Creature Comforts (1989) User Reviews

Part of the world, not just some object in a box

[soymilk · 9/10 · 27 May 2005]

If there's any single short out there that marked a real defining point for those claymation whiz kids down at Aardman, I'd say 'Creature Comforts' is the one. The debut piece of the now legendary Nick Park (who'd go on to create a series of captivating short films featuring a certain cheese-loving inventor and his well-read canine cohort, whose names I'm sure you don't need me to spell out for you here), it's now a widely-regarded classic in stop motion animation history, and there are some pretty good reasons for that. No other Aardman project, great as they frequently are, has managed to combine such high levels of whimsy, charm and poignancy quite as deftly as this one. The bright idea of taking real-life recordings with members of the public and aligning them with talking plasticine animals in the style of vox pop interviews (in this case, zoo animals commenting on their general living conditions, as extracted from discussions with residents of retirement homes, council housing and student halls) was so fresh, so ingenious and so delightful that the five minute running time designated here simply wasn't enough. It was a concept which begged to be extended, and it spawned a much-deserved franchise in the early 90s with TV ads for the UK's Heat Electric and, more recently, a long-awaited TV series in 2003. A franchise which in turn helped to establish Aardman's now-firm reputation for colourful, offbeat cosiness, as opposed to some of the more downbeat and sombre shorts they'd been working on for much of the 80s (many of which were good enough in their own right - Peter Lord's 'Going Equipped', which debuted alongside 'Creature Comforts' in the Channel 4 series 'Lip Synch, in particular is more than worth a look).

Compared to a lot of the output that followed it, the animation here may look a little primitive by today's standards (the depressed gorilla, for example, is quite clearly riddled with the animator's finger prints), but it's an easily forgivable fault, and doesn't detract from the visual joy that this short is swimming in from start to finish. Get a load of all those wonderful sight gags - the elderly bush-baby's gigantic magnified pupils, the unidentified birds with beaks held on by elastic bands (the antics of the non-speaking characters hovering about in the background have always been something to keep an eye out for in the 'Creature Comforts' realm), the treadmill-running terrapins, the dozens of shrieking, flailing baby rodents…all of it gold. Earning Nick Park an Oscar in 1990 for his efforts, it's endearing and comical to the bone - and yet there's also a mild tinge of sadness to it that I doubt 'Creature Comforts' would have been nearly as memorable without. For all the quirky cuteness that those clay-built critters possess, the anguish of a few of the original speakers remains persistent in their voices, and shines through in their pertaining characters quite dynamically. Most of the animals, it would seem, are perfectly contented with their lives in captivity, but there are a few who feel the sting of alienation, the homesick wild cat from Brazil being the standout personality on this one - the high range of exaggerated mannerisms that Park uses to bring him to life are unforgettable.

A lovely film and a wonderful concept, what makes 'Creature Comforts' such a striking experience is, in part, how it touches upon some of the helplessness and frustrations of having to live in a world you feel out of place in. It's also a whole lot of fun too.

Grade: A

Nice early work

[rbverhoef · 8/10 · 9 February 2005]

'Creature Comforts' is a nice early work from the creator of the 'Wallace & Gromit'-shorts and the animated feature 'Chicken Run'. It shows a couple of animals in a zoo being interviewed. They tell what they like and dislike in the zoo and their cages. Especially a certain predator gets a lot of laughs while he is talking about the space he needs.

Director Nick Park won an Oscar for this short film and it is not hard to see why. It is not only funny, but very well made as well. He developed his technique further with 'Wallace & Gromit' and 'Chicken Run', but 'Creature Comforts' already showed what Park was capable of. A terrific animated short, highly recommended.

Creature Comforts

[jboothmillard · 8/10 · 15 June 2005]

This is the old version of the soon-to-be TV series of Nick Park's Aardman Animations. Basically they record voices from real interviews talking about a certain subject, for example they mention about food and where they are living. When they have recorded these voices they use their genius to match this talking with a suitable character. All the characters are wild and zoo animals talking. There is a lion, tortoises, polar bears, a panda bear, a female gorilla, a hippo (with one behind her pooping) and many other animals made of the genius Plastercine. There is now quite a good TV series of this one-off show of interview made animation. The quality of this animation is obviously the fact that everything moving is made of Plastercine, it deserved the Oscar! As part of Aardman Animations, it was number 15 on The 100 Greatest Cartoons. Very good!

Nick Park was showing his talent early on.

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 27 September 2005]

Before the "Wallace & Gromit" series and "Chicken Run", Nick Park made a splendid debut with "Creature Comforts", in which several animals in a zoo explain how unhappy they are to be in cages. If the cartoon is goofy, then they play it to good effect, and it has a good message. I've always thought that Nick Park not only has great ideas for cartoons, but that his claymation style is quite neat, with the bug eyes and rectangular mouths.

Other interesting cartoons of this style include not only the "Wallace & Gromit" series, but also "Wat's Pig" and "Ident". The last two are fascinating, if bizarre.

Simple idea very well done

[bob the moo · 28 September 2002]

An interviewer goes to a zoo in order to interview the animals there. Her subjects include polar bears, big cats, an ape, a turtle and others. The subjects of conversation include the weather, their living conditions and what they like to eat.

One of the very first projects from Nick Park and it is still very funny now. The animation looks a little dated but the idea is the same so it's not too bad. My understanding is that real people were interviewed for the voices and the animals were matched up to them – i.e. these aren't scripts.

The end result is hilarious – the animals are matched to their accents and their subject matter really well. By themselves the words would be dull for the majority, while the animation would be merely cute. Together the film is very funny. Some of it is wise and slightly touching but really it's just funny to hear animals talk about their conditions as if they were humans!

This was used for adverts in the UK to great effect and it is responsible for starting Nick park's path to Wallace and Gromit and Oscar fame. Overall a simple idea is turned into a wonderfully bright little short that is worth seeing for anyone who has seen Wallace & Gromit.

Delightful concept!

[llltdesq · 10/10 · 13 December 2001]

This short won the Oscar for Animated Short, beating another Aardman Studios short, A Grand Day Out. The concept behind its creation is an old one, used by John and Faith Hubley: record conversation and come up with fitting animation. In this case, someone went around interviewing residents of a housing development and the answers were transformed into the answers given to an interviewer by animals in a zoo. Everything here is excellent: animation, dialogue are wonderful. Most definitely worth getting. In print on more than one source: a compilation titled Creature Comforts and on The World's Greatest Animation. Highly recommended.

I guess I just don't get it....

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 11 February 2008]

This short was made by the same team that made Wallace and Gromit shorts. In fact, in 1991, both this film and the first Wallace and Gromit film (A GRAND DAY OUT) were nominated for the Oscar's Best Animated Short Film category--so both films were competing against each other. Because of this, technically speaking, both films were very similar--using stop motion claymation with gorgeous scenery.

However, when it came to the stories themselves, there was a major difference. While A GRAND DAY OUT had a fully developed story (with a defined plot and characters), CREATURE COMFORTS was a one concept film--showing zoo animals in cages talking about their lives as if they were real people. Frankly, I hated CREATURE COMFORTS and thought the novelty of seeing these animals talk about the most mundane things was interesting only for the first few seconds--whereas the Wallace and Gromit film was brilliant. So, of course, the Academy chose CREATURE COMFORTS for the award! I've seen CREATURE COMFORTS twice--because I thought maybe I was too critical. But, the second time I noticed the exact same thing--great animations and a story that was about as compelling as watching grass grow!! Take my advice, watch the Wallace and Gromit film and you'll see what I'm talking about--after several more followup episodes of Wallace and Gromit AND a feature length film, it's pretty obvious I might just be right about this one--the Academy gave it to the wrong Nick Park film.

I give this one a 6--the animation quality was lovely.

A simple penguin.

[film-critic · 10/10 · 18 August 2005]

Fairing only 32 minutes long, I was worried that these shorts would be cheap, unexciting, and overall just a few animals talking about life at a local Zoo. While I had no problems with this, I wanted more … and guess what? This short DVD provided it. Not only does it give us that unquenchable desire to see British animals talking about life in a Zoo, but it gives us three more additional shorts which only broaden the power that is known as Nick Park. From those little animals to dynamic storytelling to becoming a staple in the stop-motion animation field, you can literally see the impact of these shorts in today's cinema. From just a short 32 minutes, I witnessed the power of Tim Burton (apparently borrowed quite a bit from Park on his film The Nightmare Before Christmas) in a little short called "Not Without My Handbag", the creation of life on this planet (as seen through Park's eyes) and even a little ditty about the Middle Ages. All of these continue to prove that Park was developing powerful film-making well before his time.

For those that perhaps haven't been introduced to a show called Wallace & Gromit, I would highly suggest seeing where Park's Claymation has gone from these creative beginnings, but for those that want to see his early efforts (which were rewarded with an Oscar!) , than I suggest Creature Comforts. More of a observation on our society than just some random cartoons jumping on screen, we watch as animals in a Zoo react the same as we would if we were caged daily (as if we aren't already). The short that impressed me the most was "Not Without My Handbag" where the simple misunderstanding of a contract pulled a darkened cloud over a family. It is deeply disturbing, but powerfully imaginative and vibrant. The final short also impressed me with its powerful references to the "Creation". Simply titled "Adam", we watch as this naked man tries to adapt to living alone on a unexplored planet. If the religious references to Adam & Eve weren't blazin enough, we are privy to a final moment where we think "Adam" will finally get the companion that he deserves … only to find out it is something that nobody expected.

Park has this amazing ability to take images from our day to day society and juxtaposition them into the world of the imaginative and unbelievable. The ability to give these Zoo creatures enough life to feel just like normal humans while being caged behind bars is incredible. I do not believe anyone has come close to recreating the effect that Nick Park has done. The closest that comes to mind is Brad Bird with his recent creation of the superhero family dynamic in The Incredibles. That was smart and enlightening at the same time. That is what Park creates. His animation is not just creatures falling on the floor for young children to react, but instead intelligent, rather symbolic, metaphors about life, which appeal to both children and adults. To create those characters that are able to cross that boundary from children to adult is difficult, but Park seems to have accomplished it with the greatest of ease.

Overall, I thought this was a great introduction to the work of master animator Nick Park. As I patiently wait for his Wallace & Gromit film release, it is fun to revisit his early work and witness a bold new birth of animation. I am surprised more films haven't been released using this style of cartoonery. In a way I am happy because I would hate to see too much over-dominate the Hollywood community, but we need to see more than what has been handed to us in the theaters. With duds like Madagascar and Home on the Range, I would have thought that Park's work would be the logical next step, but I am always wrong. I applaud your work Park, and suggest that anyone willing to laugh, chuckle, and be entertained for a great 32 minutes should check out this DVD!

My favorites from great to least:

1. "Not Without My Handbag" 2. "Creature Comforts" 3. "Wat's Pig" 4. "Adam"

Grade: ***** out of *****

"You can't get out and about as much as you would like to"

[ackstasis · 6/10 · 14 January 2009]

Nick Park's 'Creature Comforts (1989)' beat out competition from the likes of Bruno Bozzetto and Nick Park to win the 1991 Oscar for Best Animated Short. In all honesty, I haven't seen nominee 'Cavallette (1990),' but I still think that the Academy got their ballots mixed up. Just for the record, I find 'A Grand Day Out with Wallace and Gromit (1989)' to be the much better short film, with an entertaining, fully-structured narrative and no shortage of imagination. 'Creature Comforts' has a nice premise and some good jokes, but it's all over so very quickly, leaving only a shallow impression that doesn't bode well for repeat viewings. Nevertheless, the animal characters have that wonderful home-grown "Wallace and Gromit" look about them, always a lovely trademark of Aardman Animations, as well as charming British accents that add some sophistication to the zoo inhabitants' gripes. I've always wondered why the British have inherently sophisticated accents.

This five-minute short film is basically just a series of very brief vignettes in which zoo animals are interviewed for their opinions on life in captivity. Some animals have some good things to say about it, but most do nothing but complain, particularly a certain South American carnivore who goes on at length about the "lack of space" in his enclosure. There's a family of polar bears who are eager to get their opinions across, and miss having steak in their diets. I also liked the turtle that "tries to spend as little time in here as possible," although that is more easily said than done. The quaintness of the dialogue is probably due to the filming technique, which was to interview zoo visitors off the street, request that they behave like animals, and produce the animation around these results. In 2003, 'Creature Comforts' was expanded into a successful TV series, though the even greater success of the "Wallace and Gromit" franchise validates, I think, my feelings about which is the better film.

The mind of the brute

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 8 September 2013]

This is one early effort by famous claymation legend Nick Park. It's the one that came out at the very same time as his first Wallace and Gromit film and also gave him his first Oscar.

I think it's a really good film to show your children, for example right after you took them to the zoo. It's about a bunch of zoo animals whose exposure to humans talking every single day has finally taught them a way to speak as well. And not only can they express their words via language, they also know how to gesture the appropriate way during a conversation in order to emphasize their opinion. So they're weighing in on the pros and cons of living on limited space behind bars (or glass walls). What I like the most is that it doesn't try to alter the viewer's opinion exclusively to one side, but approach the issue from both sides that there's good things as well as bad things to it. It's a nicely animated and educating little short film and I'd recommend it.

If you like it as well, make sure to check out the TV show with the same names based on this one and made almost 15 years later.

best short animation ever!

[andre-71 · 10/10 · 8 May 2000]

This is one of the films you can watch ten times in a row and still laugh your butt off every time you see it. I believe, they tried to let animals in a zoo speak out how foreigners might feel about Europe. So, this short makes you think a little. But above all, it makes you laugh a lot! The ice bears are so sympathetic, but the Brazilian puma (or whatever he is) is definitely the funniest. He should get a series of his own!

Good short, but nowhere near as good as some of Aardman's other shorts.

[TOMNEL · 7/10 · 21 June 2008]

I first watched this short on the DVD Creature Comforts, which contains this and 3 other Aardman short films. Creature Comforts was the short that stood out to me least as being great. Now, the other shorts ranged from excellent to pure genius, so I'm not putting this down, it just isn't as good as the others.

Several animals are being interviewed at the zoo. For 5 minutes, we get to hear the perspectives of all sorts of zoo animals and their thoughts on the living conditions and how well they are treated. Animals such as a lonely gorilla, a lemur with eyesight problem and some sort of lion from Brazil all give their input in this sort of humorous short.

The best part of this is the animation. So many jokes are thrown in, mostly in the background, making this really feel like it was filmed at a zoo. The interviewed animals, for the most part, are just saying things that would be truthful, and though some humor could be taken from them, it's not usually funny to here the poignant ideas of animals who feel crowded and scared in their small cages. It's more interesting than funny, and because of the mixture of interesting ideas and fun animation full of sight gags, Creature Comforts is a fun short film, but still falls short to some of Aardman's other claymated masterpieces.

My rating: *** out of ****. 5 mins.

Funny and creative

[weerdo1482 · 25 October 2001]

this is a short claymation movie from the makers of "wallace and Gromit" shorts and the full length major motion picture "chicken run." To the uninformed, this is a collection of brief interviews with zoo animals about their daily habits, and religion, feed habits, etc. but, what is really going on here is even better. The makers of this movie went to nursing homes and recorded interviews with the residents, Then animated animals for the voices. So, really when you watch this you are listening to the views of elderly people as animals. I personally find this to be a very interesting idea. 10 all the way

Nick Park works his magic :)

[roman-army · 10/10 · 17 March 2006]

This is a right gem of a short animation. The plasticine characters are marvellously created, and they move so flawlessly, picking up on every sound detail produced by the people, (its incredible!)

The dialogue is just as wonderful: Some of it is scripted, other parts come from real interviews. This makes it all the more funny and fascinating. The characters (gorilla, hippo, tortoise, and a very frustrated Brazilian leopard) are very memorable.

This is a very clever creation, and a lovely reminder of the beauty of stop-motion animation.

Truly deserving of every award it won. Well done to the artists, and especially to Nick Park--a true genius! He will forever remain one of the greatest magicians in the world of animation *****out of 5

A seminal stop-motion short.

[Pjtaylor-96-138044 · 8/10 · 14 December 2021]

'Creature Comforts (1989)' is absolutely brilliant. Taking the audio from real interviews with the public and transposing it onto talking animals is nothing short of genius. It recontextualizes the characters' answers and gives them a new meaning that fits with the flick's subtle anti-zoo messaging. More importantly, it makes both elements - the audio and the animation - much funnier. The juxtaposition between the very normal, unrehearsed dialogue and the wonderfully fluid, somewhat silly stop-motion animation is brilliant. It has such a distinct effect. The short truly is remarkable; it's no wonder that the concept was explored in a television series (also brilliant) soon after. If you ever needed even more poof that the people at Aardman (and Nick Park, in particular) are some of the most important creators of animated content in the last thirty-five years (on top of Wallace and Gromit, Shaun The Sheep and Chicken Run, that is), then look no further than this, one of their earliest efforts. The talent was clearly there right from the start. This is a seminal stop-motion short and I highly recommend it. 8/10.

So Matter of Fact

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 23 April 2019]

I love this company and their products. The animals speak like absolute interviewees. They have that sincere kind of presence of real people, not coached or scripted. They discuss their plight in a British zoo. None of them are mistreated, but they address the idea of captivity and its related problems. They talk about the food they receive. They discuss the safety issue, trading it for the dangers of the wild. I can see why this company took off.

Animals are "interviewed" about their quality of life in an British zoo

[gowing · 10/10 · 30 March 2005]

Creature Comforts (1989) sets a standard for "claymation," for animal welfare and animal rights issues, for integration of real life and animated action, and for subtle and outright funny humor. After finding it by chance on a PBS station in the early 1990s, I've tried to track it down, and was pleased to learn that a new version has been made, which I have yet to see.

Wherever Nick Park's figures appear -- be they animal, vegetable or mineral -- in advertising or movies, it's a sure bet that they'll be funny and memorable.

In Park's full-length films featuring Wallace and his dog, Grommit, he endowed these two "stars" with such mundane domesticity that, no matter what country the viewer calls home, we can relate to their comfortable behaviors, e.g. knitting (Grommit), cheese and crackers, reading the paper in the comfy chair. When the bizarre occurs, as it does with Wallace's inventions, we can imagine that we're all capable of such flights of fancy. The same is true in Creature Comforts. We've seen enough TV interviews and talking heads that this seems like another such program -- but funnier.

A true sign of Nick Park's genius

[alexfinlayson-80821 · 9/10 · 18 January 2018]

Many of us enjoy going to the zoo to see some truly astonishing animals. But here's one question that a lot of people don't seem to consider: What do the animals think about it? Well this film will tell you...

I've always been a fan of Aardman productions and Creature Comforts remains my favourite animated short film ever (as much as I love Wallace and Gromit).

Probably the biggest factor that makes this film so iconic is that it is completely unscripted. Various members of the British public who lived in either a housing estate or an old peoples home gave their opinions on the living conditions they have and these interviews were used as the voices of zoo animals. The most notable of the voice actors is a Brazilian man (a friend of director Nick Park) who makes no secret of his opinion of England. See if you can guess which character he voices.

The fact that this was Nick Park's first professional film and that he animated it all by himself makes it even more of an achievement. It won him his first Academy Award and remains one of his greatest triumphs. It was, without a doubt, a real sign of the wonders that were to come from him...

The best of Nick Park films

[vertigo_14 · 9/10 · 6 March 2004]

You know Creature Comforts is going to be a great claymation film when you see that it is directed by Nick Park, the fellow who brought you Chicken Run and the Wallace & Gromit series.

Creature Comforts is a series of claymation shorts. The first is Creature Comforts, which some might remember was aired sometimes in between shows on Nickelodean during the early 90s. It is a nifty idea, an interviewer asks zoo animals about their opinion of captive living to come to the conclusion that they'd rather be wild animals. I love the owl with the giant glasses.

Another story works like The Man in the Iron Mask, where twin brothers separated from birth live in the same village. One is the king while another is an idyllic serf. When danger overtakes the castle, the serf brother is asked to take the place of his twin who wishes to flee danger.

There's another one which is a sort of live action/claymation short about the creation of Adam and well...a kind of Eve.

But the best, or at least my favorite in the series, is "Not Without My Handbag," which is more like a Tim Burton-esque kind of story of a woman who defaulted on her payments for Dante's Washing Machines and, as punishment, is taken to hell. But, she's floating around in pergatory until she can get her handbag.

Everyone one of the shorts are a lot of fun. I have a hard time saying that any one Nick Park movie is better than the next because I love them all, but I think I love this one most.

Aardman Animation's first release - a triumph!

[scabies · 10/10 · 21 February 2001]

Nick Park and co. won a BAFTA nomination for this clay-mation short in 1990, and went on to receive an OSCAR the following year. It's not difficult to see why.

This early animated short from the Aardman team shows originality, intelligence and not a little sublimity. Julie Sedgewick (the only credited cast member, whose voice is hardly even featured) went out with a Nagra (or similar) tape recorder and interviewed a selection of people - mainly zoo visitors and people living in council-owned accommodation in the UK.

Combined beautifully with some charming and cleverly interpreted clay-mation, the Aardman team have produced 'Creature Comforts', to worldwide acclaim.

Very highly recommended.

Interviewing British animals at a zoo.

[emasterslake · 9/10 · 8 October 2005]

This made by the same guy who brought us Wallace and Gromit, Nick Park.

Done the same year "A Grand Day Out" was done as well.

It all has to do with interviewing the Animals at a British Zoo. They express what's good and what not too good about the place.

They feature a Brazillian Mountain Lion, 3 Polar Bears, some weird looking chickens, and many more! This short film is priceless, and worth seeing again and again.

Perfect example on what British Animation and humor is like.

Those who like Wallace and Gromit will enjoy this one too.

It's available to see online and on DVD.

A classic of stop-motion

[mattandkara · 10/10 · 26 December 2020]

One of the wittiest pieces of stop-motion ever created. The audio consists of recordings of real people candidly describing various situations of confinement. Aardman brilliantly sets these to his idiosyncratic renderings of animals in a zoo. I can't think of a single way it could be improved upon.

Very good but...

[runar-4 · 18 March 2004]

This is an excellent cartoon, except for two things: first, it shows up in so many compilations that people like me who seek out quality animation have seen it more times than we can count on our fingers, toes and teeth combined; second, EVERY film that Nick Park and Aardman Studios produces, whether a short, a commercial or a full-length feature, has characters with upper and lower jaws that have different curvatures - the lower teeth are in a nearly straight line while the uppers are properly curved. For me, that is a distraction that takes away from the content, and that is why I have never bothered to see Chicken Run - I would not be able to stand watching mismatched jaws for an hour and a half.

What if zoo animals could talk??

[TxMike · 19 November 2005]

This 5-minute film short is one of 4 different shorts on one VHS tape by Aardman Animations, the group that has given us the Wallace and Gromit animations.

With no real introduction, this film short just begins. It is a series of interviews with zoo animals. We see a microphone, but no people. The most interesting was the unidentified type of big wild cat from Brazil talking about how he really wanted more space to run, and how he liked real fresh meat to eat. All told in a very relaxed British voice with appropriate mouth movements. Vey cute, very clever.

It is a stretch to call this a movie, but it is fun to see some of the other claymation from the team that brings us Wallace and Gromit.