iVictoria and Albert MuseumSouth Kensington
Inside Aardman: Wallace & Gromit and Friends
A behind-the-scenes look at Aardman's stop-motion animation, revisiting Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep and Morph. At Young V&A.
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The rivets on the rocket that takes Wallace and Gromit to the Moon in A Grand Day Out are painted lentils. The rocket is here at Young V&A in Bethnal Green, among more than 150 sketches, puppets, props and sets from Aardman's archive, some never shown before.
The route follows a film being made, from early sketches and Nick Park's storyboard for The Wrong Trousers' train chase, through model-making and filming, to post-production. Along the way kids light Feathers McGraw's prison cell, make stop-motion clips at four stations and clop coconuts as Foley artists. Going without kids is allowed; nobody will ask why you're so invested in the coconuts.
Londonist called it "absolutely cracking". Time Out's reviewer, who brought their kids, found plenty there for adults too but not much history. The £12.50 pass is valid for repeat visits for the whole run.
Look for
The Grand Day Out rocket
Look closely at the rivets: they're lentils.
The train-chase storyboard
Nick Park's hand-drawn layout for The Wrong Trousers, which Londonist compared to seeing an early draft of Casablanca's ending.
The Pirates! galleon
The largest model Aardman has ever made, and heavier-looking than you'd expect.
The Were-Rabbit, layer by layer
A series of models strips the rabbit back to its robot skeleton.
The Vengeance Most Fowl motorbike and sidecar
Wallace and Gromit's ride from the 2024 film, on display for the first time.
Good for
- Small Kids
- Teenagers
Skip if
You want Aardman's history: Time Out found little context and had to explain Morph to the kids.
With kids
Made mainly for ages 8 to 14, but open to all ages; under-3s go free. Time Out says to expect a wait for the four stop-motion stations on Saturday afternoons.
Free in the same building
- Ceramics GalleryNearly 30,000 pieces spanning Neolithic pots to Chinese porcelain, Italian maiolica, Delftware, and Sèvres: the world's largest ceramics collection.
- East Asia Collection (China, Japan & Korea)Chinese, Japanese, and Korean art and design from jade carvings and lacquerware to samurai armour and Buddhist sculpture.
- Fashion Collection3,000 years of dress from ancient Egypt to today: one of the world's most comprehensive fashion collections, free to explore.
- Furniture Gallery600 years of furniture-making, from Tudor masterpieces to 20th-century design icons, including the Great Bed of Ware (1590s).
- Jewellery Gallery3,500 pieces spanning 3,000 years, from ancient brooches to Art Deco tiaras, in the William and Judith Bollinger Gallery.
- Medieval and Renaissance GalleriesSculptures, stained glass, tapestries, and illuminated manuscripts from 300–1600 AD across 10 interconnecting galleries.
- Photography CentreThe UK's largest permanent photography galleries across seven rooms: 1840s daguerreotypes to contemporary digital practice.
- The Cast CourtsFloor-to-ceiling plaster casts of Renaissance masterpieces including Michelangelo's David and the full height of Trajan's Column.
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Image credits
9
- Inside Aardman: Wallace & Gromit and FriendsCourtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum
- Becoming America: How Science Shaped a NationCourtesy of Science Museum
- Jurassic Oceans: Monsters of the DeepCourtesy of Natural History Museum
- Sir Richard Owen: A Natural LegacyCourtesy of Natural History Museum
- Victoria and Albert MuseumDiliff / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Science MuseumChristine Matthews / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Natural History MuseumDiliff / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Serpentine GalleryTxllxt TxllxT / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Saatchi GalleryAnthony O'Neil / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0