West Midland Safari Park to rock visitors with new Aardman Tribe Trail
Award-winning studio Aardman has formed a partnership with bosses at the West Midland Safari Park to rock visitors with an exciting new trail linked to their latest film.
Famous for family favourites such as Shaun the Sheep, Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit, Aardman, in partnership with film distributors STUDIOCANAL, has released a new prehistoric comedy adventure from Academy Award winning director, Nick Park.
The adventure forms the basis of the Safari Park’s Find The Tribe Trail, alongside a ‘secret cave’ filled with exclusive exhibits from the film set.
Set at the dawn of time, when prehistoric creatures roamed the earth, Early Man tells the story of courageous caveman hero Dug, played by Eddie Redmayne, and his best friend Hognob as they unite his tribe against a mighty enemy Lord Nooth, played by Tomm Hiddleston, and his Bronze Age City to save their home.
During February half-term, the Safari Park at Bewdley will host an interactive trail based on the film, where guests will follow clues in the hope of finding the rest of Dug’s tribe.
Once completed, there will be an exclusive model making kit as a prize for successful explorers.
The prehistoric adventure will also provide the opportunity to get up close to some of the creatures from the film, in a unique display of some of the models in the park’s Early Man Secret Cave.
Guests will be able to marvel at the intricate detail used to make the characters and expert craftsmanship in this exclusive exhibit.
Led by an Aardman model maker, the park will also be holding Model Making Workshops, enabling guests to learn how to make one of the new characters from the film.
There will also be opportunities to ask questions and learn top tips from the model maker, culminating in taking their creations home to their own ‘tribe’.
David Sproxton, co-founder and executive chairman of Aardman, said, “We are very excited to announce the release of Nick Park’s latest film, Early Man which is set at the dawn of time, when prehistoric creatures roamed the earth.
"We are delighted that West Midland Safari Park have taken the film to their hearts and are holding an Early Man trail for their visitors to enjoy.”
“Our artists, model makers and animators applied their years of experience at the studio to produce another hilarious animated adventure.
"We love to share our skills with others and we will be running workshops at the Safari Park to give fans of our work the chance to see how we create our wonderful characters.
"With our experienced model makers, our fans will learn exactly how much detail and effort goes into making each puppet, and they can have a go themselves.
"It’s a great way to spend a day.”
Using the latest techniques in stop motion animation, creators Aardman began working on the film in the summer of 2016.
A crew of more than 100 animators devised the sets and characters for the film, which has proved to be their largest movie set to date.
The Find The Tribe Trail is included in the standard admission charge at the park and will run at weekends and then daily for half term from February 10 to February 25.
