Nick Park

“The nice thing about animation is that you can realise your inventions without understanding all the hard theory.”

“Success brings with it pressure to conform. I always thought that success would lead to freedom, but the opposite is true: more people get involved, and committees make decisions, and it becomes a fight to stay free.”

“After studying in Sheffield, I went down to London to do my post-graduate degree at the National Film and Television School, embarking on the movie that would eventually become 'A Grand Day Out.'”

“With some CGI, I think the brain slightly perceives that things aren't real. There's no gravity, the light's not quite real, the shadows aren't quite real.”

“I love doing features, but it's a very different ballgame. Sometimes I yearn for short films again, working with a small team, getting my hands on the clay.”

“There is something about the Australian psyche that seems to like films that are slightly offbeat.”

“If you respect the audience enough, they can take onboard many things.”

“Americans like the British kind of quirkiness and the strange accent. They find it kind of cute or something, with a certain charm.”

“Mainstream animated movies are dumbed-down and sanitised: they make the world in their own image rather than exploring the limitless possibilities that are out there.”

“We have to look forward and keep filming new films and not get stuck in the past.”