So over the weekend, I was doing some early spring cleaning, when I stumbled upon three movies that were part of my childhood. The three tapes were at the time of there making, a trilogy of short films made by Nick Park of Aardman Animations, who hail from our neighbors across the pond (Great Britain). If there is ever a time when movies show the great relationship between man and his dog, and the great adventures they share (while at the same time make us laugh), this is it. Yes, people, I am talking about Wallace and Gromit.
In my History of Animation class, we talked about different types of animation, and claymation (clay animation) came up on the list. Since I found the three movies over the weekend, I figured for my first true blog post, I would talk about the three movies.
A Grand Day Out (1989)
This is the first film of the franchise made by Nick Park, while he was still a student at the National Film and Television School, and also working for Aardman Animations. This film took him six years to complete. Peter Sallis is the voice of Wallace, an inventor. Wallace lives his dog, Gromit. The film starts in there house, with Wallace figuring out what are he and Gromit are going to do for upcoming Bank Holiday. Being the big time cheese lover that he is, Wallace goes into the kitchen to get some cheese and crackers, only to find there is no cheese left in the fridge. Wallace and Gromit don’t have to look far to go find more cheese: they decide to spend there bank holiday on moon….because everybody knows the moon is made of cheese…. W &G build a rocket and take off for the moon. Upon landing on the moon, W & G search for “lunar” cheese. At the same time, a robot named Cooker (because he looks like an oven) who lives on the moon, is not happy strangers have come, and inspects the rocket. After seeing a vacation magazine with ski resorts in it, he gets motivated to go sking himself. W & G return to the rocket to go home, only to see that Cooker is trying hitch a ride home as well. W & G quickly take off, leaving Cooker behind, but not before Cooker finds scrap pieces of metal from the rocket, in which he turns into a pair of skis, and everybody lives happily ever after!
The Wrong Trousers (1993)
The 2nd film in the original trilogy. It is Gromit’s birthday, but he and Wallace are tight on money. But one of the gifts Gromit does get is Techno Trousers, or robotic pants that can take Gromit for a walk without Wallace. To get some fast cash, They rent out a room, to a penguin named Feathers McGraw. This penguin may look harmless at first, but underneath it all, he is one mean big time burgular and thief, whom after eyeballing the Techno Trousers, plans to use them for his own use. Feathers and Wallace friendship hits off so well, that Gromit feels Wallace pushed him aside so he leaves. After unsucessfully finding a place to sleep, Gromit goes back home. The next day, the penguin acts. Upon waking up, Wallace finds himself in the Techno Trousers, and is forced to go on a test run, all done on remote control. After the test run, Wallace falls asleep back at the house, until nightfall, when the penguin takes the trousers out again (with Wallace still inside) to take it down to the museum to steal some diamonds. The burgulary gets foiled when the alarm goes off, so the penguin with the trousers retreat back to the house, with some of the diamonds. Waiting for them was Gromit, ready to take down the penguin. A fight and chase breaks out in the house, with Wallace and Gromit being the victors, and penguin to jail.
A Close Shave (1995)
The 3rd film in the original trilogy. W & G now own a window washing bussiness. At one appointment, Wallace meets Wendolene Ramsbottom, the owner of a wool shop. They also meet Wendolene’ s robot dog Preston. Upon coming home, W & G find a sheep had eaten some things in there house; they decide to adopt it and name him Shaun. Preston does not like Gromit very much, so Preston sets him on false charges and sends Gromit to jail. After Wallace gets Gromit out of jail, they chase after Preston, who took Wendolene hostage. In the end Preston gets destroyed , W & G are the victors.
Post-trilogy
Since 1995 Wallace and Gromit have stared in:
Cracking Contraptions (2002)- Series of mini episodes (about 2 mins. each)
The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)- 1st full lenth film shown in theaters.
A Matter of Loaf and Death (2008)- 1st short film since A Close Shave in 1995.
World of Inventions (2010)- TV series coming soon on BBC.
Two spin-offs:
Shaun the Sheep (2007)- TV series
Timmy Time (2009)-TV Series
