LOS ANGELES -- Wallace & Gromit are leaving Hollywood -- for now.

DreamWorks Animation SKG said it has ended an exclusive production arrangement with the British maker of the award-winning claymation series "Wallace & Gromit," who won critical acclaim but struggled at the box office.

The decision regarding Aardman Animations came after DreamWorks said last year it would take a writedown in the fourth quarter to account for losses from the latest Aardman film, the computer-animated "Flushed Away."

DreamWorks has not revealed the size of the writedown, but analysts have suggested it could be more than $100 million.

The film cost DreamWorks $142.9 million and took in about $50 million at the box office.

Distributed by DreamWorks, Aardman's "Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit" won the Best Animated Feature Oscar last year.

An Aardman spokesman, Arthur Sheriff, said that the split is amicable, and the company is continuing to develop both computer-animated and stop-action projects.

He said that Aardman intends to announce new distribution plans soon.

Prior to its partnership with DreamWorks, two of three "Wallace & Gromit" films won Best Animated Short Oscars.

The company also produced the claymation feature hit "Chicken Run."