Aardman Update: David Attenborough Shorts, 'Early Man' details

On May 8th the legendary British naturalist and TV presenter Sir David Attenborough celebrated his 90th birthday. As part of the celebration that has been happening on the BBC, Aardman Animation came onboard to join the party. The studio created a number of shorts that take some of Attenborough's most iconic animal encounters, and imagines an interview with the animal about "The Day I Met  Attenborough".

Each video starts with the live-action clip, followed by the stop-motion Aardman-ised version of the featured animals, talking about the day they met Sir David. The featured animals are Lyrebirds, penguins and gorillas.





The shorts were broadcast as part of the Attenborough at 90 programme on BBC One, but have also been released online via BBC Earth Unplugged. The clips are an absolute hoot- and are very much in the tradition of Aardman and Nick Park's Oscar Winning short Creature Comforts- although unlike in that film, the interviews here appear to be scripted. Check them all out here.







Meanwhile, elsewhere in Aardman news, more details have been revealed about the Studio's next feature, Early Man. which will see Nick Park back in the director's chair. Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne has signed up to voice the lead role, Dug. The prehistoric-set tale will follow Dug and his wild-boar sidekick Hognob as they try to unite their tribe and go up against a fearsome foe. Early reports- alongside the fact that it was originally called Early Man United- suggest that they will battle the baddies (called The Bronze Age) in the form of a prehistoric variation of football (soccer). The film will be released in the UK in 2018.