) How many tapirs are there ? ………………………… b) How many of them are talking ? …………………….. c) What are they doing ? ……………………………….. • The …………………. : a) How many times does he appear ? ………………………… b) What does he look like ? happy cross sad tired sleepy bored - 2 - CREATURE COMFORT Nick Park 1989 • The Hippopotamus: a) How many hippopotamuses are there ? ……………………… b) Who are they ? father nephew mother daughter son c) What are they doing ? …………………………………………………………………. • The Tortoise: a) How many tortoises are there ? ………………………… b) What are they doing ? ……………………………………………… c) How many times do they appear ? ………………………………… • The strange animal: a) What's the problem ? ……………………………………………………………………………… b) What happens to one of the babies ? ………………………………………………………….. • The …………………: a) Where does it take place ? outside in the zoo in a train in prison b) How many times does she appear ? ………………………… c) What does she look like ? happy cross sad tired sleepy bored • The Lemur: a) what is special about her ? …………………………………………………………………. b) What does she look like ? happy cross sad tired sleepy bored • The Bird: a) How many birds are there ? ………………………… b) What are they doing ? …………………………………………………. - 3 - .