Peter Lord

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 1953) is an English animator, director, producer and co-founder of the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-winning

Aardman Animations Aardman Animations Limited (also known as Aardman Studios, simply Aardman or Aardman Animation and stylised as AARDMAN as of 2022) is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England. It is known for films made using stop-motion and clay an ...

studio, an animation firm best known for its clay-animated films and shorts, particularly those featuring

plasticine Plasticine is a putty-like modelling material made from calcium salts, petroleum jelly and aliphatic acids. Though originally a brand name for the British version of the product, it is now applied generically in English as a product categor ...

duo

Wallace and Gromit ''Wallace & Gromit'' is a British stop-motion comedy franchise created by Nick Park of Aardman Animations. The series consists of four short films and one feature-length film, and has spawned numerous spin-offs and TV adaptations. The series c ...

. He also directed ''

Chicken Run ''Chicken Run'' is a 2000 stop-motion animated comedy film produced by Pathé and Aardman Animations in partnership with DreamWorks Animation. Aardman’s first feature-length film and DreamWorks Animation's fourth film, it was directed by Pe ...

'' along with

Nick Park Nicholas Wulstan Park (born 6 December 1958) is a British animator who created ''Wallace and Gromit'', ''Creature Comforts'', ''Chicken Run'', ''Shaun the Sheep'', and '' Early Man''. Park has been nominated for an Academy Award a total of ...

, and ''

The Pirates! Band of Misfits ''The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!'' (released in North America, Australia and New Zealand as ''The Pirates! Band of Misfits'') is a 2012 3D film, 3D stop-motion Animation, animated swashbuckler film, swashbuckler comedy film prod ...

'' which was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 85th Academy Awards. Lord is the producer/executive producer of every Aardman work, including ''Chicken Run'', ''

Arthur Christmas ''Arthur Christmas'' is a 2011 computer-animated Christmas science fantasy comedy film directed by Sarah Smith and co-directed by Barry Cook. Featuring the voices of James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, and As ...

'' and ''

Flushed Away ''Flushed Away'' is a 2006 computer-animated adventure comedy film directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell, produced by Cecil Kramer, David Sproxton, and Peter Lord, and written by Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Chris Lloyd, Joe Keenan and W ...

.''

Life and career

Lord was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England. In co-operation with

David Sproxton David Sproxton, (born 6 January 1954) is a British entrepreneur, best known as one of the co-founders, with Peter Lord, of the Aardman Animations studio. Sproxton was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) on 17 June 20 ...

, a friend of his youth at school together in

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

in the 1960s, he realised his dream of "making and taking an animated movie". He graduated in English from the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

in 1976. He and Sproxton founded ''Aardman'' as a low-budget backyard studio, producing

shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the human pelvis, pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" b ...

and

trailers Trailer may refer to: a Transportation * Trailer (vehicle), an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle ** Bicycle trailer, a wheeled frame for hitching to a bicycle to tow cargo or passengers ** Full-trailer ** Semi-trailer **Horse trailer ...

for publicity. Their work was first shown as part of the BBC TV series ''

Vision On ''Vision On'' was a British children's television programme, shown on BBC1 from 1964 to 1976 and designed specifically for children with hearing impairment. Concept and production ''Vision On'' was conceived and developed by BBC producers Urs ...

''. In 1977 they created

Morph Morph may refer to: Biology * Morph (zoology), a visual or behavioral difference between organisms of distinct populations in a species * Muller's morphs, a classification scheme for genetic mutations * "-morph", a suffix commonly used in tax ...

, a stop-motion animated character made of Plasticine, who was usually a comic foil to the TV presenter

Tony Hart Norman Antony Hart (15 October 1925 – 18 January 2009),Debrett's People of Today 2008, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, 2007. known professionally as Tony Hart, was an English artist best known for his work in educating children in art through his role ...

. With his amoral friend Chas, he appeared in a series of children's art programmes including ''Take Hart'', ''Hartbeat'' and ''Smart''. From 1980 to 1981, Morph appeared in his own TV series ''

The Amazing Adventures of Morph ''The Amazing Adventures of Morph'' is a British stop-motion clay animation television show created by Aardman Animations which ran from 1980 to 1981. It featured the character Morph and his cream-coloured best friend Chas. Production The cha ...

''. Experiments with animated clay characters synchronised with 'live' recorded soundtracks led to a series of films in the style of animated documentary. The first two were part of the BBC TV series ''

Animated Conversations Animated Conversations is a series of short animated films by Aardman Animations Aardman Animations Limited (also known as Aardman Studios, simply Aardman or Aardman Animation and stylised as AARDMAN as of 2022) is a British animation studio ba ...

'' and were called "Down and Out" (1977) and "

Confessions of a Foyer Girl ''Confessions of a Foyer Girl'' is a 1978 short film created by Aardman Animations. It is part of the Animated Conversations Animated Conversations is a series of short animated films by Aardman Animations Aardman Animations Limited (also k ...

" (1978) . These were followed in 1983 by ''

Conversation Pieces Conversation Pieces is a reworking of the Animated Conversations concept. It consists of a series of five shorts which aired on Channel Four between 1982 and 1983. Each of the 5 shorts were five minutes long. As AllAboutAardman explains, "in the ...

'', a series of five-minute long films produced for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

. They were called "On Probation", ''

Sales Pitch As a selling technique, a sales presentation or sales pitch is a line of talk that attempts to persuade someone or something, with a planned sales presentation strategy of a product or service designed to initiate and close a sale of the produ ...

'', "

Palmy Days ''Palmy Days'' is a 1931 American Pre-Code musical comedy film written by Eddie Cantor, Morrie Ryskind, and David Freedman, directed by A. Edward Sutherland, and choreographed by Busby Berkeley (who makes a cameo appearance as a fortune teller ...

", "Late Edition" and "Early Bird". In 1985

joined the group. Lord, Park and Sproxton developed and finalised their style of detailed and lovingly designed

clay animation Clay animation or claymation, sometimes plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine clay. Tra ...

characters from stop motion techniques (though directed by Stephen Johnson their claymation is shown in the music video "Sledgehammer" (1986) by

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

). In 1991 Lord animated ''Adam'', a 6-minute clay animation that was nominated for an

. Park created the "odd-couple"

-shorts in co-operation with Lord and Sproxton. All three together worked as producers, editors and directors. Other awarded productions by Peter Lord are ''

'' (2000), the first feature film from Aardman and the Academy Award-winning '' Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'' (2005). In 2006, Lord, Sproxton and Park were all given "the Freedom of the City of Bristol". In that same year, Lord (along with Sproxton) visited the "Aardman Exhibit" at the

Ghibli Museum The is a museum showcasing the work of the Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli. It is located in Inokashira Park in Mitaka, a western city of Tokyo, Japan. The museum combines features of a children's museum, technology museum, and a fine a ...

in Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan, where he met

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...

. Miyazaki has long been a fan of the Aardman Animation works. In 2013 Lord was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 85th Academy Awards for ''

Pirates! Band of Misfits ''The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!'' (released in North America, Australia and New Zealand as ''The Pirates! Band of Misfits'') is a 2012 3D stop-motion animated swashbuckler comedy film produced by the British studio Aardman Ani ...

''. Lord was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) on 17 June 2006. On 9 July 2015, Lord received a Gold

Blue Peter badge A ''Blue Peter'' badge is an award for ''Blue Peter'' viewers, given by the BBC children's television programme for those appearing on the show, or in recognition of achievement. They are awarded to children aged 6 to 15, or to adults who have b ...

. In August 2016, Lord was appointed a visiting professorship at

Volda University College Volda University College ( no, Høgskulen i Volda or HVO) is one of the no-tuition state institutions in the system of higher education in Norway. It is located in the town of Volda, Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. History HVO was established ...

. Three of Lord's films–''War Story'', ''Adam'', and ''Wat's Pig''–have been preserved by the

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of m ...

. In 2021, he was featured in the film ''Cartoon Carnival'', a documentary about the origins of animation.“Cartoon Carnival” and Fleischer Tribute on TCM Saturday Oct. 2nd
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Filmography

Feature films

TV series

Shorts

Books

* Peter Lord & Brian Sibley: ''Cracking Animation'' (1998) Thames & Hudson;

References

External links

* *
Q&A With Peter Lord about The Pirates! Band of Misfits
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lord, Peter 1953 births Living people Aardman Animations people Alumni of the University of York British animated film directors British television directors British animated film producers British television producers Clay animators Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Film people from Bristol