Apple reveals how Aardman shot its festive animation on an iPhone

The stop-motion specialists at Aardman Animations have collaborated with Apple on a festive film that’s being beamed nightly onto Battersea Power Station, one of London’s most iconic buildings.

To shoot the project, the multi-Oscar-winning team at Aardman, known for hits such as Creature Comforts, Chicken Run, and a multitude of Wallace & Gromit adventures, used an iPhone 16 Pro.

“A stop-motion animation of this scale, to have been created on an iPhone, is absolutely mind-bending,” Gavin Strange, who directed the movie, said in a behind-the-scenes video released by Apple on Sunday. “When we’re shooting Wallace and Gromit, the expectation of quality is so high, so it’s crucial that the camera can capture all those wonderful details, right down to the smallest thumbprint.”

The animator added: “The iPhone 16 Pro’s Telephoto camera meant that we could shoot from way back and still capture the beautiful, little details in ProRAW, as if we were still right up close.”

Strange said they had to use nine different exposures for each of the 6,000 frames, adding that Apple’s newest phone “proved its power as a great stop-motion tool.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook shared a short clip of the final animation in a message posted on social media on Sunday.

Thank you to the brilliant Aardman for creating this amazing Wallace & Gromit animation on London’s Battersea Power Station! The stop-motion animation was #ShotOniPhone and will surely get people into the holiday spirit. pic.twitter.com/VC6hTN2WEi

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) December 1, 2024

If you happen to be in London, Aardman’s latest Wallace & Gromit animation is being projected onto Battersea Power Station between 5 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. every evening until December 31. A special installation at the Battersea Power Station Apple Store also lets you take a closer look at the the movie’s stop‑motion set, including all of the original props and handcrafted characters.

Fancy having a crack at creating your own stop-motion movie? There are plenty of iPhone apps that can help you, including Aardman Animator (also available for Android). And for top tips on how to get the best results, watch this tutorial with Aardman director Gavin Strange.