Aardman's "Creature Comforts" travels to the USA for its third series where
    we are introduced to a whole new bunch of talking critters in various American
    locales. Once again, members of the public have their vox pop voices transposed
    onto these crazy creatures as they discuss the merits of their life, work, love,
    family and everything in-between. And once again, the Aardman team have
    constructed some splendidly clever and playful scenarios and environments
    for their talking toons to inhabit.

    So it's very much the mixture as before. Only different. Behind the scenes, CBS
    are onboard as the main broadcast partners and there's a change of director
    (or indeed, directors) with Richard Goleszowski stepping sideways into a
    supervisory role to allow Merlin Crossingham and Dave Osmand to helm.
    There are new postcard titles and Steve Earle's brand new theme tune replaces
    the original's hummalong harmonica. The format's longer now, too, as befitting of
    the American broadcast world, with each twenty minute episode covering two
    or three separate topics within its respective running time.

    The wit and wile hasn't changed, though. This is a smart and sophisticated
    series. There's some exquisite interaction between the characters. The
    animators have observed their human counterparts and transferred all those
    little tics and tells we share when we talk to each other. The production team
    toy with famous American locations and iconographic artworks too, so we are
    presented with a group of shady hounds playing poker, two Warhol-like flies
    perched on a familiar soup tin, seals by the Golden Gate bridge and more.
    And there are little nods back to the UK original. The house cats Paul and
    Glenda echo Trixie and Captain Cuddlepuss. They're even filmed lounging
    on a sofa!

    Alas, despite the super upgrades to what was previously a multi-award
    -winning television formula, this new series wasn't a ratings success.
    CBS only broadcast three of the seven episodes before pulling the plug
    and the  remaining vox pops languished on the shelf until 2008, when the
    show was picked up by "Animal Planet". Aardman had the last laugh,
    though, because the animation industry showed its continued approval.
    They furnished the series with an Annie Award and an Emmy nomination
    and animator Teresa Drilling also received her very own Emmy for her work
    on it...

    

  

    Awards & Nominations

    2008 - Annie Award for Best Animated Television Production
    2008 - Emmy Award for Teresa Drilling for Outstanding Individual
              Achievement in Animation
    2008 - Emmy nomination for Outstanding Animated Program (for programming
              less than one hour)

  

    See also

    Creature Comforts

 
 
     American critters

 

      On the web


     Creature Comforts
     The official series site...

     Aardman Animation
     The studio's super site...