Wallace & Gromit’s creator takes on the Stone Age in Early Man
The new claymation from Aardman Animation, the creators of Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep, imagines a past where a tribe of cavemen realise the world has moved on from the Stone Age
The logo of UK animation house Aardman tends to be a mark of quality, and the new film from the stop-motion masters who brought us Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run looks to be another comic delight. Called Early Man, it follows a scrawny caveman called Dug (voiced by Eddie Redmayne), who belongs to a tribe of rabbit hunters. His people's simple way of life is under threat, however, when an evil ruler (Tom Hiddleston) from a much more advanced society invades the cave-dwellers’ land.
Nick Park, who created Wallace and Gromit and whose last feature was the brilliant Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, directs Early Man. Speaking to People magazine, the stop-motion genius explains that he had the idea that Dug could try and save his people by arranging a football match between the warring tribes.“I’ve always been attracted to the idea of cavemen, and I think the medium of clay seems to suit the subject,” Park said. “And then I started thinking about the idea of classic cavemen with their clubs and how that sort of lends itself to sport.”
Park also explains that he decided to cast Hiddleston as his film’s villain on the strength of the actor’s appearance on Graham Norton’s chat show, where he showed off his talent for doing impressions. “I already liked his roles,” said Park, “but I saw him mimicking other celebrities on the show and thought he would be a good guy to try out with a French accent.”
Take a look at the first trailer for Early Man in the player above.
Early Man is released 26 Jan