Photo: Aardman/Netflix.
A still from Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget. The Wallace and Gromit studio reassures fans over rumors of a clay “shortage.”
Here’s a kind of antidote to all the serious things one worries about these days. I myself am an Olympic worrier. For example, when Suzanne went to live in New York after college, I made a little notebook for her, starting with “Things to Worry About in New York City.” (I don’t think it infected her much.)
These days, I worry about the health of people I care about, the war in the Middle East, climate change, the increase in authoritarian governments, Covid, the meanness of our political divide, plastic in the ocean, homelessness, Bangladesh, Burma, Sudan, Ukraine, hungry children, income inequality. And when I don’t know what is going on or why something is happening in my own life, I revert to a childhood way of coping by making up scenarios that are usually off base. Like my scratchy eye means I’m going blind.
So I was delighted to see that there are silly things to worry about. Couldn’t they become a kind of self-inoculation? I guess they would still have to be regarding something you actually cared about. A nice example today is the worry that Wallace and Gromit claymation fans indulged in when they thought there might be a shortage of clay.
Andrew Pulver has the story at the Guardian, the “Wallace and Gromit studio, Aardman Animations, has reassured its fans, and the film industry at large, that production of its popular films will not be grinding to a halt any time soon, saying ‘there is absolutely no need to worry.’
“After reports that the manufacturers of Aardman’s favored modeling clay had gone out of business, meaning the animators had enough supplies for only one more film, Aardman issued a statement on social media saying: ‘We are touched about recent concern over the future of our beloved clay creations, but wanted to reassure fans that there is absolutely no need to worry.’ …
” ‘We have been tinkering away behind the scenes for quite some time with plans in place to ensure a smooth transition to new stocks to continue to make our iconic productions.’
“Aardman is shortly to release Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, a sequel to its hit poultry comedy from 2000, while it is still in production on a new Wallace and Gromit feature, due for release in 2024.” More at the Guardian, here. No paywall.
That’s one worry that can be put to bed. … But wait! The Guardian goes on to say, “In 2005 Aardman lost much of its archive material in a warehouse fire in Bristol.” What? Oh, no!
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