Animation Magazine is reporting that due to the box office failure of Wallace And Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit and creative friction in the production of the upcoming Flushed Away, DreamWorks has announced it has “no plans” to work with the celebrated stop-motion company after the release of Flushed Away on November 3. This new film was the second in a three-prcture deal previously announced, and ironically the first to drop Aardman’s acclaimed animation process in favor of DreamWorks’ established computer animation method, leading to speculation that the Bristol, England-based company did not take kindly to half of their film being animated by DreamWorks in the US while Aardman got to grips with using the relatively alien CG software.

For DreamWorks, the move will cut back the number of animated films they will be able to deliver annually, while Aardman now faces the uphill struggle of keeping their larger operation going and searching for a new US distribution partner. For audiences, it sadly means that the stone-age John Cleese comedy Crood Awakening and the long-in-development The Tortoise And The Hare won’t be happening after all. Although both companies are unlikely to address these issues until after the US release of Flushed Away, sources from DreamWorks and Aardman have confirmed the breaking of the partnership.