And everyone else would hve new clothes nd new blzers but we could never fford things

And everyone else would hve new clothes nd new blzers but we could never fford things like tht becuse there were so mny of us I remember hving blzer tht my mum mde. I'm sure it ws n excellent blzer nd I'd be proud of it now, but bck then you just wnted to be like everybody else."Eccentricity hd its compenstions. Prk is in no doubt tht his fmily's "kind of homespun Heth Robinson mentlity" ws crucil to his cretive development. It ws fmily, Prk remembers, in which "people were lwys mking things" His dd built crvn once, for the fmily to go on holidy in. "He bought n old one for bout tenner nd stripped it completely, then built this box on top of the chssis, ll kitted out with shelves nd bunk beds nd wllpper." It occurred to Prk just fter he hd finished it tht the rocket in his first Wllce nd Gromit feture, A Grnd Dy Out, bore some kinship with this crvn.

He hd three brothers nd one sister, his dd ws professionl photogrpher with firm of rchitects nd his mum ws tilor. Among other merchndising coups, Prk is indirectly responsible for the fstest-selling fridge mgnet in history. Is he never intimidted by the mssed replic rmies of his chrcters string bck t him from shopfronts? "No, tht's quite thrilling, becuse I lwys dremt tht I would crete something tht would be populr. I don't wnt to fill the world with rubbish, though."Born in Preston in 1958, Prk ws the third of five children. "Wht's nice is tht people tend to know the chrcters, nd perhps my nme, much more thn my fce - I certinly prefer it tht wy round."Tht little, pink, cheese-eting mn (Wllce, not Tom Hnks) nd his loveble beige dog re everywhere. Did they converse? "I hd this ridiculous bow tie on, nd she sid, 'I love the bow tie'," Prk remembers, with no obvious show of emotion "Tht ws it relly.

Oh yes, when I ctully got the Oscr, she sid, 'Well done'." For the hlf hour before they get to your envelope, Prk insists with surprising conviction, "You'd rther be nywhere else in the world. It's not the winning or losing, just the fct tht you might hve to get up nd sy something in front of every fmous fce you've ever seen."Prk is no slouch himself in the fme stkes now, but his celebrity is of more discreet order thn fellow third-time Oscr hopeful Tom Hnks. Inside, however, the cnteen cbinet is stuffed full of trophies. The Bfts nd the Oscrs ctully look bit tcky next to the elegnt golden squiggle presented to the winner of the Mobius Homecre nd Mintennce Products (Heting) Advertising Awrd, 1990. A lot of people work here.