MR: I think it’s sublime, how Nick used the technique of animation to subvert or invert a documentary style of filmmaking and create stories and meanings that have so much resonance about the human condition. Oh, really? Why Creature Comforts just out of interest? His early short film, Creature Comforts, is one of my all-time favourites. MR: It was a long held dream of Aardman to make a Wallace and Gromit feature film – and, of course, it’s rooted in the genius of Nick Park. It was just great to see Wallace and Gromit on the big screen rather than on television sets. I think it’s not just a great parody of stories like The Wolf Man, it’s just great for kids on Halloween. So now we’re on our tenth special and I think we all feel really proud of these beautiful films that audiences watch again and again, not just in the UK but all around the world. That’s something we’ve kept doing, year-in, year-out ever since. When Martin Pope and I started Magic Light in 2003, we imported that idea of wanting to give family audiences the very highest quality we could. I’ve always admired Aardman’s art, their commitment to quality and doing the very best work. With Chicken Run we set out to make the first stop-motion feature film for many years in the UK, and to make a family film that would play to the world. It was tremendous because Aardman was much smaller in those days than it is now. MR: It was a fantastic privilege, really. What was it like to have worked as an executive producer on Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit?

Michael, everyone at Skwigly are huge fans of Aardman. The Smeds and the Smoos (Magic Light Pictures) From discussing what went on behind the scenes to tips and tricks of being a producer, to even sharing some love for Aardman, it was both a pleasure and honour to sit down with these gentlemen for what could arguably be one of the best Magic Light Pictures productions to date. Recently, Skwigly was invited to attend a press event where not also did we have an opportunity to see the film early, but we also had the opportunity to interview producer Barney Goodland and executive producer Michael Rose. After waking up to find the lovers have gone missing, their families go on a space-filled adventure to find them while slowly learning to accept one another. The story focuses on two aliens named Janet and Bill, whose families, the red Smeds and the blue Smoos, dislike one another, but they see past the prejudices and grow to love one another. And the short feature will be The Smeds and The Smoos, based on the best-selling 2019 picture book by the acclaimed author and artist. This year marks a special occasion for Magic Light Pictures as Christmas will see the release of their tenth adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Sheffler’s books.

The smeds and the smoos story