Wallace & Gromit as the world is used to seeing them Wallace And Gromit is a true British institution, not to mention a family favourite in homes up and down the country. More than 30 years after we were first introduced to the duo, it’s now hard to imagine the beloved claymation franchise being about anything other than an eccentric inventor and his trusty dog. However, creator Nick Park has revealed that his original plans for the iconic duo were very different. Speaking to the BBC on Aardman Studio’s 50th anniversary, Nick spilled some secrets about making the British staple – one surprising fact he dropped being that Gromit was not always a dog. “I had this idea of an English guy who builds a rocket, in the basement of his house,” Nick recalled. “I was thinking he may have a pet, probably a cat.” Ultimately, there was one key reason Gromit ultimately wasn’t a feline. “I started modelling the cat, and it was just very difficult,” he admitted. “So, I thought I’d do a dog instead!” But it’s not just Gromit, who started life looking and sounding very different. Sean Clarke, Aardman’s managing director, also told the broadcaster that Shaun the Sheep almost had a very different characteristic. The silent comedic character from Wallace And Gromit – not to mention his own spin-off – was nearly given a speaking voice. “When we launched the Shaun the Sheep series, we were told to add voices,” Sean remembered. The same argument resurfaced years later, when Shaun landed his own feature film in 2015. “They said, ‘You can’t do 80 minutes without any dialogue,’” Sean explained, but insisted that he and his team stuck to their guns. By doing so, they helped cement Shaun’s spot as one of Aardman’s most successful characters, with the legendary sheep later appearing in 170 countries. “Wallace and Gromit built the house, but Shaun keeps the lights on,” Sean joked. Aardman is celebrating five decades of making film and TV. Back in 2023, the stop-motion studio found itself at the centre of a report in The Telegraph alleging that it was in crisis, after its favoured clay supplier had gone out of business. Luckily, this report turned out to be inaccurate and “much like Wallace in his workshop”, they had “been tinkering away behind the scenes” to continue making their iconic characters from clay. READ MORE: I Just Learned What 'Aardman' Really Stands For, And It's Hilarious People Are Just Noticing This Wallace And Gromit Cameo In The New Chicken Run Movie Wallace And Gromit Creators Reveal The Surprising Inspiration Behind Feathers McGraw