London’s immersive Aardman show celebrates handmade animation but lacks focus
Lightroom in London has opened an immersive experience celebrating Aardman Animations, the studio behind beloved claymation characters including Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep. The experience blends documentary storytelling with behind-the-scenes insights and immersive renderings, tracing the company's founding by Peter Lord and David Sproxton and its rise to international acclaim. The review highlights how Aardman's handmade, imperfect aesthetic appeals to audiences craving humanity in an increasingly digital world.
However, the experience struggles with its identity, sitting uncomfortably between documentary and clip show without fully committing to either format. Whilst some immersive elements work well—particularly environmental screens that place viewers inside Shaun's barn or Gromit's cardboard box—the overall effect lacks the crowd-pleasing thrills of Lightroom's other recent productions. The review's verdict is particularly damning: the critic's four-year-old companion found the experience so confusing and advertisement-like that they repeatedly asked "When is the movie starting?" before ultimately yawning through the show.
- Aardman immersive experience opens at Lightroom celebrating Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep
- Blends documentary and clips but lacks focus and fails to fully utilise immersive technology
- Even young viewers find it confusing, complaining it feels like advertising rather than entertainment
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Aardman Animations is a British studio known for making stop-motion films, in which characters are moved by hand and filmed a little at a time. Founders Peter Lord and David Sproxton helped build its reputation through characters such as Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep.
Lightroom is a London venue that presents large-scale visual and sound experiences. Aardman’s handmade style has endured alongside computer animation, and the show draws on the studio’s history and working methods to give visitors a view of how its films are made.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The show offers a thoughtful celebration of Aardman’s handmade craft, combining studio history and behind-the-scenes detail with immersive scenes that let audiences feel inside its imagined worlds. Its quieter, less conventional format may suit visitors who value artistry and process over spectacle, and who welcome an experience that invites reflection rather than simply replaying familiar clips.
The case against
The experience’s mix of documentary, clips and immersive effects may leave audiences unsure what kind of show they are watching, weakening both its storytelling and entertainment. Visitors expecting the scale and momentum of a crowd-pleasing immersive production could reasonably find it unfocused, while the young companion’s confusion suggests it may not engage children as readily as its subject matter implies.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “Larger Than Life review – Wallace, Gromit and the gang say cheeeese for hilarious Aardman origin story”.