Nick Park likens Shaun the Sheep to a Rolls-Royce

Nick Park thinks Shaun the Sheep is ”like a Rolls-Royce”.

The comedy character – the subject of a new feature film – first appeared on screen in the 1995 film ‘A Close Shave’ and creator Nick Park says he’s amazed to see how far Shaun has come, having already starred in a popular TV series.

Speaking at the European premiere of the film in central London, he told BANG Showbiz: ”I used to dream as a kid when I drew characters about people out there knowing the characters, their names … so it’s beyond a dream for me, really. ‘Wallace and Gromit’ was enough, and that one of their little side characters now has his own feature film, it’s incredible. It’s all thanks to the crew and the guys who directed and wrote it.

”The nice thing is, we used to think all this CGI is amazing. It’s fantastic and we thought, ‘How can we compete with it?’ It’s been a bit like we’re the stone age, fighting back with spears and clubs against nuclear powers. [But] I guess it stands out a bit, like a Rolls-Royce.”

Nick also said using clay models to create a film gives it a ”charm” that some animated movies lack.

He reflected: ”I think the clay models and everything brings a certain charm and appeal, so [film-makers] need to be confident in that, really.”