Props and sets from the Wallace and Gromit films have been destroyed in a warehouse blaze.
The storage building belonging to Oscar-winning Aardman Animations, contained the company's "entire history", a spokesman said.
Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park said it was "dreadful" for the company but comparatively "not a big deal".
The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, the new Wallace and Gromit film, has just gone to the top of the US box office chart.
Company Spokesman Arthur Sheriff said: "It couldn't have come on a worse day - we were supposed to be celebrating, but instead our history has disappeared in a couple of hours.
A lot of the original sets were there, including several panels of original storyboards and that, in a way, is the biggest loss
Dave Sproxton
Aardman co-founder
"Everything has gone, from as far back as Morph and all the way through to Chicken Run, including Wallace and Gromit, Creature Comforts, it's all there. Everyone is devastated
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Nick Park has 3 oscars............yes 3...for his amazing animations...........i hope Wallace and Gromit will live to see another adventure..........
fluffy
...this truely is awful 
