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October 10, 2005
Monday
 
 
Up in smoke
Johnathan Pearce (London)  Arts & Entertainment • UK affairs
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Compared to this disaster in Pakistan, that has killed tens of thousands of people, this story is pretty tiny in the big scheme of things, but by god, it still sucks:

A fire has destroyed the Bristol warehouse containing the theatrical props for the plasticine film characters Wallace and Gromit.
Fire at factory The news comes at the same time figures show their latest movie Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit, topped the American box office over the weekend.

The story does not contain any suggestion as to what caused the blaze, although on a BBC 6 pm news item I saw, it was suggested that arson might, just might, be a factor. If so then I hope the perpetrators suffer some very unpleasant outcome indeed.

We seem to be talking rather a lot about cool movies at the moment and jolly right too (as the film critic Barry Norman used to say). I intend to see this film in the company of some fellow Londoners as soon as possible.

Comments

Very fortunately they don't keep the original film stock in the same premises, so the actual final product has been spared. Also a large number of sets and creatures were away on exhibitions worldwide and thus have also are untouched.

Incidentally I don't know if anyone watched the tailend of Newsnight but the footage they showed, from The Wrong Trousers, looked awfully badly compressed. I wonder if maybe someone from BBC Newsnight research downloaded that episode from the internet ...


Posted by Julian Taylor at October 10, 2005 11:24 PM

The honour of having a pee in the next urinal to a triple Oscar Winner is something that doesn't usually happen to us mortals, but as I live in Bristol, and frequent the same establishment that Nick Parks does, well it's happened often.
His opinion, I gather from the evening news is "Sad but never mind.Considering what other disasters are occuring at this moment in time". Well Quite.
THe magic is the movement, not the props.
And the movement is all on film and will be there for evermore.
Welsh Rabbit Grommit!!
I think he would laugh.


Posted by RAB at October 11, 2005 01:26 AM

Speaking of the destruction of beloved cartoon characters...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/08/wsmurf08.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/10/08/ixhome.html

So what color does a dead smurf turn anyway?

My question is when does UNICEF produce the short where Hello Kitty gets gang raped while a bunch of guys in blue hemets sit there and watch?


Posted by Robert at October 11, 2005 06:07 AM

Actually Robert, considering the actions of some UN personnel in the recent past, I fear they might be among Hello Kitty's attackers.


Posted by Eric Sivula at October 11, 2005 07:59 AM

1. The smurfs were never beloved (at least not here in England).

2. Ha, ha, ha! Die Smurfs, die!

3. The destruction of Aardman props is a much greater artistic tragedy for the nation than Saatchi's art collection going up in flames last year: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3748179.stm

Wallace and Grommit will remembered long after Tracy Emin in forgotten as a relic of a degraded age.


Posted by Charles Pooter at October 11, 2005 08:41 AM

I recommend the film. I laughed. I don't often laugh.


Posted by guy herbert at October 11, 2005 08:43 AM
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