Aardman Animations isn’t exactly a household name, but their characters are certainly well-known. Shaun the Sheep has amused the young and young at heart for about a decade, while Wallace and Gromit have entertained audiences for approximately twice that time. Their stop-motion clay animation characters are somewhat unusual looking and some of them don’t even speak, but that is all a part of their charm. Each has starred in their own feature films, but Aardman has made a number of unrelated features showcasing one-of-a-kind personalities. Their latest original film is called Early Man.
As the title suggests and the teaser trailer shows, this movie travels back to prehistoric times to the primeval vestiges of humanity. A young man is embarking on what may be his first hunt. His target: a feasting rabbit in the woods. However, his stealthy approach is hampered by the hoard of musicians shadowing him with a personal soundtrack to complement his quest. Their presence alerts the rabbit, who appears to have been lifted out of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The band switches to chase music and they all flea from the killer bunny before hitting a wall.
This film shares in Aardman’s unique sense of humour, but it will be a while before audiences get to meet these funny new characters voiced by Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Maisie Williams and Timothy Spall. The nature of stop-motion animation makes it a relatively lengthy process, so even though production started last year, the film won’t be released until early 2018.
