Wallace And Gromit
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''Wallace & Gromit'' is a British
claymation Claymation, sometimes called clay animation or plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine cl ...
comedy franchise created by
Nick Park Nicholas Wulstan Park (born 6 December 1958) is an English filmmaker and animator who created '' Wallace & Gromit'', '' Creature Comforts'', '' Chicken Run'', '' Shaun the Sheep'', and '' Early Man''. Park has been nominated for an Academy ...
and produced by Aardman Animations. The series centres on Wallace, a good-natured, eccentric, cheese-loving bachelor inventor, and Gromit, his loyal and intelligent anthropomorphic dog. It consists of four short films, two feature-length films, and numerous spin-offs and TV adaptations. The first short film, '' A Grand Day Out'', was finished and released in 1989. Wallace has been voiced by Peter Sallis and Ben Whitehead. While Wallace speaks very often, Gromit is largely silent and has no dialogue, communicating through
facial expression Facial expression is the motion and positioning of the muscles beneath the skin of the face. These movements convey the emotional state of an individual to observers and are a form of nonverbal communication. They are a primary means of conveying ...
s and
body language Body language is a type of nonverbal communication in which physical behaviors, as opposed to words, are used to express or convey information. Such behavior includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use o ...
. Because of their popularity, the characters have been described as positive international cultural icons of both modern British culture and British people in general.
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
called them "some of the best-known and best-loved stars to come out of the UK".Wallace and Gromit's cracking careers
By Ian Youngs.
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
. Published 10 October 2005.
''Icons'' has said they have done "more to improve the image of the English world-wide than any officially appointed ambassadors". Park has stated that he was inspired by his childhood through the 1950s and 1960s in
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
in
Northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...
. The setting is deliberately ambiguous: the overall style resembles the 1960s, but numerous anachronisms abound, such as the use of 21st-century technology. Although
Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...
is seen at the end of Wallace's
alliterative Alliteration is the repetition of syllable-initial consonant sounds between nearby words, or of syllable-initial vowels if the syllables in question do not start with a consonant. It is often used as a List of narrative techniques#Style, litera ...
home address on his letters, his accent comes from the Holme Valley of
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...
and he is especially fond of Wensleydale cheese (from North Yorkshire). Their films have been widely praised, with the first three short films, '' A Grand Day Out'' (1989), '' The Wrong Trousers'' (1993) and '' A Close Shave'' (1995) earning 100% on ''
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
''; the feature film '' Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'' (2005) has also received acclaim. The film is the second-highest-grossing stop-motion animated film, outgrossed only by ''
Chicken Run ''Chicken Run'' is a 2000 animated adventure comedy film directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park and written by Karey Kirkpatrick from an original story by Lord and Park. Produced by Pathé and Aardman Features in partnership with DreamWork ...
'' (2000), another creation of Park's. A fourth short film, ''
A Matter of Loaf and Death ''Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death'' is a 2008 British stop-motion animated short film produced by Aardman Animations. Directed by Nick Park and written by Park and Bob Baker, it is the fifth installment in the '' Wallace & Gromit'' ...
'', was released in 2008. A second full-length feature film, '' Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl'' — marking the return of the penguin Feathers McGraw, the villain from ''The Wrong Trousers'' — was released in 2024. The franchise has received numerous accolades, including seven BAFTAs, three
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...
and a
Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...
.


History

The first short film, '' A Grand Day Out'', was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1991. The short films '' The Wrong Trousers'' and '' A Close Shave'' followed. The full-length feature ''
The Curse of the Were-Rabbit ''Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'' is a 2005 animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Animations. It is the second feature-length film by Aardman, after '' Chicken Run'' (2000). The fourth installment i ...
'' was released in 2005. The latter three each earned Academy Awards. In January 2007, a five-film deal with DreamWorks and Aardman fell through after three films, due to creative differences, as well as the box office failure of '' Flushed Away''. Park said later that DreamWorks executives wanted to Americanise the very British Wallace and Gromit after test screenings, which would have tarnished some of the duo's nostalgic charm. The fourth ''Wallace & Gromit'' short, ''
A Matter of Loaf and Death ''Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death'' is a 2008 British stop-motion animated short film produced by Aardman Animations. Directed by Nick Park and written by Park and Bob Baker, it is the fifth installment in the '' Wallace & Gromit'' ...
'', was Park's first production since the end of the DreamWorks deal. It was the most-watched television programme in the UK in 2008. ''A Matter of Loaf and Death'' won the 2008
BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to f ...
for Best Short Animation and was nominated for an Academy Award in 2010. In 2013, Peter Lord stated that there were no plans at the moment for a new short film, and Park announced in the following year that the declining health of Wallace's voice actor, Peter Sallis, had the possibility of preventing any future films despite the availability of Ben Whitehead. In May 2017, Lord stated that more projects with the characters were likely while speaking at an animation event in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
, Germany. He said, "When Nick arks not drawing cavemen, he's drawing Wallace & Gromit ... I absolutely assume he will do another, but not a feature. I think he found it was too much. I think he liked the half-hour format." Sallis died on 2 June 2017. In 2018, Park said to ''Radio Times'': " alliswas such a special one-off person with such unique qualities, it would be hard to fill his shoes but I think he'd want us to carry on and I've got more Wallace and Gromit ideas." In 2019, Park announced that a new ''Wallace & Gromit'' project is in development. "I can't give too much away because it would spoil it really, but it's Wallace & Gromit up to their old antics." In May 2020, Aardman announced the release of ''The Big Fix Up'', a Wallace & Gromit story in the form of an
augmented reality Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...
(AR)
mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...
. It features the voices of
Miriam Margolyes Miriam Margolyes ( ; born 18 May 1941) is a British and Australian actress. Known for her work as a character actor across film, television, and stage, she received the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mrs. Mingott in Marti ...
, Isy Suttie and Jim Carter and was released on 18 January 2021. In September 2021, a bronze bench statue of ''Wallace & Gromit'' was unveiled in Preston, Lancashire, Park's home town. A statue of Feathers McGraw was later added as part of an extension in February 2025. In January 2022, a new film, '' Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl'', was announced, which debuted first on the BBC on Christmas Day 2024, and was released worldwide 3 January 2025 on
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
and has been nominated for an Academy Award for best animated feature film.


Overview


Wallace

Wallace lives, along with his pet dog Gromit, at No. 62 West Wallaby Street that is in a part of
Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...
in
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...
, England. He usually wears brown woollen trousers, a white shirt with detachable sleeves, and a red tie under a green vee-necked knitted sleeveless sweater. He is fond of cheese, especially Wensleydale, with crackers. Nick Park, his creator, said: "He's a very self-contained figure. A very homely sort who doesn't mind the odd adventure." He is loosely based on Park's father and Park has never made it clear as to whether Wallace is the character's forename or surname, preferring to leave this ambiguous. Wallace was voiced by Peter Sallis until his retirement in 2010, being succeeded by Ben Whitehead since 2009. Wallace is an inveterate inventor, creating elaborate contraptions that often do not work wholly as intended. Their appearance is similar to the illustrations of W. Heath Robinson and Rube Goldberg, where Nick Park has said of Wallace that all his inventions are designed around the principle of using a "sledge-hammer to crack a nut". Some of Wallace's contraptions are based on real-life inventions. For example, his method of waking up in the morning uses a bed that tips up to wake up its owner, an invention that was exhibited at the
Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition that took ...
of 1851 by Theophilus Carter. Wallace has had three romantic interests. The first was wool shop owner Wendolene Ramsbottom, which ended quickly when Wendolene told Wallace that she was allergic to some cheese. The second was Lady Campanula Tottington in ''The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'', whom Wallace fondly calls "Totty". In ''A Matter of Loaf & Death'', Wallace becomes engaged to Piella Bakewell, who turns out to be a serial killer of bakers.


Gromit

Gromit is a dog, with a cream-coloured short-hair
coat A coat is typically an outer garment for the upper body, worn by any gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front, and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners (AKA velcro), ...
and oversized floppy dark brown ears, who is Wallace's pet and best friend. He is very intelligent, having graduated from "Dogwarts University" ("Dogwarts" being a pun on "
Hogwarts Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry () is a fictional boarding school of magic for young wizards. It is the primary setting for the first six novels in the '' Harry Potter'' series by J. K. Rowling, and also serves as a major setti ...
", the wizard school from the ''
Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' books) with a
double first The British undergraduate degree classification system is a Grading in education, grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and Master's degree#Integrated Masters Degree, integrated master's degrees in the United Kingd ...
in Engineering for Dogs. He likes knitting, playing chess, reading the newspaper, tea and cooking. His prized possessions include his alarm clock, dog bone, brush, and a framed photo of himself with Wallace. He is very handy with electronic equipment and an excellent aeroplane pilot. He often threatens the plans of the antagonists he and Wallace encounter in their adventures. Sometimes, Gromit ignores Wallace's orders, such as in ''A Close Shave'' and ''Shopper 13'', where Wallace orders him to get rid of Shaun but Gromit does not. Gromit's birthday is 12 February. In '' The Wrong Trousers'', he is seen circling the date on a calendar. Gromit has no visible mouth and expresses himself through facial expressions and body language. Peter Hawkins originally intended to voice Gromit, but Park dropped the idea when he realised how Gromit's thoughts and feelings could be known through movement with some canine noises on rare occasions. Many critics believe that Gromit's silence makes him the perfect
straight man The straight man (or straight woman in the case of female characters), also known as a "comedic foil", is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically ...
, with a
pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...
expressiveness that drew favourable comparisons to
Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...
. He does at times make dog-like noises, such as yelps and growling. According to the fortieth anniversary documentary '' A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman'', Gromit was originally supposed to be a cat, but the idea was dropped as Park realised that animating a dog was easier. Generally speaking, Gromit's tastes are more in vogue than those of Wallace; this being one of the many ways they contrast with each other as characters. Gromit seems to have a significant interest in encyclopaedic, classical and philosophical literature, and popular culture, including film and music. ''Electronics for Dogs'' has been a firm favourite since '' A Grand Day Out'', and in '' The Wrong Trousers'' Gromit's bookshelves feature titles such as ''Kites'', ''Sticks'', ''Sheep'', ''Penguins'', ''Rockets'', ''Bones'' and ''Stars'', while he is seen reading ''The Republic'', by Pluto (a nod to the Disney character of the same name and a pun on
Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born  BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
) and ''Crime and Punishment'', by Fido Dogstoyevsky (a pun on
Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are consider ...
). Gromit's various possessions make extensive use of puns: ''
A Matter of Loaf and Death ''Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death'' is a 2008 British stop-motion animated short film produced by Aardman Animations. Directed by Nick Park and written by Park and Bob Baker, it is the fifth installment in the '' Wallace & Gromit'' ...
'' features "''Pup Fiction''" (''
Pulp Fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence ...
''), "''The Dogfather''" (''
The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...
''), "''Where Beagles Dare''" (''
Where Eagles Dare ''Where Eagles Dare'' is a 1968 action adventure war film directed by Brian G. Hutton and starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. Set during World War II, it follows a Special Operations Executive team charged with saving a ca ...
''), "''Bite Club''" (''
Fight Club ''Fight Club'' is a 1999 American film directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter. It is based on the 1996 novel ''Fight Club (novel), Fight Club'' by Chuck Palahniuk. Norton plays The Narrator (F ...
'') and "''The Bone Identity''" ('' The Bourne Identity'') all as book titles, and "''Citizen Canine''" (''
Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...
'') as a film poster. In '' Vengeance Most Fowl'', he is shown reading ''A Room of One's Own'', by "Virginia Woof" (a pun on
Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...
), and ''Paradise Lost'', by "John Stilton" (a pun on
John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...
). His taste in music has been shown to cover
Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...
(presumably punning on "bark"), "Poochini" (a play on Puccini), "McFlea" (
McFly McFly are a British pop rock band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the ''Back to the Future (franchise), Back to the Future'' character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Da ...
), "The Beagles" (
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
), "Red Hot Chili Puppies" (
Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...
), "
Puppy Love Puppy love, also known as a crush, is an informal term for feelings of romantic love, often felt during childhood and early adolescence. It is an infatuation usually developed by one's looks and attractiveness at first sight. It is named for its r ...
" by Doggy Osmond ( Donny Osmond), "The Hound of Music" (
The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...
) and "Walkies on the Wild Side" by Rod Lead. Gromit gains his own love interest in ''
A Matter of Loaf and Death ''Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death'' is a 2008 British stop-motion animated short film produced by Aardman Animations. Directed by Nick Park and written by Park and Bob Baker, it is the fifth installment in the '' Wallace & Gromit'' ...
'', when he becomes attached to Fluffles, a poodle.
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
named one of its new prototype
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
explorer robots after Gromit in 2005. On 1 April 2007,
HMV HMV is an international music and entertainment retailer, founded in 1921. The brand is owned by Hilco Capital and operated by Sunrise Records, except in Japan, where it is owned and operated by Lawson. The inaugural shop was opened on Lo ...
announced that Gromit would stand in for
Nipper Nipper ( – September 1895) was a British dog. He is best known as the subject of ''His Master's Voice'' (1898), painted posthumously by his second owner, Francis Barraud. The painting became a worldwide entertainment trademark, with Nip ...
for a three-month period, promoting children's DVDs in its UK stores.


Location

Although not overtly setting the series in any particular town, Nick Park had previously hinted that its milieu was inspired by thoughts of 1950s
Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...
, reinforced by an ''A–Z Wigan'' being displayed on Wallace's Anti-Pesto van in ''The Curse of the Were-Rabbit''. In ''The Wrong Trousers'', Gromit picks up a letter at the Wallace & Gromit residence addressed to "62 West Wallaby Street, Wigan". The address includes a postcode of WG7 3FU, though this does not match any street in the United Kingdom; Wigan postcodes begin with the letters WN. This address can be seen in the ''Cracking Contraptions'' episode "Shopper 13". Wallace's accent (voiced by Peter Sallis) comes from the Holme Valley of
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...
. In the ''Cracking Contraptions'' episode " The Soccamatic", Wallace says to Gromit, "How do you like my Preston North End soccamatic, Gromit?". The episode references famous English footballers of the 1950s and '60s, including Nobby Stiles, Tom Finney and
Bill Shankly William Shankly (2 September 1913 – 29 September 1981) was a Scottish association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager who is best known for his time as manager of Liverpool F.C., Liverpool. Shankly brought su ...
(all of whom played for Preston in their careers) as well as
Geoff Hurst Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst (born 8 December 1941) is an English former professional Association football, footballer. A Striker (association football), striker, he became the first player to score a Hat-trick#Association football, hat-trick in a ...
and
Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English Association football, footballer who played as an Forward (association football)#Outside forward, outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the Br ...
. The nostalgic quality of ''Wallace & Gromit'' world has been compared to 1950s Beanotown.


Filmography


Main series


Spin-off films


Television series


Box office and reception


Box office performance


Critical and public reception


Academy Awards


Production


Stop motion technique

The ''Wallace & Gromit'' films are shot using the
stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...
animation technique. After detailed storyboarding, set and plasticine model construction, the films are shot one frame at a time, moving the models of the characters slightly to give the impression of movement in the final film. As is common with other animation techniques, the stop motion animation in ''Wallace & Gromit'' may duplicate frames if there is little motion, and in action scenes sometimes multiple exposures per frame are used to produce a faux
motion blur Motion blur is the apparent streaking of moving objects in a photograph or a sequence of frames, such as a film or animation. It results when the image being recorded changes during the recording of a single exposure, due to rapid movement or l ...
. Because a second of film constitutes 24 separate frames, even a short half-hour film like ''A Close Shave'' takes a great deal of time to animate. General quotes on the speed of animation of a ''Wallace & Gromit'' film put the filming rate at typically around 30 frames per day per animator. Some effects, particularly the fire, smoke and floating bunnies in ''The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'', proved impossible to create in stop motion and were rendered by
computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating Film, moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation refers to moving images. Virtu ...
specialists, MPC film. MPC film studied the set for three months to create clay-like animation to match the stop-motion production. By paying close attention to detail, MPC was able to make the animated bunnies blend in with the clay bunnies. Adding imperfections such as fingerprints along with texture to the animated bunnies helped enhance the effect. MPC's collaboration resulted in over 700 effects to aid the film along with colouring to match the visuals. Most models were destroyed in the 2005 Aardman studio fire, but some still exist, such as a small scale model for the Cooker from ''A Grand Day Out'' and Feathers McGraw whilst trapped in a bottle from ''The Wrong Trousers''. The set and several props from the museum featured in the latter short film survived as well, as they were being kept at the
National Science and Media Museum The National Science and Media Museum (formerly The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, 1983–2006 and then the National Media Museum, 2006–2017), located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is part of the national Science Museum G ...
in
Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...
, West Yorkshire, before the fire occurred. Additionally, a set from ''A Matter of Loaf and Death'', which was produced after the fire, is presently on display at the We The Curious science centre.


Music

The music featured in every film was written by British film composer Julian Nott. The theme song was used to wake up astronauts aboard space shuttle mission STS-132 in May 2010.


Other media


Video games

A ''Wallace & Gromit'' interactive CD-ROM game from 1996, named ''Wallace & Gromit Fun Pack'', was released for the PC, containing the ''Crackin' Compendium'' with three mini-games based on the three original animated shorts as well as brief video clips. The other program in the Fun Pack the ''Customise-O-Matic'' contained wallpapers, screen savers and sounds that could be assigned as system sounds. A sequel ''Fun Pack 2'' was released in 2000 featuring enhanced graphics and two new games as well as a remake of the Great Train Game. The characters were associated with a 144-issue fortnightly digest called Techno Quest, published by Eaglemoss Publications starting in 1997. It was designed to get children interested in science and technology. In 1997, an animated screensaver themed video game entitled ''Wallace & Gromit Cracking Animator'' was released. Screensaver games were made by Dibase. Players could create their own multimedia animations through the collation of things like sound effects, sets, characters and props. Players could manipulate the facial movements of characters to synchronise their expressions with dialogue. Players could choose to make their finished creation their screensaver, or choose one of the pre-made screensaver games. The ''
Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...
'' offered a rating of 2.5 stars, noting that creativity is limited. In September 2003, '' Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo'' was released for the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
,
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
,
GameCube The is a PowerPC-based home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the suc ...
, and
Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
. This separate story sees the duo take on Feathers McGraw (of ''The Wrong Trousers'') again. Still obsessed with diamonds, he escapes from the penguin enclosure of West Wallaby Zoo, where he was "imprisoned" at the end of ''The Wrong Trousers'', and takes over the entire zoo, kidnapping young animals and forcing their parents to work for him, helping him turn the zoo into a diamond mine. In 2005, a video game of ''
The Curse of The Were-Rabbit ''Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'' is a 2005 animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Animations. It is the second feature-length film by Aardman, after '' Chicken Run'' (2000). The fourth installment i ...
'' was released for
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
and
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
, following the plot of the film as Wallace and Gromit work as vermin-catchers, protecting customers' vegetable gardens from rabbits, using a "BunGun". Gameplay for the Project Zoo involve players exclusively controlling Gromit, as Wallace functions as a helper
non-player character A non-player character (NPC) is a character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster (or referee) rather than by a ...
, but in ''The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'', gameplay shifts between the two, and includes two-player cooperative play. Both games were developed by Frontier Developments with the assistance of Aardman, with Peter Sallis reprising his role as Wallace. ''Project Zoo'' was published by BAM! Entertainment, while ''The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'' was published by
Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...
. In July 2008, developer Telltale Games announced a new series of episodic video games based on the characters, called '' Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures''. The first episode in ''Grand Adventures'', "Fright of the Bumblebees", was released on 23 March 2009. The second episode, "The Last Resort", was released on 5 May 2009. Two more episodes, "Muzzled!" and "The Bogey Man", were released in later 2009. The four episodes have separately been released on
Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...
for the
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...
. On 25 July 2024, a ''Wallace & Gromit''-themed course was added to the virtual reality game ''Walkabout Mini Golf'' as
downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...
(DLC). A DLC pack based on the franchise was added to '' PowerWash Simulator'' on 4 March 2025.


List of video games

There are also several interactive games on the official ''Wallace & Gromit'', ''Shaun the Sheep'' and ''Timmy Time'' websites.


Comic

British publisher
Titan Magazines Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of the British entertainment company Titan Entertainment, which was established as Titan Books in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cine ...
started producing a monthly ''Wallace & Gromit'' comic after the debut of ''Curse of the Were-Rabbit''. The characters still run Anti-Pesto, and both Shaun and Feathers McGraw have appeared in the comic. The two characters appeared in the monthly '' BeanoMAX'' comic until its closure in June 2013, and now appear every four weeks in ''
The Beano ''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it published its 4000th issue in August 2019. Popular and ...
''. They are heavily featured in 'Aardmag', the free online magazine that is unofficial but supported by Aardman Animations.62 West Wallaby Street fansite
. By Seb Hamilton.
Nick Park guest-edited the 70th birthday issue of ''The Beano'' weekly, and so this issue contained numerous ''Wallace & Gromit'' references. On 17 May 2010, they began appearing daily in ''
The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...
''. It is credited to Titan and Aardman, with scripts written by Richy Chandler, Robert Etherington, Mike Garley, Ned Hartley, Rik Hoskin, David Leach, Luke Paton, J.P. Rutter, Rona Simpson and Gordon Volke, art by Sylvia Bennion, Jay Clarke, Jimmy Hansen, Viv Heath, Mychailo Kazybrid and Brian Williamson. It replaced ''George and Lynne''. A graphic novel compiling all 311 daily strips was released on 8 October 2013, and a second volume followed on 4 November 2014. A third volume was released on 25 March 2015, and a fourth volume was released on 9 September 2015.


List of comics

;List of graphic novels *''The Lost Slipper'', 1997 *''The Lost Slipper and Curse of the Ramsbottoms'', 1998 *''Anoraknophobia'', 1998 *''Crackers in Space'', 1999 *''A Grand Day Out'', 1999 *''Catch of the Day'', 2002 *''The Whippet Vanishes'', 2004 *''A Pier Too Far'', 2004 *''The Bootiful Game'', 2005 *''Plots in Space'', 2007 *''A Grand Day Out'', 2009 *''The Wrong Trousers'', 2010 *''The Complete Newspaper Comic Strips Collection'', 2013 *''The Complete Newspaper Comic Strips Collection, Volume 2'', 2014 *''The Complete Newspaper Comic Strips Collection, Volume 3'', 2015 *''The Complete Newspaper Comic Strips Collection, Volume 4'', 2015


Theatre

In November 1997 the characters appeared in a play called ''Wallace And Gromit™ Alive on Stage in a Grand Night Out''. This show featured Feathers McGraw escaping prison and hypnotising Wendolene to assist in his planned revenge on the duo, culminating in a showdown involving Shaun the Sheep donning the Techno-Trousers. On 9 March 2011, Shaun the Sheep made its live theatre début in ''Shaun's Big Show''. The 100-minute-long musical/dance show features all the regular characters, including Bitzer, Shirley and Timmy. In 2015, Shaun starred in ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs''
pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...
at Bristol Hippodrome.


Additional crew


Promotional appearances

In 2003, Aardman produced a cinematic commercial for the Renault Kangoo starring Wallace and Gromit. The commercial, entitled "The Kangoo-matic", played in front of several summer blockbusters in top British cinemas. Later ''Wallace & Gromit'' commercials were made for Jacob's Cream Crackers, energy supplier Npower and beverage
PG Tips PG Tips is a brand of tea in the United Kingdom manufactured by Lipton Teas and Infusions. Brand name In the 1930s, Brooke Bond launched PG Tips in the tea market in the United Kingdom under the name Pre-Gestee, a variant of the original name "D ...
. The duo were used to promote a Harvey Nichols store that opened in Bristol (where Aardman is based) in 2008. The pictures show them, and Lady Tottington from '' Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'', wearing designer clothes and items. They were used to prevent a Wensleydale cheese factory from shutting down because of financial difficulties after a member of staff came up with the idea of using Wallace and Gromit as mascots, as Wensleydale is one of Wallace's favourite cheeses. On 28 March 2009, The Science Museum in London opened an exhibition called "Wallace & Gromit present a World of Cracking Ideas". The family-orientated show, open until 1 November 2009, hoped to inspire children to be inventive. Wallace and Gromit were featured in many exhibition-exclusive videos, as well as one announcing the opening of the exhibition. In December 2010, Wallace and Gromit featured on series of UK postage stamps issued by the
Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...
for Christmas. The same month, Nick Park appeared on BBC Radio 4's '' Desert Island Discs'' and announced that he was working with Blackpool Pleasure Beach to build a theme park ride based on the characters. Wallace & Gromit's Thrill-O-Matic dark ride was opened by Park at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 2013. Wallace and Gromit appeared in a one-minute special for the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II called '' Jubilee Bunt-a-thon''. In 2012, Wallace and Gromit featured on an advert saying "Inventing For Britain" which was part of a poster campaign to promote British trade and business aboard in the year they hosted the Olympics. In August 2012, they presented an edition of The BBC Proms, '' Wallace & Gromit's Musical Marvels'', as Prom 20 of the 2012 season. Because of its popularity, ''Wallace & Gromit's Musical Marvels'' became a full touring show in 2013. It premièred at The Plenary in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, Australia on 9 February 2013. It was performed at other venues throughout 2013, with ''A Matter of Loaf and Death'' screened at each performance. In 2013 and 2014 the pair appeared in a nationwide TV, press and cinema campaign promoting the British government's "Holidays at Home are Great" directive, called ''Wallace & Gromit's Great UK Adventure''. In December 2019, they appeared in a DFS Furniture advert created by Krow to celebrate their 30th anniversary.
Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an English actress. Known for her roles in Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, List of awards and nominations received by Helena Bonham Carter ...
reprised her role as Lady Tottington with new dialogue for the advert. From 29 November to 31 December 2024, a six-minute ''Wallace & Gromit'' animation was projected onto London's Battersea Power Station every evening, as part of
Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
's Shot on iPhone marketing campaign. In 2025, ''Wallace & Gromit'' entered into a partnership with gravy brand
Bisto Bisto is a popular and well-known brand of gravy and other food products in the United Kingdom and Ireland, currently owned by Premier Foods. History The first Bisto product, in 1908, was a meat-flavoured gravy powder which rapidly became a bes ...
. Characters from the films featured on Bisto products, with consumers offered the chance to win a lab-grown blue diamond worth £1,500. A pop-up gravy restaurant called "''The Gravy Boat''" also opened in
Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...
,
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, offering a gravy-themed three course menu and "meet and greet" opportunites for diners to meet Wallace, Gromit and Feathers McGraw.


Charity

''Wallace & Gromit'' spearheaded the fundraising for two children's charities: Wallace & Gromit's Children's Foundation, which supports children's hospices and hospitals in the United Kingdom, and Wallace & Gromit's Grand Appeal, the Bristol Children's Hospital charity. In July 2013, 80 giant fibreglass decorated sculptures of Gromit were distributed around Bristol as part of a Nick Park-inspired project to raise funds for the charity. The project was named Gromit Unleashed, and the sculptures were decorated by a range of artists and celebrities including Joanna Lumley, Sir Peter Blake, Trevor Baylis and Jools Holland. A similar project featuring Shaun the Sheep called Shaun in the City took place in 2015. Gromit Unleashed 2, also featuring Wallace & Shaun took place in 2018. In 2020, ''Gromit Unleashed: The Grand Adventure'' in The Mall, Cribbs Causeway featured 15 sculptures of Wallace, Gromit, Shaun and Feathers. A further sculpture trail will take place in July and August 2025.


Theme park ride

A theme park ride called ''Wallace & Gromit's Thrill-O-Matic'' opened at Blackpool Pleasure Beach on 29 April 2013 by creator Nick Park, Amanda Thompson, Nick Thompson, Nick Farmer and Merlin Crossingham. The ride, which cost £5.25 million to make, was created by Blackpool Pleasure Beach design in association with Aardman Animations. The cars on the ride are designed on one of Wallace's slippers, so that, when a rider is seated, it is as if they are sitting inside a large slipper. The ride lasts almost four minutes, and features scenes from ''A Grand Day Out'', ''The Wrong Trousers'', ''A Close Shave'', ''The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'' and ''A Matter of Loaf and Death'' along with some archive audio and some newly recorded lines from Ben Whitehead as the voice of Wallace.


Spin-offs


''Shaun the Sheep'' (2007–present)

In 2007, a spin-off series ''Shaun the Sheep'' was created for the character of Shaun, first introduced in 1995's '' A Close Shave''. In the series, Shaun lives with his flock at Mossy Bottom Farm, a traditional small northern English farm. In each episode, their latest attempt to add excitement to their dull mundane life as livestock somehow snowballs into a fantastic sitcom-style escapade, most often with the help of their fascination with human doings and devices. This usually brings them into conflict—and often into partnership—with the farm sheepdog Bitzer, while they all are simultaneously trying to avoid discovery by the Farmer. Following the success of the series, two series of 1-minute shorts were created – ''Mossy Bottom Shorts'' and ''Championsheeps''—followed by a television special '' The Farmer's Llamas'' (2015) and two feature films, '' Shaun the Sheep Movie'' (2015) and '' A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon'' (2019). A third feature film, ''Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom'', is scheduled for a theatrical release in 2026.


''Timmy Time'' (2009–12)

In 2009, a spin-off of ''Shaun the Sheep'', ''Timmy Time'', was created centring on the character of the same name. In the series, Timmy and his friends have to learn to share, make friends and accept their mistakes. They are supervised by two teachers, Harriet the Heron and Osbourne the Owl. The show is aimed at pre-school-aged children which the company described as "a natural step for Aardman".


References


External links

*
Wallace & Gromit’s Children's Charity
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace and Gromit Wallace and Gromit Fictional English people Fictional inventors Fictional dogs Fictional duos Peabody Award winners Animated duos Claymation Stop motion characters Animated human characters Films adapted into television shows Films adapted into comics Film characters introduced in 1989 Fictional mute characters Animated characters introduced in 1989