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Aardman's Peter Lord and David Sproxton: 'At the Oscars, I went to the gents and had a pee with Jack Nicholson!'
The studio's co-founders on accidentally creating Morph, not wanting a yacht in the Maldives and being each other's best ally.
TL;DR
- Peter Lord and David Sproxton founded Aardman Animations as teenagers, selling their first short to the BBC in 1972.
- They created the character Morph in 1977 for the children's program Take Hart.
- Aardman's breakthrough into adult audiences came with Channel 4's Conversation Pieces series, leading to Wallace & Gromit films.
- The studio became employee-owned in 2018, safeguarding its independence.
- Lord and Sproxton met at school in Surrey, forming a partnership with Lord's artistic skills and Sproxton's practical abilities.
- They created Morph accidentally as a lump of Plasticine that developed into a character.
- The founders prioritized treating people well and building a community over personal wealth, with neither aspiring to excessive riches.
- Sproxton is described as ethical and unselfish, while Lord acknowledges his own potential venality in comparison.
- They supported each other through personal challenges, including the aging of their parents.
- Lord is a natural storyteller with an incredible mind, while Sproxton focuses on making those imaginative ideas a reality through organization and management.