Morph is the franchise of the well known, lovable plasticine character of the same name that first brought Aardman to fame. Created in 1976, Morph was first broadcast on the children's art program Take Hart and Hartbeat by the late Tony Hart. Morph later appeared in another children's art program, SMart. New online episodes arrived on July 4th, 2014.
Characters[]
- Morph - The curious and creative main character with terracotta skin.
- Chas - Morph's living statue cream-skinned cousin.
- Nailbrush - Morph's 'canine' companion, a barking nailbrush.
- Gran-Morph - Morph's elderly, bearded grandfather, who travels by skateboard and frequently invents things.
- Delilah - A bossy, bespectacled female character in a yellow dress with dark purple skin.
- Folly - A scatter-brained girl made of tin-foil.
- Gillespie - A large, blue, dimwitted but peaceable friend of Morph's.
- The Very Small Creatures - An array of small plasticine balls with eyes who travel in a swarm; the smallest of the group, Little Green, features prominently on his own in a number of episodes.
- Goobledygook - A green, omnivorous alien child (who arrived on the table by accident piloting a milk bottle-like craft in the original series - in the Morph Files, he arrived by accidentally printing him from the 'space raiders' style game).
History[]
Morph was produced for the BBC by Aardman Animations, later famous for the "Sledgehammer" music video and Wallace & Gromit. Morph appeared mainly in one minute "shorts" interspersed throughout the show. These were connected to the main show by having Hart deliver a line or two to Morph who would reply in gobbledygook but with meaningful gestures. Later on, Morph was joined by cream-coloured Chas, who was much more badly behaved.
Morph can change shape, he would become spheres in order to move around, or extrude into cylinders to pass to different levels. He can also mimic other objects, or creatures. Morph lived in a wooden microscope box on an artists desk, and he and Chas both loved to eat cake, as seen in many of the shorts.
Some of the early plasticine models of Morph were destroyed in a fire at the warehouse they were being stored at on 10 October 2005.
Morph and Chas appeared in shorts on the British children's TV programme SMart from 1994 onwards.
Morph's 30th birthday was celebrated in 2007 by creator Peter Lord and celebrity fan and comedian Phill Jupitus at events for the Encounters Film Festival in Bristol.
In March 2009, shortly after Hart's death, a flash mob of Morph characters was organised in London outside the Tate Modern art gallery.
In 2009, the BBC drama Ashes to Ashes featured Morph in a guest appearance as a representation of a present-day medic.
In 29 October 2013, Peter Lord (co-founder of Aardman Animations) created a fund raising project on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter. The campaign set a target of £75,000 to be used to fund 12 new one minute episodes. The target was reached on 6 November 2013 after only 9 days, attracting contributions from over 1,700 backers who will receive a variety of rewards, including early access to the new animations and a small box of clay used in the production, depending on the individual's level of funding.
In January 2014, Peter Lord and Aardman started production on 15 brand new episodes of Morph, with the help of donations from fans. The new series premiered on Morph's official YouTube channel on 4 July 2014.
In 2015, a Morph experience opened at Land's End. The Land’s End signpost was rebranded 'Lamb’s End' with original sets, models and characters from a range of Aardman productions. Visitors could also star in a real Shaun the Sheep scene, using green screen technology, and meet other characters from the Aardman family including Shaun, Wallace and Gromit.
In 2015, Morph returned to TV on CBBC on The New Adventures of Morph.
Filmography[]
| 1966–1970 | Take Hart |
| 1973–1974 | The Amazing Adventures of Morph |
| 1977–1980 | Hartbeat |
| 1994–2005 | SMart |
| 1994 | The Morph Files |
| 1996 | Morph TV (with Tony Hart) |
| 1998 | On Your Marks |
| 2004 | Morph (TV series) |
| 2007 | Ashes to Ashes (guest appearance) |
| 2009 | Ricky's Radical Reinventions |
| 2010–2011 | Brand New Morph |
| 2014–present | The New Adventures of Morph |
Website[]
The Morph website was a new move by Aardman. When viewing the website, the page could be scrolled across horizontally instead of vertically. The website included news, videos, products, pictures, wallpapers and avatars.
In March 2025, the official website was closed down alongside that of Lloyd of the Flies for undisclosed reasons. All the website's links currently redirect to the Aardman website's page for Morph.
