If you’ve spent some time on London’s Thames recently – and if you haven’t, you definitely should – you’ve surely encountered the Battersea Power Station. That’s one of London’s historical landmarks – a gargantuan coal-fired power station that no longer operates. Nowadays, it’s home to many shops and restaurants. Apple’s UK headquarters are also at the Battersea Power Station.
If you’re into progressive rock (or if you’re into great music), you recognize the Battersea Power Station from Pink Floyd’s masterpiece Animals (1977) – the power station was featured on the album cover, along with a floating inflatable pig. Classy stuff.
Back to the present day, though.
This holiday season, Wallace & Gromit-themed decorations are lighting up London’s Battersea Power Station, which houses Apple’s UK headquarters. From 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. daily through New Year’s Eve, animated Christmas trees will appear on the landmark’s river-facing chimneys. The animation features the beloved characters decorating the trees in their distinct styles, along with the antics of Feathers McGraw (a silent and villainous penguin-antagonist from the series).
The project was created by Aardman, the studio behind Wallace & Gromit, using Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro Max. The team captured 6,000 stop-motion frames with the phone’s advanced cameras, including eight devices equipped with the 5x Telephoto lens for high-resolution ProRAW images. The frames were compiled to produce a 6K animation projected onto the station’s iconic chimneys.
Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, expressed excitement over the collaboration, highlighting the use of advanced technology to create a festive experience. Gavin Strange, director and graphic design lead at Aardman, described the project as a unique blend of technology and artistry, encouraging others to experiment with stop-motion animation using similar tools.