Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park talks new story ideas and reopening Preston's Harris Museum

It forms part of the headline exhibition for the relaunch of the city attraction this Sunday (28th September) after a four-year refurbishment.

Nick has been handed the honour of cutting the ribbon on the venue at its grand reopening. A fitting choice not only with him being a born-and-bred Prestonian, but also because his legendary clay creations are taking pride of place there until 4th January.

In ‘A Case at the Museum’, visitors will be able to see the real stop-motion models used in the films, props and storyboards – as well as life-sized recreation of the lovable duo’s sitting room.

Pulling up a pew in that familiar sitting room scene, Nick said he had to “pinch myself” at being invited to relaunch The Harris, which he described as a “focal point” both for Preston and also his younger self as an aspiring animator.

“I would often go [and] just to walk around for inspiration – and as a kid, I just loved seeing all the historic artefacts from the area. I always found it inspiring to find out about the history.

“Plus, the library – it was before the internet, so I would go and get books out on anything I could find on animation or film-making and I would read them from cover to cover,” Nick remembered.

Reflecting on the city of Preston of today compared to the then town he left in 1978 to head off to college in Sheffield, he said that while it had “obviously..moved forward in many ways”, there was something he found very familiar on his many return trips – the people, whom he credits with influencing some aspects of his two most famous characters.

“There’s a friendliness…and there’s a humour as well. A lot of the humour, I think, in Wallace and Gromit comes from there. I can’t always define it – it’s…understated… or there’s often the subtlety [to it],” Nick said.

Asked by the Lancashire Post about what the future might hold for the two of them, he said: “I like them to keep going. They’re kind of evergreen now – and it’s great to have characters that respond to each other all the time.

“You could put them in any situation [and] they’d make it funny.”

He said the key ingredient was having “the ideas” needed to make the long process of traditional animation “worthwhile”.

As to whether any plots are currently germinating in his mind for the pair, he added “I can’t help [it]…I’m always thinking about them.”

And what might Wallace say if he could see his and Gromit’s adventures as the centrepiece of a relaunched Harris Museum?

“It’s absolutely cracking – every bit,” Nick suggested with a smile. “And Gromit would probably just want a stiff cup of tea.”