Jade
10-10-2005, 13:39
WALLACE and Gromit have been destroyed by a fire that raged through a storage warehouse.
The duo's makers, Aardman Animations, lost their "entire history" in the fire, including models of Morph and Creature Comforts.
Sets from Wallace and Gromit films, props and awards were ruined when the roof of the Aardman Animations building in Bristol collapsed early this morning.
Aardman spokesman Arthur Sheriff said: "This had just thrown us sideways. This stuff is absolutely irreplacable. Insurance doesn't mean a thing."
The cause of the fire has not yet been established and police and firefighters were still at the scene this morning.
The fire came on a day when everyone at the company was expecting to be celebrating. Their latest film, "Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" topped the US box office figures, with weekend takings of more than £9million.
Mr Sheriff added: "The early reports are that the whole building has been destroyed.
"For us, it held everything we had done since day one. Everything from Morph to Creature Comforts to Wallace and Gromit was there.
"It had all the film sets, the props, the models, everything. It was very
important to us. We used it for tours and exhibitions.
"It really is a bit of tragedy. It’s turned out to be a terrible day."
Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park said that after the earthquake in Pakistan, the fire was "no big deal".
He said: "Even though it is a precious and nostalgic collection and valuable to the company, in light of other tragedies, today isn’t a big deal."
A spokesman for the company said all the sets and models from the latest Wallace and Gromit film were safe and had not been archived in the warehouse.
But the sets from A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave are all thought to have been destroyed, along with those from Chicken Run - Aardman’s first feature-length release.
The duo's makers, Aardman Animations, lost their "entire history" in the fire, including models of Morph and Creature Comforts.
Sets from Wallace and Gromit films, props and awards were ruined when the roof of the Aardman Animations building in Bristol collapsed early this morning.
Aardman spokesman Arthur Sheriff said: "This had just thrown us sideways. This stuff is absolutely irreplacable. Insurance doesn't mean a thing."
The cause of the fire has not yet been established and police and firefighters were still at the scene this morning.
The fire came on a day when everyone at the company was expecting to be celebrating. Their latest film, "Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" topped the US box office figures, with weekend takings of more than £9million.
Mr Sheriff added: "The early reports are that the whole building has been destroyed.
"For us, it held everything we had done since day one. Everything from Morph to Creature Comforts to Wallace and Gromit was there.
"It had all the film sets, the props, the models, everything. It was very
important to us. We used it for tours and exhibitions.
"It really is a bit of tragedy. It’s turned out to be a terrible day."
Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park said that after the earthquake in Pakistan, the fire was "no big deal".
He said: "Even though it is a precious and nostalgic collection and valuable to the company, in light of other tragedies, today isn’t a big deal."
A spokesman for the company said all the sets and models from the latest Wallace and Gromit film were safe and had not been archived in the warehouse.
But the sets from A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave are all thought to have been destroyed, along with those from Chicken Run - Aardman’s first feature-length release.