Re: Smurf killings
A bit spooky having just read this in the news<br /><br />Fire hits Wallace and Gromit sets <br />Props and sets from the Wallace and Gromit films have been destroyed in a warehouse blaze. <br />The storage building belonging to Oscar-winning Aardman Animations, contained the company's "entire history", a spokesman said. <br /><br />Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park said it was "dreadful" for the company but comparatively "not a big deal". <br /><br />The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, the new Wallace and Gromit film, has just gone to the top of the US box office chart. <br /><br />Company Spokesman Arthur Sheriff said: "It couldn't have come on a worse day - we were supposed to be celebrating, but instead our history has disappeared in a couple of hours. <br /><br /><br /> A lot of the original sets were there, including several panels of original storyboards and that, in a way, is the biggest loss <br />Dave Sproxton <br />Aardman co-founder <br /><br />"Everything has gone, from as far back as Morph and all the way through to Chicken Run, including Wallace and Gromit, Creature Comforts, it's all there. Everyone is devastated." <br /><br />Aardman co-founder Dave Sproxton said one of the most important losses was a complete exhibition of the three Wallace and Gromit short films which was recently brought back to the UK after a tour of Japan. <br /><br />Mr Sproxton said: "A lot of the original sets were there, including several panels of original storyboards and that, in a way, is the biggest loss. It's basically a ready-to-go exhibition and sadly that's been destroyed." <br /><br />He added that the films themselves were stored elsewhere and so had not been damaged. <br /><br />Mr Park, who won Oscars for animations such as The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave, said: "Even though it's precious stuff and nostalgic - and it's dreadful news for the company, in the light of other tragedies it's not a big deal." <br /><br />Fire crews were called to the building near the city's Temple Meads station at about 0600 BST on Monday. They were unable to stop all three floors inside collapsing. <br /><br /><br />Avon Fire Service divisional officer Geoff Cater said: "All three floors inside have collapsed and the exterior walls are unstable. <br /><br />"We couldn't commit people inside, so we are fighting the fire from the outside which is more time consuming." <br /><br />At the height of the blaze, flames were reaching 100ft, he added. Nobody was in the building when the fire broke out. <br /><br />The area has been sealed off and crews are expected to remain at the scene for the rest of the day. <br /><br />Aardman Animations was set up by Peter Lord and David Sproxton in Bristol in 1976. A year later, the duo created claymation character Morph. <br /><br />The company has gone on to produce everything from pop videos to adverts, short films to feature-length movies. <br /><br />Nick Park joined the firm in 1985, winning his first Oscar five years later for the Creature Comforts animations, which beat Wallace and Gromit offering A Grand Day Out to the prize. <br /><br /><br />Story from BBC NEWS:<br />
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/bristol/4326286.stm <br /><br />Published: 2005/10/10 15:17:10 GMT<br /><br />© BBC MMV
