Apple puts Wallace & Gromit on iconic Battersea Power Station towers

Battersea towers look different today

Apple worked with acclaimed UK artist, David Hockney last year, projecting a work he had drawn on iPad Pro onto the iconic towers of Battersea’s Power Station, where the company’s UK headquarters is now situated. This year Apple has teamed up with Aardman Animation to project a short, animated movie featuring popular characters, Wallace & Gromit against those iconic towers.

It means that from 5pm to 10.30pm until New Year’s Eve, a stop-motion animation featuring the two wonderful characters will illuminate the 101-meter high twin landmark towers on the river-facing façade. It’s Apple Battersea with a whimsical, cartoon flavor, and pairs two UK icons in the form of the cartoon characters and those amazing chimneys. And Apple, of course.

Making a movie

Now an even bigger tourist destination

The short animation was shot on iPhone 16 Pro Max by Aardman Animation.

“This project has been a dream to direct — a cinematic fusion of tech and art,” said Gavin Strange, Aardman’s director and graphic design lead.

“Shooting stop-motion animation on iPhone 16 Pro Max with the legendary Wallace & Gromit, to then be projected onto the iconic Battersea Power Station, makes this unique in so many ways. I hope that this Christmas, everyone feels inspired to start shooting their own stop-motion masterpieces with iPhone, and I’m excited and proud of what we’ve all created.”

How it was done

Some technical details concerning this project include:

• iPhone 16 Pro Max was mounted on motorized heads on set to capture two angles of the Christmas trees.
• A total of 6,000 frames were captured.
• Eight iPhone 16 Pro Max devices used the 5x Telephoto camera to shoot super-high-resolution images in ProRAW.
• Those images were then assembled frame by frame to produce a stunning 6K video.
• Short clips explaining the project have been made available.

Wallace in Apple mode. I wonder how he’d look in Vision Pro?

What Apple said

“Wallace & Gromit are a much-loved and iconic duo, and we’re delighted that they will be lighting up Battersea Power Station for Londoners this year,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “It’s great to see the skill and ingenuity of Aardman, and how they’ve used the most advanced iPhone we’ve ever made to produce something so joyful.”

Apple moved into its new HQ in Battersea in 2023.  The 500,000-square-foot, six-story U.K. headquarters runs on 100 percent renewable energy. The company now claims to support over 550,000 UK jobs.

You can follow me on social media! Join me on BlueSky,  LinkedIn, Mastodon, and MeWe.