” Well, you can forget what you’ve learned at training college. Because at the end of the day, there’s just one thing that matters in this job – a copper’s gut.”
Wallace and Gromit is the brainchild of animator Nick Park. The British filmmaker tried for years to bring his clay creations alive, but on his own finished a mere 10 minutes in a little over 2 years. When he met up with Aardman Animations, he was teamed up with the creative talents he needed to make his dream come alive, and come alive these two characters did indeed. They’ve become an overnight sensation in the UK and now all over the world. I was introduced to the characters with the full length feature Wallace And Gromit In The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit. I have to admit that I was completely won over by the magic of this creation. It’s so simple looking that it almost appears to be child’s play. The truth could not be further from the perception. Stop motion animation goes back to the beginning of the cinema itself. Pioneered by the genius Willis O’Brian and perfected by Ray Harryhausen, it is one of the most painstakingly tedious tasks in the film industry today. It has been all but abandoned except for a select few who still follow in the footsteps of greatness. Give Nick Park credit for keeping the art alive and making it look effortless.
Wallace is an inventor. His home is overflowing with various devices that have become a part of his daily routine. He has an automatic system for waking up and dressing him. He has automatic food dispensers. If there’s an overly complicated way to do something, Wallace has figured it out. Wallace is particularly fond of cheese. His dog, Gromit, might not say a word, but he’s the smart one in the family. He bores of Wallace’s devices and ideas and often ends up getting him out of trouble in the end. Their world is completely stop motion with most of the objects made out of clay just like the old Claymation days of old. Over the last decade or so there haven’t been a lot of adventures for the duo, but they have certainly appeared on many products from toothpaste holders to underwear.
it might be curious to note that this film is a sequel but not to the franchise’s last feature film and that was already 17 years ago. Instead the film reaches back longer into the past and is a sequel to the short The Wrong Trousers. For so many years Wallace was voiced by Peter Sallis, but Peter is no longer with us. He’s left us a wonderful legacy as Wallace but now that voice belongs to Ben Whitehead. Whitehead honors Peter’s inflections and while Wallace certainly sounds different on the surface I think the emotional beats remain. Fans of the films will remember villain Feathers McGraw, which is what takes this film back to The Wrong Trousers. Feathers has been in prison plotting his revenge against the farmer/inventor and his faithful pup. In the meantime Wallace’s latest invention is a “smart gnome” (Shearsmith) in a nice satire of the technology-dependent era in which we live. The Gnome can help Wallace with his garden giving him more time to invent. But Gromit thinks it’s gone too far and Wallace is too dependent on his inventions. All of this heads to a wonderful Terminator theme when an army of these gnomes battles Wallace in the future after Feathers hacks the gnome’s programming. There are plenty of other film franchise Easter eggs and all of the charm the franchise has always given us. The stop-motion is wonderful and it will transport you maybe not to the future but to a past when craftsmen made movies.
I’m a bit amazed at the popularity of something that has so little material out there. Certainly it’s cute and entertaining, but it just leaves you wanting more. I know. That’s what good stuff is supposed to do. But, does it need to keep us waiting quite so long? I was disappointed this feature film wasn’t included nor was there any information on it in the latest Complete Collection release. It’s worth tracking down. It’s Wallace & Gromit. “Write it down”.
