Wallace & Gromit Reviews

Collage of 4 photos of the plasticine stop-motion man and dog characters Wallace and Gromit. The first shows them waving from inside a circle beneath their names. The second shows Wallace with a pincer device and Gromit brandishing a spray gun. The third shows the two of them riding on a sleigh with presents, with Wallace wearing a Santa hat and a red scarf while Gromit is wearing reindeer antlers. And the fourth image shows Wallace and Gromit in their festively decorated living room, accompanied by a grinning garden gnome, and all 3 of them are wearing Santa hats and holding gift-wrapped presents.

This Christmas a brand new, long overdue, fabulously joyful, feature-length Wallace & Gromit story has just graced our screens, marking the 35th anniversary of their very first short film in 1989, and a full 16 years since their last one. So in celebration of that I’ve also rewatched their previous adventures recently, which have won several BAFTAs, Oscars and other awards between them.

In this post therefore, which isn’t sponsored as usual, I’m going to review their previous films, including the extras on the Blu-ray and DVD releases I own, as well as my first reactions to their latest movie. I hope you enjoy!

Contents

Introduction

I absolutely adore the stop-motion animation in these films, by the incredibly talented creator Nick Park and the amazing team at Aardman, as the characters are so expressive and feel so real. Even Gromit and other silent cast members are like an open book, as their body language perfectly conveys everything they’re feeling, even in subtle little ways, and even with minimal body parts that be used for that purpose.

The devious penguin Feathers McGraw, for example, has just two tiny beady eyes, a beak that doesn’t open and a couple of short little wings, yet the way he stares, poses and moves tells you absolutely everything, it’s quite mind-blowing how they do that. And Gromit, who is generally the main star of the films as he investigates things and helps to save the day, evokes so much warmth, humour and a wide range of emotional responses.

So you really do form a close connection with the two leads and the other characters they encounter, and to put that across so well and with such consistency in this style of animation is an astonishing feat.

It also helps, of course, that the stories and dialogue are brilliantly written in the first place, full of heart and humour from start to finish, and a fair amount of dramatic tension as well. The fact that they got Last Of The Summer Wine star Peter Sallis to voice Wallace was a genius move too, as he was perfect in the role. He sadly passed away in 2017, and since then the character has been voiced by Ben Whitehead in video games and commercials. This year’s new TV adventure is therefore the first proper Wallace & Gromit film that Ben has appeared in, and to be fair he’s very good, the character still sounds much the same. You have to listen very, very closely to notice any difference.

Beyond all of that, there’s so much attention to detail in other ways as well, including the sets, landscapes, costumes, inventions and props, even in the background. The films are littered with all sorts of fun references, visual gags and Easter eggs. And then there’s the gloriously uplifting and atmospheric music by Julian Nott, including that iconic theme tune, that adds another layer of magic to the whole production.

Ultimately, the characters and their adventures just fill you with joy and are so quintessentially British, and you can tell it’s such a labour of love for Nick Park and Aardman because of the time and care they take to produce every film. And that’s why it’s become so immensely popular, not just in the UK but internationally as well, because nobody else does anything quite like this. It really does feel special.

Short Films

Blu-ray Collection

In November I bought the new 2-disc Blu-ray edition of their short films, which is an upgrade from my previous version, and it’s been fun to go through it all. The first film is 24 minutes long, while the other three are half an hour each, so they only take a couple of hours to watch. But there are a lot of extras as well, a couple of which are new to this release, that extend the watch time well beyond that.

There are some frustrations however. Firstly there’s no audio description, which is a huge oversight for something so popular that relies on silent characters like Gromit to carry a lot of the story, although thankfully I can see well enough to manage without it. And secondly, the menu system is very hard to navigate. The main menu shows Wallace reading the newspaper, so you have to look through the headlines to get to the different options, which are in quite random positions and formatted in different ways. And then when you get into the submenus for the films and extra features, the options are in very small text and listed in black, and the selection highlight is in red, so it’s hard to figure out what you’re clicking on.

Those niggles aside, however, the actual content is still very enjoyable and comprehensive, so it’s well worth the purchase. There is also a 4K release, but I don’t have the equipment to watch that, nor would I have the eyesight to properly judge it anyway, so I haven’t got that edition.

Front cover of the Wallace & Gromit Collection Blu-ray, showing the two plasticine characters standing at a large round porthole, each holding a cracker with a lump of cheese on it.
Back cover of the Wallace & Gromit Collection Blu-ray, listing a brief description with a screenshot for each of their 4 short films, namely A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave and A Matter Of Loaf and Death. It also lists the various extra features available in the set.
Main menu on the Wallace & Gromit Collection Blu-ray. It shows a spread open newspaper being held by Wallace, whose eyes we can see through a big hole in the top centre of the spread. The names of the short films, plus options for special features and subtitles, are spread around the newspaper to look like headlines. The headline image on the front cover of the paper, on the right of the spread, is a video showing clips from the films. In this screenshot it shows Gromit also reading a newspaper.

A Grand Day Out

Wallace and Gromit have run out of cheese in their first adventure from 1989, so they build a rocket to go to the moon, because everyone knows it’s made of the stuff. But will it be as good as the Wensleydale they usually enjoy? When they get there, a coin-operated robot also takes an interest in them and dreams of a more exciting life, and even that character is remarkably expressive considering it’s just a machine.

The animation, which took 6 years to complete, may be relatively crude compared to the later films, but it still looks incredible, especially when you consider there’s no CGI involved, so all of the effects were done in-camera, using double exposures where necessary. Being on a tight budget and working by yourself forces you to be all the more creative, so it really enabled Nick Park to show his talents from the outset. Aardman did invite him to join them partway through production so they could help him finish it, but it’s ultimately all his own work.

The Wrong Trousers

The duo really hit the big time with this evergreen film from 1993, which won over 30 international accolades, including an Academy Award for Best Animated Film, making it the second Oscar for Nick Park and Aardman after Creature Comforts.

It’s also the story that introduces us to Feathers McGraw, a penguin who becomes a lodger at Wallace’s house, much to the anger and suspicion of Gromit, who finds himself so neglected that he runs away. But the dog soon discovers that Feathers is a wanted criminal, and upon investigation sees him using Wallace’s new Techno Trousers – a robotic device originally created to take Gromit for walks – to help him steal a diamond from a museum. So Gromit sets out to save his master from getting into trouble.

It’s an enormous amount of fun, with highlights including an invention that gets Wallace down to breakfast quickly (starting a running gag of increasingly elaborate wakeup devices across their films), the diamond theft sequence with a sleeping Wallace trapped in the special trousers, and of course the hilarious chase on the model railway at the end. The latter is my favourite scene out of all their films, as it’s such a perfectly paced and superbly animated combination of action, comedy and music. It’s all ridiculously implausible as well, sure, but that’s part of the fun.

And when you remind yourself that it’s all painstakingly hand-made stop-motion animation, at a time when technology was nowhere near as advanced as it is today, that chase alone is an astonishing piece of television. You could make it on a computer much more easily nowadays, but it still wouldn’t be as effective. It needs that human touch and all the inherent imperfections that come with it.

A Close Shave

This is another Oscar-winner from 1995, which gave us the adorable Shaun the Sheep, who got his name after accidentally being shaved (i.e. shorn) in Wallace’s Knit-o-Matic machine. He was so loved by the fans that he went on to have his own successful spin-off show for children, which I’ve never been interested in watching, but I know it’s still going and will be back for a 7th series next year.

His debut here, however, sees him escaping from a truck run by sheep rustlers Wendolene Ramsbottom (voiced by Anne Reid) and her dog Preston, and hiding in Wallace & Gromit’s house. Wallace is blissfully unaware to begin with though, and falls in love with Wendolene when he and Gromit visit her wool shop to clean the windows (and they have a brilliantly automated way of getting to the job quickly).

Gromit’s much more alert though, and quickly figures out that all is not well, but his attempts to get to the bottom of it result in him being framed and imprisoned for sheep rustling. Clever little Shaun frees him though, with the help of other sheep and Wallace, and they pursue Wendolene and Preston, resulting in another fantastic chase sequence and a tense showdown in Preston’s factory, followed by an emotional goodbye between Wendolene and Wallace. So it’s another great adventure, which makes you laugh while also tugging at the heartstrings.

A Matter Of Loaf And Death

This BAFTA winner and Oscar nominee was served up in 2008, 3 years after their feature-length film Curse Of The Were-Rabbit, though has no connection to it, so it doesn’t matter which order you watch them in. The production of this film was considerably quicker than their previous adventures, as this was the first film made by Aardman with the aid of software called Stop Motion Pro.

This time the pair have their own bakery business, through which Wallace finds another love interest when he and Gromit have to rescue ‘Bake-O-Lite girl’ Piella Bakewell (voiced by Coronation Street star Sally Lindsay) from her out-of-control bicycle, and before long she’s moved into the house and they’ve got engaged.

The ever-alert Gromit isn’t convinced however, and upon sneaking into her house is horrified to discover that she’s the serial killer behind the deaths of 12 bakers (one of whom is voiced by Ben Whitehead, who today plays Wallace). And she’s therefore looking for her baker’s dozen with Wallace as number 13. So Gromit desperately tries to alert his owner as to what’s going on, though Piella makes it rather difficult, even pretending that Gromit has bitten her to turn Wallace against him.

Piella’s adorable poodle Fluffles, however, is clearly anxious and distressed by the behaviour of her owner, and a strong connection develops between her and Gromit during the episode. It gets to the point where she plays a pivotal role in the final explosive showdown, having acquired the confidence to stand up and take action. So it’s sweet for Gromit to have a cute new canine friend, and it’s nice to see her character develop throughout the episode.

And overall it’s just another great adventure. I don’t think it quite tops The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave, if only because of how impossibly high they had set the bar, but it’s still really good fun.

Extras

The Blu-ray has a generous selection of about 4½ hours of extra features across both discs, including several interesting commentaries and documentaries and other behind the scenes material.

Firstly, on Disc 1, you get the following:

  • Audio Commentaries – Nick Park and his colleagues give really interesting insights into the thought processes and production behind each film, and point out little details and mistakes you might have missed, so these are well worth listening to.
  • The Amazing World Of Wallace & Gromit (15 minutes) – A lovely feature, narrated by Andrew Sachs, that was made to mark the 10th anniversary of Wallace & Gromit, looking at how it developed and became such an enormous worldwide success. It includes interviews with Nick Park and others at Aardman, as we learn how he came to be involved with the company and worked on other things like Creature Comforts and the Sledgehammer music video for Peter Gabriel, as well as the first 3 Wallace & Gromit films.
  • Inside The Wrong Trousers (24 minutes) – Another very interesting documentary, which is effectively split into two halves. First Nick Park talks in depth about the two main characters and how they developed, shows his first ever animation from the 1970s, and reveals more about how the Sledgehammer music video and Creature Comforts clips were made during his early days at Aardman. Then he delves into The Wrong Trousers, including a demonstration of the intricate process involved in filming just a single line of dialogue for Wallace, while Steve Box explains how he animated Feathers McGraw.
  • A Close Shave: How They Did It (5 minutes) – This provides a short breakdown of some of the digital effects that were incorporated into the film, firstly during the jailbreak scene when Shaun is cutting through the bars and sparks are flying, and then the motorbike chase when Gromit’s sidecar separates from the bike and turns into a plane. So it’s a shame it’s not a full documentary feature, but it’s nice to have anyway.
  • The Making Of A Matter Of Loaf And Death: How They Donut (20 minutes) – This is a great behind the scenes look at the making of this adventure, where Nick and his colleagues talk about developing the story and characters, and we see how the animation is put together.
  • When Wallace Met Harvey (5 minutes) – A nice look at how Aardman partnered with Harvey Nichols to create an advertising campaign to launch their new Bristol store, with Wallace, Gromit and Lady Tottington modelling some of the fashions. They’ve also featured in many other commercials over the years of course, of which there are several video examples on the Wallace & Gromit Youtube channel.
  • Scrapbook (4 minutes) – Slideshow galleries of the blueprints for Wallace’s inventions and images from the four short films, including a few behind the scenes photos for the first three adventures.
  • Shaun The Sheep Trailer (38 seconds) – A quick montage of clips to promote the Series 1 DVD of this spin-off. It’s not a show I’m interested in watching or buying as it’s heavily aimed at kids, but it’s clearly very well made.

Those are all the same extras that were included on the older single-disc release. The only thing that hasn’t been carried over is the playable PC demo of Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures, as it’s unlikely to be compatible with modern computers. So that’s no great loss.

Disc 2 then presents a couple of features that are also available on Aardman’s Youtube channel. They hadn’t been available on the previous Blu-ray collection, so they make it well worth the upgrade to this edition:

  • Cracking Contraptions (21 minutes) – A funny collection of 10 short sketches from 2002 about unnecessarily elaborate new inventions by Wallace that nearly all go wrong in some way, with Gromit despairing at his master’s naivety. They include a remote controlled shopping trolley, a robotic chef, a Christmas card maker, a complicated way of operating the TV, a snowman-building machine, a self-defence vest, a robot vacuum cleaner, a dinner preparation contraption, a sleep assistant, and a football goal-scoring machine. These had previously been released on the DVD for The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit, but they were lower resolution and don’t even fill the screen. So it’s great to have them in much better quality on this Blu-ray.

Soundtrack

Sadly there has never been a proper soundtrack album released for the short films. However, it appears Julian Nott distributed a short promo CD for A Close Shave many years ago, featuring 7 wonderful tracks that somebody has thankfully posted online:

  1. Wallace & Gromit Theme (1:04)
  2. Wallace And Gromit Are Go! (1:00)
  3. Shaun In The Machine (1:11)
  4. Chase (3:15) – The longest and best piece of music on the album, with so much energy and drama to it, and you can clearly picture the action in your head if you’re familiar with the film.
  1. The Factory (1:11)
  2. He’s A Robot! (2:25) – Sadly, and strangely, this is the only track of the 7 to have been blocked by Aardman at the time of writing.
  3. Train Chase (1:20) – This is the score to that classic scene in The Wrong Trousers, so it’s the only track on the CD that isn’t from A Close Shave.

The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit

DVD Release

Wallace & Gromit’s first feature-length adventure, produced in collaboration with Dreamworks rather than the BBC, was released in 2005, and won the team their third Oscar for the duo’s adventures since The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave. I own the 2-disc special edition DVD of this movie, so I also rewatched that after enjoying their short films. The menus are quite nicely designed on this one, with animated moments and music from the movie, and even the loading copyright screens and trailers are skippable.

The front cover of the DVD for Wallace And Gromit, The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit. It shows Wallace in a blue hat and uniform holding a long pincer device, and Gromit wearing a blue hat as he hold a large spray gun, while a large silhouette of a rabbit towers over them in front of the moon in the background.
The back cover of the DVD for Wallace And Gromit, The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit. Next to the text giving a synopsis of the film is an image of Wallace in a blue uniform while holding a large pipe pointing upwards from the ground, while Gromit, wearing a blue cap, sits on a seat suspended in mid-air, attached to a complex metal machine on top of their car. Both characters are giving a thumbs up sign.

The Film

This adventure lasts 1 hour and 20 minutes, and sees Wallace & Gromit running a pest control business. They’re in high demand ahead of the town’s upcoming vegetable competition, as the residents are desperate to keep the rabbits out of their gardens, especially Lady Tottington (Helena Bonham Carter) who employs our heroes to rid her field of the creatures. They take the rabbits away alive, much to the annoyance of her admirer, Lord Victor Quartermaine (Ralph Fiennes), who’d much rather shoot the critters instead.

Because they run a humane business, Wallace & Gromit’s house is becoming increasingly overrun by the rabbits they’re keeping alive at home. But Wallace has a brainwave, quite literally, as he uses his brand new, completely untested, mind manipulation invention to try and implant a hatred of vegetables in the rabbits’ heads. It goes wrong, however, and results in a giant rabbit causing carnage in the town whenever there’s a full moon.

While it’s initially assumed to be one of the rabbits that becomes a giant during the night, it actually turns out to be Wallace undergoing the transformation, while an innocent rabbit is morphing into Wallace instead! So Gromit has to try and save his master before a bloodthirsty Victor shoots him.

It’s a fun film that doesn’t feel too long, with lots of great gags in the dialogue, actions and visual details, and the big chase sequence is a dogfight in every sense of the phrase, as Gromit battles with Victor’s canine companion in miniature planes. There are other enjoyable guest stars too, including comedian Peter Kay as the policeman (who has returned in Vengeance Most Fowl), Nicholas Smith (Mr Rumbold from Are You Being Served?) as the vicar, Mark Gatiss (known for The League Of Gentlemen and Sherlock) as Miss Blight, Geraldine McEwan as Miss Thripp (who appeared again in A Matter Of Loaf And Death), John Thomson (from The Fast Show and other comedies) as Mr. Windfall, and Ben Whitehead (who nowadays plays Wallace) as Mr. Leaching.

Extras

The DVD has a lot of extras, the majority of which are on Disc 1:

  • Audio Commentary – An interesting discussion between Nick Park and Steve Box, who wrote and directed the film together.
  • Deleted Scenes (13 minutes) – A selection of material that was cut from the movie or not even filmed in the first place, with optional commentary from Nick and Steve. There are storyboards of an alternative opening, 2 alternative endings and a theme song for the Anti-Pesto business, plus deleted moments featuring the policeman, the mind manipulation machine, Gromit walking through the garden. the launch of Gromit and Hutch into the Anti-Pesto van, and alternative visuals for Wallace’s revival.
  • The History Of Wallace & Gromit (20 minutes) – This gives a good overview of the duo’s creation and previous adventures for those unfamiliar with it, and takes a look at the Were-Rabbit film too. It includes interviews with Nick Park and others from Aardman, as well as a few of the voice actors.
  • Behind The Scenes (13 minutes) – This is an American promo piece that assumes the viewer has little to no knowledge of the film or Wallace & Gromit. So it outlines the basic story and the characters, and even explains what plasticine and stop-motion animation are. But along the way it does give a nice glimpse into how the film was made, and again includes interviews with the production team and voice actors.
  • A Day In The Life At Aardman (8 minutes) – This is an interesting whistle-stop tour of the studio in Bristol by assistant director Vinny Cannon, meeting lots of the staff who are working on the film.
  • How To Build A Bunny (3 minutes) – Harriet Thomas, Model Making Team Leader, demonstrates how they make the little rabbits.
  • The Family Album – Little galleries of signs, storyboards, the two lead characters and behind the scenes.
  • Previews (8 minutes) – Trailers for Madagascar, Shark Tale, Shrek 2, Nanny McPhee, and the interactive DVD game for The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (not to be confused with the PS2 & Xbox video game), where you and your family or friends help them to run their Anti-Pesto business from the film. The trailer for the game is slightly interactive, in the sense that you can press Play to skip to the actual footage, but if you leave it running you’ll see Wallace & Gromit exchange looks and make occasional remarks before the preview kicks in.
  • Dreamworks Kids Games & Activities – A few short interactive things for children, including a game to help Wallace & Gromit catch the bunnies (by pressing numbers on your remote when they appear on screen), Victor’s guide to being cool (presented as tips in a book with clips from the film), dressing up Lady Tottington (by selecting elements of her outfit from her wardrobe), a step-by-step guide on how to build your own bunny (which repeats the earlier feature with Harriet, broken up into steps), and a note that there are DVD-ROM features for Windows PC users (which probably won’t work on modern machines).

Disc 2 then has almost an hour of additional features:

  • Making Of The Were-Rabbit (10 minutes) – Nick Park and the Aardman team reveal how they designed and built the monster at the heart of the film, and the challenges they had to overcome along the way, which is quite interesting.
  • The Amazing World Of Wallace & Gromit / Cracking Contraptions – Both of these are also in the new Blu-ray collection of short films in better quality, as listed above.
  • Stage Fright (11 minutes) – This is a BAFTA-winning short animation from 1997 by Steve Box. It’s about a guy called Tiny who discovers that vaudeville audiences are embracing the new era of silent movies, and are no longer interested in watching his performing dogs, while his colleague Daphne is pursuing her movie dreams by starring in a production with fellow actor Arnold, who is rather a menacing bully. It’s therefore much darker in tone than Wallace & Gromit and nowhere near as good, so it’s an odd inclusion as an extra really. But it’s interesting to see once out of curiosity.

Soundtrack

The score for the film was composed by Julian Nott of course, and produced by Hans Zimmer, who has worked on countless blockbusters including his Oscar-winning scores for The Lion King and Dune. It’s a perfect combination, as the soundtrack is fun, atmospheric and cinematic.

So I’m glad I have the accompanying album, which includes the following tracks:

  1. A Grand Day Out (1:54) – The dramatic opening sting that accompanies the Dreamworks and Aardman logos, juxtaposed with the jolly and catchy Wallace & Gromit theme we all know and love, which then contrasts again with the spooky sting for the film’s title.
  1. Anti-Pesto To The Rescue (3:19) – From a slow and spooky start, this builds nicely to the triumphant music as Wallace & Gromit set off for their next job, one of a few central motifs that are repeated during the soundtrack.
  2. Bless You, Anti-Pesto (1:56) – The opening 45 seconds of this is effectively a very regal version of the Wallace & Gromit theme. It would have been perfect entrance music for Nick Park when receiving his CBE 8 years earlier, in 1997. The track has a mixture of styles though, including a section where you can easily imagine the rabbits hopping around.
  3. Lady Tottington And Victor (2:04)
  4. Fire Up The Bun-Vac (1:48)
  1. Your Ladyship (1:08)
  2. Brainwash And Go (2:29)
  3. Harvest Offering (2:31)
  4. Arson Around (2:24)
  5. A Big Trap (3:28)
  6. The Morning After (1:45)
  7. Transformation (4:06)
  8. Ravaged In The Night (1:45)
  9. Fluffy Lover Boy (4:36)
  10. Kiss My Artichoke (4:31)
  11. Dogfight (3:39) – A great piece of music for the big chase, perfectly representing the mix of drama and humour.
  1. Every Dog Has His Day (2:43)
  2. All Things Fluffy (1:08) – A cheery piece to finish with a big fanfare at the end.
  3. Wallace And Gromit (1:09) – Catchy reprise of the theme tune with a definitive end, as opposed to the opening version that segued into a horror theme for the title.

Total Runtime = 48:21

Musical Marvels Prom

As a further celebration of Wallace & Gromit’s return this Christmas, the 2012 Wallace & Gromit prom was repeated on BBC Four on December 22nd, and became available again on iPlayer for a month as a result.

The characters of Wallace & Gromit standing next to each other. Wallace is smiling widely, while Gromit holding a violin. They are standing in front of a circle made of piano keys. Text reads Wallace & Gromit's Musical Marvels, with the character names above the circle, and the show title at the bottom.

The concert, performed at the Royal Albert Hall on 29 July 2012, features the Aurora Orchestra conducted by Nicholas Collon, with guest Tasmin Little on violin. We also see specially animated footage of Wallace and Gromit backstage, as they prepare for the debut of a new composition by Wallace called “My Concerto In Ee, Lad”, though inevitably things don’t go to plan, so Wallace has to make contact with the conductor to keep the show flowing while he tries to fix things.

Along the way we hear a nice selection of music, including:

  • The Wallace & Gromit theme by Julian Nott, of course.
  • The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky, a dramatic piece accompanied by clips of the villains Wallace & Gromit have encountered, which are timed nicely with the music.
  • Clair De Lune by Claude Debussy, alongside clips of Wallace’s romantic interests.
  • Overture The Magic Flute by Mozart, which plays while Wallace tries to repair the lights he accidentally fused.
  • Symphony No. 4 in C Minor, Fugue from 1st Movement by Dmitry Shostakovich, which plays with clips of chases from the films.
  • A swing-style number which is used to introduce children to the different instruments in the orchestra, building the parts gradually until it becomes a big rendition of I Got Rhythm by George Gershwin.

Things have been such a disaster backstage, however, that Wallace has lost the music for his composition. So once again it’s up to Gromit to save the day, and he quickly scribbles out a composition of his own, which he performs as a lovely violin duet with Tasmin. A reprise of the Wallace & Gromit theme then finishes everything off.

Altogether the programme lasts just over 40 minutes, so it’s fairly short really. But it was longer for the audience on the day, as they also got to see a screening of A Matter Of Loaf And Death with the live score provided by the orchestra. It’s a shame that wasn’t included in the broadcast as well really.

So it’s a wonderful concert, and proved to be so successful at the time that it blossomed into a full Musical Marvels tour. I went to one of the shows with my friend Claire in 2019, which included another full screening with a live score, on that occasion being for The Wrong Trousers, and it was a really special experience.

The stage for Wallace & Gromit's Musical Marvels, after the orchestra have left. Wallace & Gromit appear on the large screen at the back, in among the text giving the title of the show. The conductor's podium has a red and white striped lever, rather like a railway signal, that can be lowered behind the conductor.

Vengeance Most Fowl

Promotion

Wallace & Gromit’s brand new adventure aired on Christmas Day, so it’s now available on BBC iPlayer in the UK, and will land on Netflix elsewhere in the world on January 3rd. And that’s come after a lot of fun promotional activity, including:

  • BBC and Netflix trailers released to the public in November. The Netflix trailer is longer (2 minutes compared to 30 seconds for the BBC), so is of more interest if you want a better taste of the film.
Wallace and Gromit on the cover of the Christmas Radio Times for 2024. They're carrying presents as they fly in a sleigh, with a grinning Wallace wearing a Santa hat and a red scarf, while his canine pal Gromit has reindeer antlers on his head and a red scarf with white patterning around his neck. To the left of Wallace, beneath the full width Radio Times logo in white, is smaller white text reading "It's the legendary double issue, Gromit." Large white text at the bottom of the cover says "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year", with smaller text beneath saying "14 days of the best TV, streaming, film and radio." The price next to the barcode on the right says that the issue costs £5.95.

So clearly Aardman have really worked their socks off for this festive release, beyond just the film itself, which is amazing.

And on top of all that, creator Nick Park and his co-director Merlin Crossingham have put a lot of time aside to do video interviews which have been shared by various channels on Youtube, including:

There’s also a great text interview with Nick on the BBC News website, including a brief chat with new Wallace voice artist Ben Whitehead as well.

The Film

It’s been 16 years since the last Wallace & Gromit film, and 30 years since The Wrong Trousers that this new 75-minute production is a sequel to. So there was a lot riding on its success given the popularity of the franchise, and after all the hype over the last couple of months.

But the wait has been oh so worth it. Vengeance Most Fowl is an absolute delight from start to finish, with all the comedy, drama, action and warmth you’d expect. Ben Whitehead is excellent as the new voice for Wallace, practically indistinguishable from the late Peter Sallis, and there’s a great roster of guest stars. Plus there’s an abundance of visual gags and references as always, many of which I’ll only spot on later rewatches I’m sure.

I’m not going to give everything away here, but there are a few spoilers ahead. So if you don’t want to read on, please just be reassured that the film’s essential viewing if you’re a Wallace & Gromit fan. Nick Park and Aardman haven’t let us down, they’re still on top form.

Wallace has been inventing like crazy – including what is by far his most absurdly elaborate wake-up and breakfast routine to date – and he’s created a smart gnome called Norbot (Reece Shearsmith from The League of Gentlemen), which quickly irritates Gromit as it happily does everything Wallace asks of it while singing a jolly song, and it revamps the garden that Gromit had been tending to so lovingly. It also captures the attention of local residents, which leads Wallace to launch a new business hiring the gnome out to do various jobs for people.

Unfortunately, the news coverage of Wallace’s latest invention… and let’s just take a moment to appreciate the amusingly clever names of reporters Anton Deck (Muzz Khan) and Onya Doorstep (Diane Morgan)… is seen by Feathers McGraw, who is still imprisoned in the local zoo. So the sinister penguin finds a way to remotely hack into Norbot, turning it evil and making it build an army of gnomes. They then run amok in people’s homes and gardens, stealing all sorts of items along the way, and the homeowners naturally pin the blame on Wallace. The thefts seem to be rather random, but the gnomes are taking everything they need to help Feathers escape.

The timing is perfect for Feathers, as he’s once again after the Blue Diamond, which is about to be unveiled for a new display by Chief Inspector Macintosh (played once again by comedian Peter Kay, it’s great to have him back). The chief is overseeing a new recruit called PC Mukherjee (Lauren Patel), and while the two of them go after Wallace in response to the destruction caused by the gnomes, Feathers is free to plot his revenge.

Gromit, of course, can tell that something’s up from the moment Norbot initially turns evil, and while the army of gnomes do their best to hinder both him and Wallace from interfering, his investigations lead him to discover that Feathers is behind it all. So of course it all ends in a huge chase scene – which I won’t give details of, suffice to say it’s a perfect contrast to the train chase in The Wrong Trousers, it’s brilliantly executed, it has several hilarious moments as well as a very tense life-threatening sequence, and it’s satisfyingly different from all the chases in the previous Wallace & Gromit films.

Overall, therefore, it’s just brilliant. Is it better than The Wrong Trousers or any of the previous films? Of course not, but it’s earned its place alongside them. Could it have been shorter and still work? Probably, but you can never have enough Wallace & Gromit in my book, so the more the better. Does every single joke work? Probably not, but then you could say the same for the originals, and the hit rate here is solid as usual, it made me laugh a lot. Are the gnomes annoying? There is a fine line between how amusingly irritating they are to Gromit and whether they actually become irksome to the audience, and there are bound to be some people who don’t like them very much, but for me I think they get the balance pretty much right.

So I’m very happy with it. Having binge-watched all of their other adventures in the lead-up to this, it felt like a natural follow-up that maintained the quality. And it was great to see Feathers McGraw again – for whom the door is still very much open to return for a third time…

Soundtrack

The score for this film was composed by Lorne Balfe, incorporating Julian Nott’s existing themes from the series, and was recorded at the famous Abbey Road Studios. And not only is it magnificent, but it’s already been released as well, as the soundtrack album was made available to buy and stream on December 13, nearly 2 weeks before the special aired. It includes the following tracks:

  1. Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (3:11) – The opening track on the album is actually from the end of the film, as it plays over the credits, combining a glorious reimagining of the Wallace & Gromit theme with other music from the story. It’s very catchy and has such an epic and cinematic feel to it, it’s marvellous.
  1. Good Morning Gromit (1:59)
  2. Guilty As Charged (1:57) – A big dramatic piece to reintroduce Feathers McGraw.
  3. Neat And Tidy (1:39)
  4. Gnome Improvements (2:01)
  5. Norbot Recharge Time (2:40) – This track is credited to Jeremy Earnest.
  6. Reprogrammed For Revenge (2:41)
  7. March Of The Norbots (1:34)
  8. The Gnome Song (1:42) – The silly ditty that the gnomes sing when they work.
  1. Up To Gnome Good (1:24)
  2. The Wallaby Street Mob (2:34)
  3. The Zoo (2:56)
  4. Rush To The Museum (2:04)
  5. The Blue Diamond (2:11)
  6. Leaf It To Me (1:45)
  7. The Fast And The Furnished (1:50)
  8. A Crazed Inventor (2:55)
  9. Nun In A Tunnel (2:00)
  10. Plant Pot Pummeling (1:43)
  11. Turnip For The Books (2:29)
  12. Wallace & Gromit Theme (0:33) – A short but lovely little rendition of the theme.
  13. 8 Bit Cheese (1:16) – An enjoyably catchy console-style version of the Wallace & Gromit theme, from when Feathers is trying to hack into Norbot.

Total Runtime = 45:04

Ratings & More

January 23, 2025 Update:

Vengeance Most Fowl was the second most watched programme in the UK on Christmas Day with 9.38 million viewers (beaten only by the Gavin & Stacey finale with 12.3 million). And 2 weeks later, taking into account iPlayer as well, that figure had shot up to 16.3 million (while Gavin & Stacey were still 3 million ahead), which by then meant it was already the most watched film on British TV for 25 years!

But nearly a month on from its original broadcast, in the 28-day figures, Vengeance Most Fowl has now had 21.6 million viewers, which has overtaken Gavin & Stacey’s 20.9 million! And what’s more, it’s been nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature as well! Plus Aardman have posted a lovely behind the scenes video to show how the film was made. It just proves how hugely popular Wallace & Gromit still are, it’s so lovely to see, and I wish them the very best of luck at the Oscars!

Conclusion

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed rewatching all of Wallace & Gromit’s adventures this month, and their newest outing doesn’t disappoint, it’s been a wonderfully uplifting and very funny Christmas present from Nick Park and the team at Aardman. Their creativity and attention to detail is second to none. And the same can be said for many of their other productions for that matter, some of which I also plan to watch soon as a bit of a bonus. But Wallace & Gromit will always be their best work, and it’s been great to have them back.

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Author: Glen

Love London, love a laugh, love life. Visually impaired blogger, culture vulture & accessibility advocate, with aniridia & nystagmus, posting about my experiences & adventures.