By Editor,Harry Howard

Copyright dailymail

Ever since they made their debut in A Grand Day Out in 1989, Wallace and Gromit have been delighting viewers.

So ‘real’ that you can see the thumbprints, the Plasticine duo have warmed the hearts of millions with their haphazard exploits.

But now, their creator Nick Park has expressed his fears about how the rise of artificial intelligence could spell the end of stop-motion animation.

Speaking ahead of the opening of a new exhibition about his creation in his home town of Preston, Mr Park said he worries about the ‘human touch’ being replaced by ‘a bit of a mush’.

He added to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Gromit was ‘born out of clay’ and he does not know if the clay pooch would have had the same impact if he was computer-generated.

Despite the increasing use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) in the film industry, the Wallace and Gromit figures and the world they inhabit on screen is still crafted with clay and filmed using stop-motion animation.

But popular AI programs such as ChatGPT can create images in seconds.

Experts are increasingly concerned about the threat the technology could pose to humanity as it continues to develop.

Speaking this morning, Mr Park said: ‘There’s lots of fear isn’t there about what’s coming with AI and Generative AI but a lot of excitement at the same time.

‘And it’s very hard to know exactly what to make of it just yet.

‘We have always been grasping technology, even in the traditional stop motion way that Wallace and Gromit are.

‘We still use the clay and silicon and real materials because that’s all part of the charm.

‘And I don’t think we ever really want to let go of that.

‘The human touch is so important and yet you know it is tempting when you think of an idea you will put it into a Chat GP whatever, bot, and see what it comes back with.

‘But I fear the human touch going and everything becoming a bit of a mush.’

He added: ‘I say in a way the medium doesn’t matter but it does in a way because Gromit was born out of clay, I don’t know if it would’ve happened if he was CGI in the same way.’

Wallace and Gromit’s latest appearance came with feature-length production Vengeance Most Fowl, which premiered on the BBC on Christmas Day last year.

The pair are being celebrated at The Harris Museum in Preston from Sunday.

The models used in the films, as well as concept art and early sketches, are among the objects on display.

Mr Park added: ‘Coming from Preston as well, my home town, to be opening the refurbished museum with my own exhibition after all these years, I never would have imagined it.

‘Before the internet, the Harris Museum and library was a great source of everything and inspiration.

‘I used to pour through all the books looking for any information I could find on how to do animation.

‘When I was studying art, foundation art in Preston, I was always there looking for art books.’

Wallace and Gromit’s second outing came with 1993 short film The Wrong Trousers.

That was followed up by A Close Shave in 1995. Both won Academy Awards in the best animated short film category.

The first feature-length film was 2005 production The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, which also won an Academy Award.