New Pokémon animation coming from Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run creators

Details on Aardman’s take on the Pokémon franchise are scant, but the two companies emphasize that the animation studio’s craft and comedic storytelling are key to the project.

“This is a dream partnership for Pokémon,” said Taito Okiura, VP of marketing and media at The Pokémon Company, in a statement. “Aardman are masters of their craft, and we have been blown away by their talent and creativity. What we have been working on together ensures our global Pokémon fans are in for a treat!”

“It’s a huge honour to be working with The Pokémon Company International — we feel sincerely privileged to be trusted with bringing their characters and world to life in a brand-new way,” added Sean Clarke, managing director of Aardman. “Bringing together Pokémon, the world’s biggest entertainment brand, together with our love of craft, character and comedic storytelling feels incredibly exciting. Aardman and TPCi share an emphasis on heritage and attention to detail as well as putting our fans and audiences at the heart of what we do, which we know will steer us right as we together create charming, original and new stories for audiences around the world.”

Founded in 1972, Aardman is the British animation studio responsible for a long list of stop-motion animated shorts, TV shows, and films featuring plasticine characters. Aardman’s biggest box office successes, Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit, are the highest-grossing stop motion films of all time.

While Aardman has traditionally worked on characters of its own creation, the company has worked with licensed properties before. Aardman contributed to season 2 of Star Wars: Visions and created shorts for Cartoon Network’s DC Comics series DC Nation. It also collaborated with Greenpeace for the 2020 short Turtle Journey. The Pokémon franchise has flirted with stop-motion animation before, notably with Netflix series Pokémon Concierge.