benm-41751
This film is a celebration of Aardman, describing its humble origins and its breakthrough successes, with doting commentary from various people who have worked for or with the studio. It's a fun hour that'll go by in a flash for anyone who loves Aardman, but it doesn't go too deep into the film-making process-which could probably warrant its own entire documentary.
MartinHafer
As I sat and watched "A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman", I enjoyed the story but I also had a strong feeling that the film was much more a promotional film than a complete history of the studio. Of course, it does talk about much of the history of Aardman...but it also spends MUCH more time having various folks (mostly voice actors from their films) talk about how marvelous they thought the Aardman products were. In other words, learning HOW they make their shows and films and all the history of the studio was really not the purpose of the film....it was all public relations. To me, that makes for a rather dull sort of picture--worth seeing but not all that informative.So here's my advice...watch this film if you want but I'd rather see the actual Aardman stop-motion movies and television episodes themselves. That way I don't need folks telling me how great it all is...I can see it for myself.
ksf-2
Really fun and interesting story of the founders, the faces, the voices, animators that have made animated bits, shorts, and full length features. I hadn't realized that they started back in 1970. Was great to see what everyone looks like, since we only see their clay characters. David Throxton and Peter Lord had founded the company way back, but the star of this show seems to be Nick Park, who started with A Grand Day Out... thus the title of this documentary, A Grand Night In ! Apparently aardman animation had been contributing to British television shows for YEARS... and of course, they did the Peter Gabriel Sledge Hammer video. If you haven't rented the "Wallace and Gromit" collection of three shorts, (Wrong Trousers, A Grand Day Out, and Creature Comforts") you MUST! and the full length ones are awesome too. (Close Shave, Chicken Run) Take a moment and read the HUGE names in the cast list for this documentary, and that will give you an idea of the great voices that have been connected with Aardman films. It features many of the scenes from the shorts and full lengthers that they have done, but it's fun to hear commentary from everyone involved. Park has won four Oscars for animation, and has been nominated for two more. Pretty impressive. It's sixty minutes, well spent. Currently showing on Netflix.
