Park, Nick

   b. 1958

   Film-maker

   Nick Park is the twice Oscar-winning film animator who created Wallace and Grommit, the plasticine man and dog stars of A Grand Day Out (1989), The Wrong Trousers (1993) and A Close Shave (1995). In each film, Wallace’s love of gadgetry and enterprise set the loveable duo off on a comic adventure in which northern domestic common sense must overcome the threat of cyber-culture. The detailed attention to cinematics, the wealth of intertextuality and the superb parody of action adventure films provide some of the distinctive features of the animator’s engaging postmodern style. The films, supported by strong video sales and merchandising, have demonstrated international appeal across all age groups, and have sold in over seventy countries.

   See also: animation

   BOB MILLINGTON