I found this really basic video about a guilty pleasure of mine, 'Shaun the Sheep' which is shown on the children's version of the BBC. It is very similar to Wallace & Gromit but this video explains briefly about the making of the models, the making of the set, the animation process & before all that it shows about the story board being made.
I will have to follow a similar path if i choose to go down that route - I would really like to follow this up and have a go, tomorrow perhaps.
What really striked me was the fact that 12 photos make up 1 sec of an epidsode. This clearly needs very high tech equipment and knowledge.