Creature Comforts

Creature Comforts (1989) is Nick Park's claymation short you can watch online on iFILM. Five minutes, made at Aardman, and it's basically a zoo full of animals griping about their lot. A Brazilian jaguar misses the sun, a polar bear gripes about the cramped space, and a family of gorillas philosophises about dinner.

The whole thing turns on its soundtrack. Park recorded real interviews with ordinary people and immigrants, then matched their voices to clay animals built and shot frame by frame. It's a mockumentary in reverse: the words are genuine, the speakers are hand-sculpted. That gap is what makes it funny and a little sad at once — caged creatures saying exactly what any of us would about our flat and our job.

This five-minute film handed Park the Oscar for Best Animated Short and set the man who would go on to make Wallace and Gromit on his way. A perfect pick when you want clever animation with not a wasted frame. Stream Creature Comforts (1989) online on iFILM.