David Alan Sproxton (born 6 January 1954) is a British entrepreneur, best known as one of the co-founders, with Peter Lord, of the

Aardman Animations Aardman Animations Limited, known simply as Aardman, is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England, United Kingdom. It is known for films and television series made using stop motion and clay animation techniques, particularly those fe ...

studio. Sproxton was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) on 17 June 2006.

Education and career

Sproxton graduated from Collingwood College,

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

before starting as an

animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...

, producing segments for the '' Vision On'' TV program, Sproxton and Lord created the character of Morph for '' Take Hart'' (which featured

Tony Hart Norman Antony Hart (15 October 1925 – 18 January 2009)Debrett's People of Today 2008, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, 2007. was an English artist best known for his work in educating children in art through his role as a children's television present ...

, the artist from ''Vision On''). He is credited as the

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

for the

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to f ...

-nominated ''War Story'', and the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-nominated ''Adam'', as well as the Academy Award-winning Creature Comforts directed by

Nick Park Nicholas Wulstan Park (born 6 December 1958) is an English filmmaker and animator who created '' Wallace & Gromit'', '' Creature Comforts'', '' Chicken Run'', '' Shaun the Sheep'', and '' Early Man''. Park has been nominated for an Academy ...

. Other production credits include ''

Chicken Run ''Chicken Run'' is a 2000 animated adventure comedy film directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park and written by Karey Kirkpatrick from an original story by Lord and Park. Produced by Pathé and Aardman Features in partnership with DreamWork ...

'', '' Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'' and '' Arthur Christmas''. In May 2006, Sproxton (along with Peter Lord) visited the "Aardman Exhibit" at the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan, where he met

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli and serves as honorary chairman. Throughout his career, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Anime, Japanese ani ...

. Miyazaki has long been a fan of the Aardman Animation works.

References

External links

* 1954 births Living people Aardman Animations people Alumni of Collingwood College, Durham British animated film directors British animated film producers British animators British film directors British television directors British television producers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Clay animators English animators English film directors English film producers English television directors English television producers Place of birth missing (living people) Stop motion animators {{animator-stub