Wallace and Gromit on the comeback trail

LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) Wallace and Gromit, the quirky plasticine stars of British cinema, are on the comeback trail.

The film-making partnership of Aardman Animations Ltd and Hollywood's DreamWorks Animation SKG may have ended on Tuesday but Nick Park, creator of the animated pals, is busy at the drawing board creating a Wallace and Gromit sequel.

''Wallace and Gromit are alive and kicking,'' Aardman spokesman Arthur Sheriff said yesterday. ''There is a project on the table right now.

''It could be television, it could be a feature film. That depends on how the storyline develops. It will go into production as soon as he has finished writing it.'' DreamWorks and Aardman ended their seven-year partnership on Tuesday, saying their ''ambitions have moved apart.'' One problem was that the two failed to follow up on the success of their 2000 joint production ''Chicken Run.'' ''Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit'' was released in 2005 to critical acclaim and was awarded the Oscar for best animated feature. But box office receipts were weaker than expected.

In their first full-length film, the dim-witted Wallace and his faithful hound took on a mutant rabbit bent on destroying the town's annual Giant Vegetable Contest hosted by Wallace's secret love, Lady Tottington.

Peter Sallis reprised his role voicing Wallace, Ralph Fiennes played the evil Victor Quartermaine and Helena Bonham Carter provided the voice of Lady Tottington.

Park previously won three Oscars in the short film category with works featuring the famous duo -- ''Creature Comfort'' in 1990, ''The Wrong Trousers'' in 1993 and ''A Close Shave'' in 1995.

He was also nominated in 1990 for ''A Grand Day Out.'' Sheriff said the split with DreamWorks was amicable but added: ''What we have achieved is our freedom to make the film we want to make.'' For Park, computer-generated images never matched the attraction of plasticine -- however time-consuming the film-making process might be.

''Nick loves creating stories for Wallace and Gromit and he feels they only really work in plasticine,'' Sheriff said.

''He is a creative filmmaker, he doesn't sit around the table discussing money deals with the executives.'' Park was dealt a bitter blow in 2005 when a storage warehouse fire destroyed props and sets from the Oscar-winning movies.

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