Early Man

When the Queen comes to watch the final match, both Wallace and Gromit can be seen in the crowd. Note that while Wallace is on camera, only Gromit's ears are shown. Nick Park was not aware that the animators had done this until post-production.

PRODUCTION STORY · SOURCED

The two dinosaurs in the opening scene are named Ray and Harry. They take their names from Ray Harryhausen.

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Nick Park was inspired to cast Tom Hiddleston by his Robert De Niro impression on The Graham Norton Show.

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The blond footballer Jurgend is a tribute to the German player Jürgen Klinsmann. The character even wears a small headband of the kind Klinsmann used to wear. In addition, while playing for Tottenham Hotspur, he was known for theatrically falling after being fouled. This is exactly what Jurgend does in the end (he even speaks a little German in the puppet's repeat).

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In the scene where Dug enters the Bronze Age village, a zebra skin is seen lying on the path. Although this reference baffled American audiences, it is clearly a pun on the British term "zebra crossing."

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An original title was Early Man-United.

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Queen Oofeefa's name is a play on FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), the organization responsible for football's major international tournaments, particularly the World Cup, which began in 1930, and the Women's World Cup, which began in 1991.

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The character Asbo takes his name from the British criminal penalty ASBO. This refers to an anti-social behaviour order.

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One of the commentators in the final match describes Dug's team as "Early Man united," a reference to the English football team Manchester United. Goona's name is a play on "gooner," a slang term used for supporters of Arsenal, another English team and Manchester United's long-time rival.

EASTER EGGS & REFERENCES · SOURCED

The film is dedicated to voice actor Peter Sallis (1921-2017) and animator Dave Osmand (1964-2017). Sallis, who voiced Wallace, died on 2 June, before the following year's premiere date.

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To get the right reaction while smearing gold on Nooth's face, Nick Park actually massaged Tom Hiddleston's shoulders while recording his lines.

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

The football commentators are direct impressions of the famous British commentators Brian Moore and Alan Hansen.

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It is Aardman's last film with the 1967 MPAA logo.

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Nick Park cast Eddie Redmayne because of his performance in Black Death (2010), in which he played the role of Osmund four years before his Oscar for The Theory of Everything (2014).

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

This was the first Aardman film to be rated PG by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) for "infrequent mild bad language, threat." All of its other films were rated U.

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Lord Nooth's accent is French.

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This is the first stop motion film in which a studio member is named during the main cast selection; in this case, it applies to Nick Park, who provides the vocal effects for Hognob.

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

A few months before Early Man's release, Google mistakenly detected that it had an 18% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This was quickly corrected, however.

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It is Timothy Spall's second Aardman film after Chicken Run (2000).

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It is the twelfth animated film in which characters voiced by studio members are listed during the main cast selection outside the credits; this applies to the film's director, Nick Park, providing the sound effects for Hognob (a deuteragonist). The previous eleven similar cases are Lilo & Stitch (2002), with Chris Sanders as Stitch (a deuteragonist); Open Season (2006), with Cody Cameron as Mr. Weenie (a tritagonist); Meet the Robinsons (2007), with Stephen J. Anderson as Bowler Hat Guy (a secondary antagonist); Ratatouille (2007), with Lou Romano as Alfredo Linguini (a deuteragonist) and Peter Sohn (a supporting character); Bolt (2008), with Mark Walton as Rhino the Hamster (a tetartagonist); Up (2009), with Bob Peterson as Dug and Alpha (a tritagonist and secondary antagonist), director Pete Docter as Kevin (a tetartagonist) and Jerome Ranft as Gamma (a tertiary antagonist); Shrek Forever After (2010), with Walt Dohrn as Rumpelstiltskin (the main antagonist); Winnie the Pooh (2011), with Bud Luckey as Eeyore and composer Kristen Anderson-Lopez as Kanga; Monsters University (2013), with Peter Sohn as Scott "Squishy" Squibbles (a tetartagonist along with the other 3 members of Oozma Kappa); Penguins of Madagascar (2014), with Tom McGrath, Chris Miller and Christopher Knights reprising their roles as Skipper, Kowalski and Private, as well as Conrad Vernon replacing John DiMaggio as Rico (the heroes); and Minions (2015), with Pierre Coffin as the Minions themselves (the heroes).

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED