Wallace and Gromit are two British claymation characters created by animator Nick Park of Aardman Animations, also notable for their Angry Kid film shorts.

Wallace and Gromit live at 62 West Wallaby Street in England, in a modest little house complete with basement workshop. This workshop is ideal for Wallace as he invents fabulous machines, much like Dick Van Dyke's character in the Walt Disney movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. His inventions include such things as a pair of mechanized trousers to take Gromit, a dog, for a "walkie" and an elaborate set-up that gets one out of bed and eating breakfast with almost no effort on one's own part. Gromit is quite the electrician/builder and takes care of much of the work of inventions as well; together, Wallace and Gromit create rather servicable machines.

Although Gromit is not a talking dog, or a barking dog for that matter, he communicates quite well with eloquent movements of his eyebrows and the silent patter of his feet. His almost-human state makes him a great partner for Wallace in their inventions and their other endeavours, like the window-washing business they started. Of the two, Gromit might be said to be the brighter one, and it is his brilliant maneuvering and sharp observations that always end up saving the day.

additional info:
Both Wallace and Gromit are great lovers of cheese, and this wonderfully versatile food has a part in each of their movies. Wallace and Gromit are also the only characters who appear in all 3 of their movies; those such as Shaun the sheep who also play major roles have not been seen more than once so far. Each movie is slightly more or less than half an hour long.

soon to come: additions to the nodes about each movie, and more on this one, as well as character writeups

Wallace and Gromit

Background

Wallace and Gromit are the most famous creations of Aardman Animations, headed by Nick Park. They have so far appeared in three short (half hour) films shown by the BBC, a number of short clips published on the internet, and most recently, a full length feature film. In England they are a popular franchise and have spawned several product lines and have enabled Aardman Animations to create several movies. Although they may sound like children's programs, the films can definitely be enjoyed by anyone of any age.

The characters

Wallace

Wallace is the human of the pair and (mostly) the leader. Much is made of his love of Wensleydale cheese, and he has invented many useful and not-so-useful gadgets, such as the jam cannon, and his high-tech motorcycle.

Gromit

Gromit is Wallace's pet and best friend, and lives like a human, although he doesn't speak, espressing himself through body language. He is more resourceful and less eccentric than Wallace, and often saves the day in an emergency.

The films

A Grand Day Out

Wallace and Gromit make a trip to the moon on a homemade rocket to get some cheese, as the moon is obviously made of green cheese. While there, they also meet a sentient fridge and find an unusual way to solve its boredom problem. This was the first of the films, and is now somewhat dated, having been surpassed by the superior animation and plot of the second two.

The Wrong Trousers

Wallace and Gromit are running out of money, and so take on a new lodger, a penguin, who takes over Gromit's room and starts to take over Gromit's role in the house. At the same time they aquire a pair of techno-trousers, mechanical trousers which, among other things can walk up walls. The penguin, who turns out to be the vicious "chicken" Feathers McGraw in a red rubber glove, traps Wallace in the trousers and uses them to steal a diamond from the local museum. Gromit catches him when he returns to the house, and a high speed chase on Wallace and Gromit's model train set begins, resulting in a typically happy ending.

A Close Shave

Wallace and Gromit have started a window-cleaning company. While window-cleaning, Wallace meets Wendolene, and her dog, Preston, who run a local wool shop. At the same time, a mysterious group of sheep rustlers accidentally leaves a sheep at Wallace's house, who they adopt, and name Shaun, after an accident with Wallace's sheep-shearing machine. Gromit becomes increasingly suspicious of Preston, who is the sheep rustler, along with Gwendolene. Preston frames him and he is arrested, but is broken out by Wallace and a herd of sheep they rescued from Preston. Unfortunately, after discovering the truth about Wendolene and following the truck Wallace, the sheep, and Gwendolene are captured by Preston. Gromit turns up, and throws Preston into his stolen sheep-shearing machine, but it is revealed that Preston is in fact a cyber-dog, and everyone is tipped onto the conveyor belt for a dog food mincer. Shaun saves the day by knocking Preston back into the machine.


Sources:
www.aardman.com
A Grand Day Out
The Wrong Trousers
A Close Shave

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