Aardman at 50: Gromit was nearly a cat, Shaun the Sheep almost spoke - BBC News BBC Homepage Skip to content Accessibility Help Your account Home News Sport Earth Reel Worklife Travel Culture Future Music TV Weather Sounds More menu More menu Search BBC Home News Sport Earth Reel Worklife Travel Culture Future Music TV Weather Sounds Close menu BBC News Menu Home Climate World UK Business Tech Science Entertainment & Arts Health In Pictures More BBC Verify Newsbeat England Regions Bristol 'Gromit was nearly a cat!': Secrets from 50 years of Aardman Image source, Aardman Image caption, Wallace and his expressive but speechless dog Gromit first hit our screens in 1989 By Dave Harvey West of England Business Correspondent , Reporting from Bristol Published 2 hours ago Gromit was almost a cat. Shaun the Sheep was nearly given a voice. And Chicken Run helped change the Oscars forever. As Aardman Animations marks its 50th birthday, its creators have been sharing some of the surprising twists behind the rise of Bristol's best-known creative success story. Founded by school friends Sir Peter Lord and Sir David Sproxton in 1976, Aardman has given us Morph, Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep and Chicken Run, the world's most successful stop-motion film. But the journey from two teenagers "mucking about with plasticine" to an Oscar-winning animation powerhouse has often hinged on chance decisions, practical compromises and creative instinct. Few examples are better than Gromit. Image caption, "They make you laugh before they do anything", said Sir Peter Lord of the comic creations Wallace and Gromit Wallace and Gromit became Aardman's most famous characters after animator Nick Park joined the studio in 1985. But Gromit was not always a dog. "I had this idea of an English guy who builds a rocket, in the basement of his house," recalled Park. "I was thinking he may have a pet, probably a cat." The switch was surprisingly simple. "I started modelling the cat, and it was just ve