Aardman Academy Pacts With New Zealand’s Canterbury University for Stop-Motion Animation (EXCLUSIVE)
New Zealand’s University of Canterbury has signed a five-year exclusive agreement with the Aardman Academy, the training arm of the Aardman Animations, the British film and TV studio behind “Wallace and Gromit” and “Shaun the Sheep.”
The agreement enables the Christchurch-based university to become the only educational institution in New Zealand to specialize in Aardman’s unique version of stop-motion animation. It has the potential to upend the country’s animation industry.
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The Aardman Academy was created at a time when the studio urgently needed more animators to produce “Chicken Run.” Released in 2000, the film went on to become the highest-grossing stop-motion film of all time. The Aardman Academy has since trained hundreds of world-class animators, directors, model makers and other specialists.
Training will be offered to animation students studying for the university’s Bachelor of Digital Screen with Honours degree. And it creates the opportunity to receive training both in their chosen specialty and directly from industry leaders.
The agreement came to fruition through Kōawa, a University of Canterbury initiative that aspires to co-create the future of the global screen and creative technology industries through collaboration, innovation and education.
In early 2022, the university announced plans to build a Digital Screen Campus, developing skills and talents necessary for a more converged media future. The development was calculated to be the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, be constructed over 14 hectares (35 acres) and involve a $65 million (NZ$97 million) investment from the university itself.
“It’s incredibly exciting to welcome the University of Canterbury as an educational partner with the Aardman Academy,” says Mark Simon Hewis, head of the Aardman Academy. “Canterbury is our first and only educational partner in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, so our relationship and activities in the coming years are even more special.”
“As a university committed to accessible, flexible and future focused education, we’re delighted to be working with the Aardman Academy, who bring to our students over 40 years of experience and innovation,” said University of Canterbury Vice-Chancellor, Professor Cheryl de la Rey.
University of Canterbury is already home to a cinematic landmark with its Ilam Homestead playing a pivotal role in “Heavenly Creatures,” the 1994 masterpiece from leading kiwi filmmaker Peter Jackson.
New Zealand has also been home to major international film and TV productions including “Avatar,” “Lord of the Rings” and “The Luminaries.” South Island-based Christchurch is only a short distance from locations used for “The Power of the Dog” and “Mulan.” The country is also home to Oscar-winning VFX company WetaFX (previously Weta Digital) and props and creature design specialist Weta Workshop.
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