ABSTRACT
In the late 1970s a new approach was used at the BBC in Bristol (England), when a series was produced by Colin Thomas called Animated Conversations. The whole soundtrack was created first. ‘Live’ dialogue was recorded in a natural setting, like an old folks’ home, a pub, or a dentist’s surgery. Pete Lord and David Sproxton at Aardman Animations chose a Salvation Army hostel – they then developed characters from this dialogue, and animated to it. Their film Down and Out created a lot of interest and the idea was then taken up by Channel 4. Aardman directed a total of ten pieces: the Conversation Pieces and the Lip Sync series. It was for this series that their new animator, Nick Park, made one of his best films, Creature Comforts.
