Aardman’s Susan Bolsover on recent success stories – and why Wallace & Gromit resonates in South Korea

Susan, it’s great to catch up. To kick us off, how has 2025 been for Aardman so far?
We’ve had a great year so far! With our new licensing and consumer products team in place we’ve really hit the ground running both in the UK and across our key international markets.

We saw the launch of our Shaun the Sheep collaboration with Lush across North America, Europe, Middle East and Asia generating some fantastic sales and social media buzz – and in the UK we recently launched our first kids apparel collection of outerwear and accessories with TOG 24. It features a wonderfully vibrant colour palette that takes Shaun in a new fashion-forward direction.

In Japan, we’ve been excited to build on our collaboration with Japanese rock band Hitsujibungaku – who did a brilliant cover of the Shaunt the Sheep theme song last year. We’ve launched our first apparel collaboration with the band at Rageblue, Bayflow and Apart by Aland, all part of the Adastria fashion and homewares group.

Also, on the back of the amazing success of Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl last Christmas, we’ve been building our brand and licensing programme for the IP and taking it into some new areas too.

One area I want to explore is Wallace & Gromit’s popularity in South Korea. It’s not a given that every popular UK brand resonated in other territories, so why has the brand proved popular in South Korea?
There are several reasons why South Koreans have taken Wallace & Gromit to their hearts, but chief amongst them is their love of Gromit as a character. His expressiveness, loyalty and general ‘cuteness’ really resonate, not to mention the fact as a nation they seem to adore dogs! Animal characters more easily transcend cultural barriers, so I think this, along with the fact Gen Z have really driven his appeal through social media, has meant he’s become a go-to character.

We’ve also seen how Gromit has become part of the general trend for accessorising and customisation, which is so important not only to Gen Z more broadly, but also within the market. He’s become a must-have accessory, whether that be bag charms and keyrings or through sundries like stationery or collectibles.

What categories have you targeted in South Korea? And has the design had to be altered to resonate for that market?
The accessories, bag charms and sundries areas have been a real focus, and we have several partners covering these categories. There is a real desire for 3D moulded products, from pen-toppers to keychains, so we’ve had to work collaboratively with our partners on 3D products especially.

One of the key focuses for us going forward is how we adapt our characters for the market in terms of collectability and personalisation – as well as being on point with design trends so we ensure Wallace & Gromit remain fresh and relevant with the audience. This increasing awareness and continued love for our characters is a great foundation to long term brand building in the market and we can’t wait to see where Wallace & Gromit go next.

One Korean collaboration that caught my eye is with the Korean baseball team SSG Landers. How did that come about? Why did a partnership here make sense?
What I love about this collaboration is not only how different it feels in terms of what we might have done before in the market, but also how brilliantly Core Communications – the sports marketing agency who spearheaded this initiative – integrated all those unique Wallace & Gromit details into the designs.

Baseball is huge in South Korea and the fan engagement with the teams is on another level. It’s really common for character brands to collaborate with sports teams and when our Creative Services Manager and I visited recently, SSG Landers were just wrapping up on a collaboration with Sanrio. The deal came to us via our agent, Acommz, who felt that this was a great way to bring our characters to an already hugely engaged audience and fanbase, but in a unique way.

In the original films Wallace & Gromit obviously don’t play baseball, so we had to find a creative solution that worked for what both Core Communications and SSG Landers wanted to achieve – but that felt authentic to our characters. As a starting point we used existing character poses overlayed with the team’s branding and colours, and then layered in the details that make this truly a Wallace & Gromit product. For instance, the subtle pattern of cheese and crackers on the jersey numbers is such a brilliant easter-egg moment for fans to find.

We also wanted to take a phased approach to releasing the products so that there was something new for fans to engage with across the season. Our initial product drop went live on August 26th, both online and in the stadium where we had our own dedicated store.

Is this fusion of the brand with sport something you feel can replicated elsewhere – including in the UK?
If it makes sense then why not! Shaun the Sheep was an ambassador for the Rugby World Cup when it was held in the UK in 2015, and we’re also working on a Shaun the Sheep collaboration with a basketball team in Japan, so this is certainly something we’re open to with our brands. If the creative direction makes sense, then it’s also a brilliant way for us to bring our characters to new audiences.

Last question! What are some of your key aims for BLE next week?
We’ve a lot to look forward to this year at BLE. We’ll be making some creative announcements in terms of our style guides and brand assets that I feel will really open up new possibilities for us in terms of product categories and retail, both in the UK and internationally – as well as looking ahead to 2026 when we will be celebrating Aardman’s 50th anniversary. We also have a new Shaun the Sheep movie, The Beast of Mossy Bottom, coming to theatres in 2026 so watch this space!

Terrific. Thanks again Susan.