Wallace, Gromit and a new use for lentils: Aardman exhibition aims to break records – and recruit children

An illuminating show at the Young V&A in London showcases the work of the world’s leading stop-motion studio

What would Wallace - everyone’s favourite amateur Yorkshire inventor – look like with a moustache, straw boater and postman’s coat? Would a huge set of teeth suit his faithful beagle, Gromit? How about a nose shaped like a banana?

Such questions are answered by an illuminating and sometimes alarming exhibition at east London’s Young V&A that showcases the work of the world’s leading stop-motion outfit, the Bristol-based Aardman studios. Early sketches for Nick Park’s much-loved characters reveal that Wallace was once just a few bristles short of Hitler, while Gromit had fangs and the ability to speak.