Movies - Creature Comforts

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	Movies - Creature Comforts

Creature Comforts was originally a 1989 animated short film about how animals feel about living in a zoo, and later became a series of commercials for Heat Electric, and, later, a 2003 television series in the same style.

It was conceived and directed by Nick Park, and produced by Aardman Animations featuring the voice acting of the Great British public. It was produced as part of a series called Lip Synch for Channel 4.

The original film's dialogue was created by interviewing residents of a housing development. Clay animation was then created that attributed the answers to zoo animals. It won an Academy Award for Animated Short Film, beating of the challenge of two other films - one of which (A Grand Day Out) was also a creation of Nick Park.

This soon led to a series of British television commercials for the Electricity Board which were made in the same style, featuring a closing voice-over by Johnny Morris.

In 2003, a series of Creature Comforts films was made for the British television network ITV by Aardman, with episodes directed by Richard Goleszowski. On ITV, the series is sponsored by British Gas. This series since aired as re-runs on Comedy Central, usually late at night. Starting 2005 it has also aired in Australia on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and on pay-TV channel UK.TV.

Another series of 10-minute episodes was aired on ITV, starting October 30, 2005. A 30-minute special in which the regular characters attempt to perform and interpret the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was first aired on 25 December 2005. The special was broadcast in Canada on the CBC on December 26 2005.

Humour is spread sparsely throughout the show, examples include:

A highly philosophical speech, ironically given by an amoeba.
An alligator praising her neighbourhood, the sewer.
Background details such as:
*Insects swarming into a gap in the paving stones when a slug mimics a bird call.
*Greys blinking in unison.

The series gently mocks the constructed performance sometimes given by members of the general public when being interviewed for television vox-pops and documentaries. This includes the attempts to present a cogent but simple conclusive answer to a general question — a sound bite — and the attempts to present a cheery spin on a complex issue while the subject attempts to hide their personal issues and problems with the issue.

Notable characters from the series include a collection of recurring animals: Fluffy the Hamster, Pickles the Guide Dog, Trixie and Captain Cuddlepuss, Gary and Nigel the Slugs, and Victor the Geordie Mouse.

All voice acting was performed, unscripted, by The Great British Public.

American version

In February 2006, it was announced that CBS have commissioned seven episodes of an American version of the show, to feature members of the American public. The episodes will fill a 30-minute slot, including commercials, and are expected to appear early in 2007. The American version will be co-produced by Aardman Animations and The Gotham Group.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Creature Comforts ]

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Movies - Creature Comforts

American version

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