''War Story'' is a 1989 animated short film created 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 based in Bristol, England. It is known for films made using stop-motion and clay ani ...

. It was directed by

Peter Lord Peter Lord CBE (born 1953) is an English animator, director, producer and co-founder of the Academy Award-winning Aardman Animations studio, an animation firm best known for its clay-animated films and shorts, particularly those featuring p ...

Production

The film was commissioned by Channel 4 as part of a 5-part series of Aardman animations called "

Lip Synch Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated thr ...

". The five films in the series were Creature Comforts (1989), Going Equipped (1990), Ident (1990), Next (1990) and War Story (1989). They all used vox pop interviews as their source material. This one is with Bill Perry, a genuine British

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

vet.

Premise

The short animated piece uses a real interview as its soundtrack. Bill Perry relates stories about his life, his tilted house, and

The Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

in Bristol, England.

Cast

* Bill Perry - Himself (voice) * Peter Lawrence - Interviewer (voice)

Critical reception

''War Story'' received a rating of 6.3/10 from 172 users on imdb. Dr. Grob gave the film two and a half stars out of five, praising the “very tongue-in-cheek” sequences, but felt that the film “suffers from a bad soundtrack, and (Perry)’s mumblings are at times very difficult to follow, indeed.” He notes that the “blending of real interviews with original and humorous images would be perfected in ‘Creature Comforts’ by Nick Park, who also animated on this film. In this sense ‘''War Story’'' is an important step towards Aardman’s mature style, which was to become less serious, and more cartoony, and consequently, more commercially successful.”

Awards and nominations

This is a list of awards and nominations of ''War Story''. , - , 1990 , Sara Mullock and Peter Lord , BAFTA Film Award for Best Animated Film , , - , 1990 , Peter Lord , Ottawa International Animation Festival Craft Prize for Best Animation , , - , 1990 , Peter Lord , Ottawa International Animation Festival OIAF Award for Best Film Under 10 Minutes , , -

Preservation

''War Story'' was 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 2013.

References

1989 films 1989 animated films 1980s animated short films 1980s war films Aardman Animations short films British animated short films Films directed by Peter Lord World War II films based on actual events 1980s English-language films 1980s British films {{1980s-UK-film-stub