Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Encyclopedia
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a 2005 British clay-mation animated
comedy
horror film
, the first feature-length Wallace and Gromit
film. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation
and Aardman Animations
, and released by DreamWorks
Pictures
. The film was directed by Nick Park
and Steve Box
and produced at the Aardman Animations studio in Bristol
, United Kingdom.
The film followed eccentric inventor Wallace (voiced by Peter Sallis
) and his intelligent but silent dog, Gromit, as they come to the rescue of the residents of a village which is being plagued by a mutated rabbit before the annual vegetable competition.
The Curse of the Were-Rabbit introduced a number of new characters, and featured a voice cast including Helena Bonham Carter
and Ralph Fiennes
. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is the last DreamWorks Animation movie to be distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. It was a critical and commercial success, and won a number of film awards including the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
.
s until the contest, and Wallace and Gromit are cashing in by running a vegetable security and humane pest control
business, "Anti-Pesto".
However, they are facing with two problems: the first is Wallace's growing weight and the second is inadequate space for the captured rabbits. Wallace comes up with an idea — use his Mind Manipulation-O-Matic machine to brainwash the rabbits, allowing them to run freely without harming everyone's gardens. While performing the operation, he accidentally kicks the switch from Suck to Blow and a rabbit gets fused to Wallace's head, somehow leaving them with a semi-intelligent rabbit who no longer has the appetite for vegetables, whom they name "Hutch". Soon the town is threatened by the "Were-Rabbit", a giant rabbit-like monster which eats vegetables of any size. During a chaotic yet hilarious town meeting, Anti-Pesto enters into a rivalry with Lord Victor Quartermaine to capture the Were-Rabbit and to win Lady Tottington's heart. After the first night of the Were-Rabbit, the townsfolk start to argue about what to do.
After a hectic night-time chase and a series of clues, Wallace and Gromit come to the theory that Hutch is the Were-Rabbit. Wallace is overjoyed however, because this technically means he has already captured the beast, and goes to tell the good news to Lady Tottington. Gromit instead discovers that the Were-Rabbit is, in fact, Wallace, after discovered a pile of munched vegetables in his bed, suffering from the effects of the accident with the Mind Manipulation-O-Matic having caused him and Hutch to each take on aspects of the other; Hutch has gained Wallace's entire personality (right down to his liking for cheese
) and even displays Wallace's knack for inventions and regularly repeats some of Wallace's old phrases (e.g. "I do love a bit of Gorgonzola
!" or "I'm inventing mostly" ). Victor corners Wallace during the night, jealous of Lady Tottington's growing fondness for him because of his humane practice of pest control (whereas Victor thinks it's more effective to shoot and kill them). But then Wallace falls into the path of moonlight and transforms. Victor, having identified the Were-Rabbit, goes to Reverend Clement Hedges and gains access to "24-carrot
" gold bullets - supposedly, the only things capable of killing a Were-Rabbit.
When the day comes for Vegetable Competition, Lady Tottington reluctantly bows to public pressure to sanction Victor's offer to shoot the Were-Rabbit. When she goes to Wallace to inform him, he begins to transform and is forced to send her to away to prevent her from learning the truth. Victor soon comes in and tries to shoot what is apparently the monster, but Gromit is one step ahead of him, using a rabbit costume he and Wallace had created as a trap, prior to the discovery of the Were-Rabbit's true nature. Realizing that Wallace is marching towards the competition, Victor and his dog Philip imprison Gromit in his own cage, who subsequently escapes with help from Hutch and decides to make the ultimate sacrifice by using the marrow he had been growing for the competition as bait for Wallace who, in his rabbit form, has burst in upon the vegetable contest, causing panic. Unfortunately, the marrow cannot keep Wallace's attention as Victor tries to take the golden carrot award from a distressed Lady Tottington (The only golden bullet-like object left to him after he exhausted the gold bullets provided by the vicar). Wallace ascends to the rooftops, holding a screaming Lady Tottington in his hand. Discovering his identity after recognizing his palm-shaking gesture, she promises to protect him, only to be interrupted by Victor (Who has the candy floss on his head as a Toupee much more like Mrs. Tweedy in her night gown). Meanwhile, in a mid-air dogfight in toy aeroplanes, Philip chases after Gromit. Gromit forces his foe out of the air in a fiery crash and explosion - but Philip manages to hold on to Gromit's plane and the two grapple with each other. The fight rages on and in the end, Gromit releases Philip through the bomb doors and into a bouncy castle
.
On the roof of Tottington Hall, Gromit's toy biplane
circles Wallace, who clings onto the flagpole at the top of the building for dear life. Victor, wielding the Golden Carrot trophy inside a blunderbuss
he finds at an antiques table at the fair, tries one last time to shoot Wallace, but Wallace is saved by Gromit, who grabs onto a rope from a flagpole and swings his plane into the path of the improvised bullet. Unfortunately, since it is a toy plane not intended for flying, when Gromit accidentally lets go of the rope, the plane begins to descend rapidly. Wallace jumps from the flagpole and catches the plane, thereby breaking Gromit's fall into the cheese tent below. Victor gloats, but is knocked unconscious by Lady Tottington, using a giant carrot. He falls into the tent too, where Wallace lies unconscious and seemingly dying of his injuries. To protect Wallace from the angry mob outside, Gromit dresses Victor up as the monster (using the marionette
he used earlier as a lure for the Were-Rabbit), and throws him out of the tent. Philip, believing Victor to be the beast, bites his master, and the angry mob chases Victor away.
Gromit and Tottington tend to Wallace who, seconds later, breathes his last and morphs back into his human form. Gromit, the rabbits, and Lady Tottington are saddened by their loss, but Gromit is able to revive Wallace with a slice of Stinking Bishop cheese
. Gromit, for his bravery and his "brave and splendid marrow", is awarded the (now somewhat battered) competition trophy, and Lady Tottington (many people believed it to be Lady Tottington trying to propose marriage to Wallace) turns Tottington Hall's front garden into a wildlife refuge, where all the rabbits, including Hutch, can live in peace.
and Steve Box
, have often referred to the film as the world's "first vegetarian horror film". Peter Sallis
(the voice of Wallace) is joined in the film by Ralph Fiennes
(as Lord Victor Quartermaine), Helena Bonham Carter
(as Lady Campanula
Tottington), Peter Kay
(as PC Mackintosh), Nicholas Smith (as Rev. Clement Hedges), and Liz Smith
(as Mrs. Mulch). Keeping with the tradition of the original short films, Gromit remains silent, communicating only through body language
.
Park told an interviewer that after separate test screening
s with British and American children, the film was altered to "tone down some of the British accents and make them speak more clearly so the American audiences could understand it all better." Park was often sent notes from DreamWorks, which irritated him. He recalled one note that Wallace's car should be trendier, which he disagreed with because he felt making things look old-fashioned made it look more ironic.
The vehicle Wallace drives in the film is an Austin A35
van. In collaboration with Aardman in the spring of 2005, a road-going replica of the model was created by brothers Mark and David Armé, founders of the International Austin A30/A35 Register, for promotional purposes. In a 500-man-hour customisation, an original 1964 van received a full body restoration before being dented and distressed to perfectly replicate the model van used in the film. The official colour of the van is Preston Green, named in honour of Nick Park's home town. The name was chosen by the Art Director and Mark Armé.
For the US edition of the film, the dialogue was changed to refer to Gromit's prize marrow as a "melon". Because the word "marrow" is not well known in the US, Jeffrey Katzenberg
insisted it be changed. Park explained "Because it's the only appropriate word we could find that would fit with the mouth shape for 'marrow'. Melon apparently works over there. So we have Wallace saying, 'How's your prize melon?'". The US version is also heard in the UK bootleg DVD release.
and Ty Burr
. The DVD edition of the film was released on 7 February 2006 (USA) and 20 February 2006 (UK). On the Rotten Tomatoes
website, the film won 2 Golden Tomato awards for "Best Wide Overall Release" and "Best Animation" and the film also received a 95% "Certified Fresh" rating from the website. One of the film's few critics was Peter Sallis, the voice of Wallace, who said that he preferred the half-hour films to the big screen debut. However, Richard Roeper
gave a "thumbs down" to the film on At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper. Roeper said that, "It's slightly amusing and I'd say when it comes out on video or if you catch it on cable, but to rush out to theaters...".
. It remained number one worldwide for three weeks in a row. Despite the big difference between the production budget and the overall gross, DreamWorks considered its returns low in comparison to Chicken Run
, which made a slightly larger amount ($US224,834,564) worldwide, but nearly twice as much ($US106,834,564) within the United States. When it is factored in that Chicken Run also cost $US15 million more to make, the overall profits for both films end up looking very similar. Nevertheless, it was reported on 3 October 2006 and confirmed on 30 January 2007 that the partnership between DreamWorks and Aardman has ended due to "creative differences" about Aardman's CG feature, Flushed Away
. But, given the film's $US30 million budget, Aardman have judged it successful enough for a new Wallace & Gromit film to be made.
Awards shown here are those detailed by the Internet Movie Database
.
, plus a number of other extras. In Region 1, the film was released on DVD in Widescreen and Fullscreen versions on 7 February 2006. Wal-Mart
stores carried a special version with an additional DVD, "Gromit's Tail-Waggin' DVD" which included the test shorts made for this production.
A companion game, also titled 'Curse of the Were-Rabbit', had a coinciding release with the film. A novelization, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit: The Movie Novelization by Penny Worms (ISBN 0-8431-1667-6), was also produced.
This was the final DreamWorks Animation film released on VHS.
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
, the first feature-length Wallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit are the main characters in a series consisting of four British animated short films and a feature-length film by Nick Park of Aardman Animations...
film. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. is an American animation studio based in Glendale, California that creates animated feature films, television program and online virtual worlds...
and Aardman Animations
Aardman Animations
Aardman Animations, Ltd., also known as Aardman Studios, or simply as Aardman, is a British animation studio based in Bristol, United Kingdom. The studio is known for films made using stop-motion clay animation techniques, particularly those featuring Plasticine characters Wallace and Gromit...
, and released by DreamWorks
Pictures
DreamWorks
DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...
. The film was directed by Nick Park
Nick Park
Nicholas Wulstan "Nick" Park, CBE is an English filmmaker of stop motion animation best known as the creator of Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep....
and Steve Box
Steve Box
Steve Box is an English animator and director who works for Aardman Animations.His early work in animation included the popular British claymation television series The Trap Door for Bristol-based animation studio CMTB Animation.Box joined Aardman Animations in 1990. He directed the video for the...
and produced at the Aardman Animations studio in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, United Kingdom.
The film followed eccentric inventor Wallace (voiced by Peter Sallis
Peter Sallis
Peter Sallis, OBE is an English actor and entertainer, well-known for his work on British television. Although he was born and brought up in London, his two most notable roles require him to adopt the accents and mannerisms of a Northerner.Sallis is best known for his role as the main character...
) and his intelligent but silent dog, Gromit, as they come to the rescue of the residents of a village which is being plagued by a mutated rabbit before the annual vegetable competition.
The Curse of the Were-Rabbit introduced a number of new characters, and featured a voice cast including Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
and Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List....
. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is the last DreamWorks Animation movie to be distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. It was a critical and commercial success, and won a number of film awards including the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
78th Academy Awards
The 78th Academy Awards honored the best films of 2005 and were held on March 5, 2006, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. They were hosted by The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, with Tom Kane making his first appearance as the show's announcer...
.
Plot
Tottington Hall's annual Giant Vegetable Competition is approaching. The winner of the competition will win the Golden Carrot Award. All are eager to protect their vegetables from damage and thievery by rabbitRabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
s until the contest, and Wallace and Gromit are cashing in by running a vegetable security and humane pest control
Pest control
Pest control refers to the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest, usually because it is perceived to be detrimental to a person's health, the ecology or the economy.-History:...
business, "Anti-Pesto".
However, they are facing with two problems: the first is Wallace's growing weight and the second is inadequate space for the captured rabbits. Wallace comes up with an idea — use his Mind Manipulation-O-Matic machine to brainwash the rabbits, allowing them to run freely without harming everyone's gardens. While performing the operation, he accidentally kicks the switch from Suck to Blow and a rabbit gets fused to Wallace's head, somehow leaving them with a semi-intelligent rabbit who no longer has the appetite for vegetables, whom they name "Hutch". Soon the town is threatened by the "Were-Rabbit", a giant rabbit-like monster which eats vegetables of any size. During a chaotic yet hilarious town meeting, Anti-Pesto enters into a rivalry with Lord Victor Quartermaine to capture the Were-Rabbit and to win Lady Tottington's heart. After the first night of the Were-Rabbit, the townsfolk start to argue about what to do.
After a hectic night-time chase and a series of clues, Wallace and Gromit come to the theory that Hutch is the Were-Rabbit. Wallace is overjoyed however, because this technically means he has already captured the beast, and goes to tell the good news to Lady Tottington. Gromit instead discovers that the Were-Rabbit is, in fact, Wallace, after discovered a pile of munched vegetables in his bed, suffering from the effects of the accident with the Mind Manipulation-O-Matic having caused him and Hutch to each take on aspects of the other; Hutch has gained Wallace's entire personality (right down to his liking for cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
) and even displays Wallace's knack for inventions and regularly repeats some of Wallace's old phrases (e.g. "I do love a bit of Gorgonzola
Gorgonzola (cheese)
Gorgonzola is a veined Italian blue cheese, made from unskimmed cow's and/or goat's milk. It can be buttery or firm, crumbly and quite salty, with a "bite" from its blue veining.- History :...
!" or "I'm inventing mostly" ). Victor corners Wallace during the night, jealous of Lady Tottington's growing fondness for him because of his humane practice of pest control (whereas Victor thinks it's more effective to shoot and kill them). But then Wallace falls into the path of moonlight and transforms. Victor, having identified the Were-Rabbit, goes to Reverend Clement Hedges and gains access to "24-carrot
Carat (purity)
The karat or carat is a unit of purity for gold alloys.- Measure :Karat purity is measured as 24 times the purity by mass:where...
" gold bullets - supposedly, the only things capable of killing a Were-Rabbit.
When the day comes for Vegetable Competition, Lady Tottington reluctantly bows to public pressure to sanction Victor's offer to shoot the Were-Rabbit. When she goes to Wallace to inform him, he begins to transform and is forced to send her to away to prevent her from learning the truth. Victor soon comes in and tries to shoot what is apparently the monster, but Gromit is one step ahead of him, using a rabbit costume he and Wallace had created as a trap, prior to the discovery of the Were-Rabbit's true nature. Realizing that Wallace is marching towards the competition, Victor and his dog Philip imprison Gromit in his own cage, who subsequently escapes with help from Hutch and decides to make the ultimate sacrifice by using the marrow he had been growing for the competition as bait for Wallace who, in his rabbit form, has burst in upon the vegetable contest, causing panic. Unfortunately, the marrow cannot keep Wallace's attention as Victor tries to take the golden carrot award from a distressed Lady Tottington (The only golden bullet-like object left to him after he exhausted the gold bullets provided by the vicar). Wallace ascends to the rooftops, holding a screaming Lady Tottington in his hand. Discovering his identity after recognizing his palm-shaking gesture, she promises to protect him, only to be interrupted by Victor (Who has the candy floss on his head as a Toupee much more like Mrs. Tweedy in her night gown). Meanwhile, in a mid-air dogfight in toy aeroplanes, Philip chases after Gromit. Gromit forces his foe out of the air in a fiery crash and explosion - but Philip manages to hold on to Gromit's plane and the two grapple with each other. The fight rages on and in the end, Gromit releases Philip through the bomb doors and into a bouncy castle
Inflatable castle
Inflatable castles are temporary inflatable structures and buildings and similar items that are rented for functions, school and church festivals and village fetes and used for recreational purposes, mainly used by children. The growth in popularity of moonwalks has led to an inflatable rental...
.
On the roof of Tottington Hall, Gromit's toy biplane
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
circles Wallace, who clings onto the flagpole at the top of the building for dear life. Victor, wielding the Golden Carrot trophy inside a blunderbuss
Blunderbuss
The blunderbuss is a muzzle-loading firearm with a short, large caliber barrel, which is flared at the muzzle and frequently throughout the entire bore, and used with shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity and/or caliber. The blunderbuss could be considered to be an early form of shotgun,...
he finds at an antiques table at the fair, tries one last time to shoot Wallace, but Wallace is saved by Gromit, who grabs onto a rope from a flagpole and swings his plane into the path of the improvised bullet. Unfortunately, since it is a toy plane not intended for flying, when Gromit accidentally lets go of the rope, the plane begins to descend rapidly. Wallace jumps from the flagpole and catches the plane, thereby breaking Gromit's fall into the cheese tent below. Victor gloats, but is knocked unconscious by Lady Tottington, using a giant carrot. He falls into the tent too, where Wallace lies unconscious and seemingly dying of his injuries. To protect Wallace from the angry mob outside, Gromit dresses Victor up as the monster (using the marionette
Marionette
A marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a manipulator. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms...
he used earlier as a lure for the Were-Rabbit), and throws him out of the tent. Philip, believing Victor to be the beast, bites his master, and the angry mob chases Victor away.
Gromit and Tottington tend to Wallace who, seconds later, breathes his last and morphs back into his human form. Gromit, the rabbits, and Lady Tottington are saddened by their loss, but Gromit is able to revive Wallace with a slice of Stinking Bishop cheese
Stinking Bishop cheese
Stinking Bishop is a soft washed-rind cheese produced since 1972 by Charles Martell and Son at Laurel Farm, Dymock, Gloucestershire in the South West of England. It is made from the milk of Gloucester cattle, which in 1972 consisted of only 68 Gloucester breed heifers...
. Gromit, for his bravery and his "brave and splendid marrow", is awarded the (now somewhat battered) competition trophy, and Lady Tottington (many people believed it to be Lady Tottington trying to propose marriage to Wallace) turns Tottington Hall's front garden into a wildlife refuge, where all the rabbits, including Hutch, can live in peace.
Cast of characters
- For more information on the main characters, see Wallace and GromitWallace and GromitWallace and Gromit are the main characters in a series consisting of four British animated short films and a feature-length film by Nick Park of Aardman Animations...
.- Ralph FiennesRalph FiennesRalph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List....
as Lord Victor Quartermaine, the main antagonistAntagonistAn antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
and a spoiled, vain, upper-class bounder who is fond of hunting; he is rarely seen without his rifle and his hunting dog Philip. He wears a toupeeToupeeA toupée is a hairpiece or partial wig of natural or synthetic hair worn to cover partial baldness or for theatrical purposes. While toupées and hairpieces are typically associated with male wearers, some women also use hairpieces to lengthen existing hair, or cover partially exposed scalp...
and hates Anti-Pesto. His hunting rifle is apparently a high caliberCaliberIn guns including firearms, caliber or calibre is the approximate internal diameter of the barrel in relation to the diameter of the projectile used in it....
bolt-actionBolt-actionBolt action is a type of firearm action in which the weapon's bolt is operated manually by the opening and closing of the breech with a small handle, most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon...
model with a sniper scope. It soon becomes clear in the film that Victor's only interest in Lady Tottington is her vast fortune which he is eager to get his hands on. He is very similar to Percival C. Mcleach from The Rescuers Down UnderThe Rescuers Down UnderThe Rescuers Down Under is a 1990 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution on November 16, 1990...
and Gaston from Disney's Beauty and the BeastBeauty and the Beast (1991 film)Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirtieth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and the third film of the Disney Renaissance period...
. After Lady Tottington discovers that Victor knew that the were-rabbit was Wallace all along, he reveals that all he wants is her money.- Philip is the second main antagonist and Victor's hunting dog who resembles a Miniature Bull Terrier. He and his master will do anything to stop the Were-Rabbit, although Philip is bright enough to know that the Were-Rabbit is beyond his hunting skills, and that Gromit, closer to his own size, is a better prospect as the target of premeditated violence. He also owns a lady's purse decorated with flowers for spare changeSpare ChangeSpare Change News is a street newspaper founded in 1992 and published in Cambridge, Massachusetts through the efforts of the Homeless Empowerment Project , a grassroots organization created to help end homelessness....
.
- Philip is the second main antagonist and Victor's hunting dog who resembles a Miniature Bull Terrier. He and his master will do anything to stop the Were-Rabbit, although Philip is bright enough to know that the Were-Rabbit is beyond his hunting skills, and that Gromit, closer to his own size, is a better prospect as the target of premeditated violence. He also owns a lady's purse decorated with flowers for spare change
- Helena Bonham CarterHelena Bonham CarterHelena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
as Lady Campanula "Totty" Tottington, the tritagonistTritagonistIn literature, the tritagonist is the third most important character of a narrative, after the protagonist and deuteragonist. In Ancient Greek drama, the tritagonist was the third member of the acting troupe....
and a wealthy 40-something single noblewoman with a keen interest in both vegetable-growing and 'fluffy' animals. For 517 years, her family has hosted an annual vegetable competition. Lady Tottington asks Wallace to call her "Totty" (which is an English term for attractive upper class women) and develops a romantic interest in him. - Peter KayPeter KayPeter John Kay is an English comedian, writer, actor, director and producer. His work includes That Peter Kay Thing , Phoenix Nights , Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere , Britain's Got the Pop Factor... and other independent productions which have included two sell out tours.-Early career:Peter Kay...
as Police Constable Albert Mackintosh, the village bobbyConstableA constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...
who judges the Giant Vegetable Contest, although, with the havoc it creates every year he would rather it did not happen at all. - Nicholas Smith as Reverend Clement Hedges, the local vicarVicarIn the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
and the first person in the village to witness the Were-Rabbit, and describes the full horror of his encounter with the beast, but Victor refuses to believe him. However, when Victor discovers the true identity of the beast, he turns to the vicar for advice on how to kill it. Reverend Hedges appears to have a wide range of knowledge on the habits and the slayings of supernatural animals, and has a whole cupboard filled with the weapons to defeat them. Although his name appears in the credits, it is never said inside the film. - Dicken AshworthDicken AshworthDicken Ashworth is an English actor who has made several appearances in film and television.His film credits include: Force 10 from Navarone, Tess, Krull, and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.On television, can be a regular cast member in several soap operas - playing Alan Partridge...
and Liz SmithLiz Smith (actress)Liz Smith, MBE is a British actress, best-known for her roles in the sitcoms The Vicar of Dibley and The Royle Family. She also appeared in the 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.-Early life:...
as Mr. and Mrs. Mulch, clients of Wallace and Gromit's Anti-Pesto. Mrs. Mulch has a fixation on her gigantic pumpkin. Mrs. Mulch is a more prominent character than her husband, who talks little. - Edward KelseyEdward KelseyEdward Kelsey is a British actor of stage and screen as well as a voiceover artist. He is perhaps best recognised as the voice of Joe Grundy on the long-running BBC radio soap opera The Archers - a role he took over in 1985.On television, he is known for voicing the characters of Colonel K and...
as Mr. Growbag, an elderly resident of Wallace and Gromit's neighbourhood and a founding member of the town's veg grower's council. He constantly recalls memories of incidents from previous Vegetable Competitions - comparing them to what may happen to the forthcoming one. Two of the "disasters" he mentions are The Great SlugSlugSlug is a common name that is normally applied to any gastropod mollusc that lacks a shell, has a very reduced shell, or has a small internal shell...
Riot of `32, "when there were slugs the size of pigs", and the Great DuckDuckDuck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...
Plague of `53. - Peter Sallis (with a sped-up voice) as Hutch, originally just another captive rabbit. He receives special treatment, and his name, after an attempt to brainwash him and his fellows goes wrong. He was the first to be suspected of being the Were-Rabbit. Everything that Hutch says is a quotation from Wallace (though, surprisingly, some of the lines were originally spoken by Wallace after the incident with the Mind-Manipulation-O-Matic). Hutch wears clothes like Wallace's, including his slippers and tank top.
- Ralph Fiennes
Production
The directors, Nick ParkNick Park
Nicholas Wulstan "Nick" Park, CBE is an English filmmaker of stop motion animation best known as the creator of Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep....
and Steve Box
Steve Box
Steve Box is an English animator and director who works for Aardman Animations.His early work in animation included the popular British claymation television series The Trap Door for Bristol-based animation studio CMTB Animation.Box joined Aardman Animations in 1990. He directed the video for the...
, have often referred to the film as the world's "first vegetarian horror film". Peter Sallis
Peter Sallis
Peter Sallis, OBE is an English actor and entertainer, well-known for his work on British television. Although he was born and brought up in London, his two most notable roles require him to adopt the accents and mannerisms of a Northerner.Sallis is best known for his role as the main character...
(the voice of Wallace) is joined in the film by Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List....
(as Lord Victor Quartermaine), Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
(as Lady Campanula
Campanula
Campanula is one of several genera in the family Campanulaceae with the common name bellflower. It takes its name from their bell-shaped flowers—campanula is Latin for "little bell"....
Tottington), Peter Kay
Peter Kay
Peter John Kay is an English comedian, writer, actor, director and producer. His work includes That Peter Kay Thing , Phoenix Nights , Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere , Britain's Got the Pop Factor... and other independent productions which have included two sell out tours.-Early career:Peter Kay...
(as PC Mackintosh), Nicholas Smith (as Rev. Clement Hedges), and Liz Smith
Liz Smith (actress)
Liz Smith, MBE is a British actress, best-known for her roles in the sitcoms The Vicar of Dibley and The Royle Family. She also appeared in the 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.-Early life:...
(as Mrs. Mulch). Keeping with the tradition of the original short films, Gromit remains silent, communicating only through body language
Body language
Body language is a form of non-verbal communication, which consists of body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements. Humans send and interpret such signals almost entirely subconsciously....
.
Park told an interviewer that after separate test screening
Test screening
A test screening is a preview screening of a movie or television show before its general release in order to gauge audience reaction. Preview audiences are selected from a cross-section of the population, and are usually asked to complete a questionnaire or provide feedback in some form. Harold...
s with British and American children, the film was altered to "tone down some of the British accents and make them speak more clearly so the American audiences could understand it all better." Park was often sent notes from DreamWorks, which irritated him. He recalled one note that Wallace's car should be trendier, which he disagreed with because he felt making things look old-fashioned made it look more ironic.
The vehicle Wallace drives in the film is an Austin A35
Austin A35
The A35 was a small car sold by the British Motor Corporation under the Austin marque in the 1950s.-Design:Introduced in 1956, it replaced the highly successful Austin A30...
van. In collaboration with Aardman in the spring of 2005, a road-going replica of the model was created by brothers Mark and David Armé, founders of the International Austin A30/A35 Register, for promotional purposes. In a 500-man-hour customisation, an original 1964 van received a full body restoration before being dented and distressed to perfectly replicate the model van used in the film. The official colour of the van is Preston Green, named in honour of Nick Park's home town. The name was chosen by the Art Director and Mark Armé.
For the US edition of the film, the dialogue was changed to refer to Gromit's prize marrow as a "melon". Because the word "marrow" is not well known in the US, Jeffrey Katzenberg
Jeffrey Katzenberg
Jeffrey Katzenberg is an American film producer and CEO of DreamWorks Animation. He is perhaps most famous for his period as chairman of The Walt Disney Company's film division, and for producing DreamWorks animated films such as Shrek, Antz, The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Chicken...
insisted it be changed. Park explained "Because it's the only appropriate word we could find that would fit with the mouth shape for 'marrow'. Melon apparently works over there. So we have Wallace saying, 'How's your prize melon?'". The US version is also heard in the UK bootleg DVD release.
Release and acclaim
The film was released in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and the United States on 14 October 2005 to almost universally rave reviews, including "A" ratings from Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
and Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Ty Burr has been a film critic for the Boston Globe since 2002 where he reviews films alongside Wesley Morris.Born in 1957, he studied film at Dartmouth College and New York University and has written three books: The Hundred Greatest Movies of All Time, The Hundred Greatest Stars of All Time and...
. The DVD edition of the film was released on 7 February 2006 (USA) and 20 February 2006 (UK). On the Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
website, the film won 2 Golden Tomato awards for "Best Wide Overall Release" and "Best Animation" and the film also received a 95% "Certified Fresh" rating from the website. One of the film's few critics was Peter Sallis, the voice of Wallace, who said that he preferred the half-hour films to the big screen debut. However, Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Richard E. Roeper is an American columnist and film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times and now a co-host on The Roe Conn Show on WLS-AM...
gave a "thumbs down" to the film on At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper. Roeper said that, "It's slightly amusing and I'd say when it comes out on video or if you catch it on cable, but to rush out to theaters...".
Box office performance
Wallace & Gromit grossed $US192,610,372 at the box office, of which $US56,110,897 was from the US., where it opened in 3,645 cinemas and had an opening weekend gross of $US16,025,987, putting it at number one for that weekend. During its second weekend it came in at number two, $US200,000 behind The FogThe Fog (2005 film)
The Fog is a 2005 horror film directed by Rupert Wainwright and starring Tom Welling, Selma Blair and Maggie Grace. It is a remake of John Carpenter's 1980 film of the same name, but this time made more in the vein of a "teen horror film" .Both Carpenter and Debra Hill The Fog is a 2005 horror film...
. It remained number one worldwide for three weeks in a row. Despite the big difference between the production budget and the overall gross, DreamWorks considered its returns low in comparison to Chicken Run
Chicken Run
Chicken Run is a 2000 British stop-motion animation film made by the Aardman Animations studios, the production studio of the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit films...
, which made a slightly larger amount ($US224,834,564) worldwide, but nearly twice as much ($US106,834,564) within the United States. When it is factored in that Chicken Run also cost $US15 million more to make, the overall profits for both films end up looking very similar. Nevertheless, it was reported on 3 October 2006 and confirmed on 30 January 2007 that the partnership between DreamWorks and Aardman has ended due to "creative differences" about Aardman's CG feature, Flushed Away
Flushed Away
Flushed Away is a 2006 computer animated British film directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell. It is a partnership between Aardman Animations of Wallace and Gromit fame, and DreamWorks Animation, and is Aardman's first completely computer-animated feature as opposed to the usual stop-motion.The film...
. But, given the film's $US30 million budget, Aardman have judged it successful enough for a new Wallace & Gromit film to be made.
Awards
| Group | Award | Recipients | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 78th Academy Awards 78th Academy Awards The 78th Academy Awards honored the best films of 2005 and were held on March 5, 2006, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. They were hosted by The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, with Tom Kane making his first appearance as the show's announcer... |
Best Animated Feature Film Academy Award for Best Animated Feature The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is one of the annual awards given by the Los Angeles-based professional organization, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences... |
Nick Park Nick Park Nicholas Wulstan "Nick" Park, CBE is an English filmmaker of stop motion animation best known as the creator of Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep.... Steve Box Steve Box Steve Box is an English animator and director who works for Aardman Animations.His early work in animation included the popular British claymation television series The Trap Door for Bristol-based animation studio CMTB Animation.Box joined Aardman Animations in 1990. He directed the video for the... |
|
| 33rd Annie Awards 33rd Annie Awards The 33rd Annual Annie Awards were held on February 4, 2006 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, California. They were hosted by Tom Kenny.-Best Animated Feature:*Chicken Little*Corpse Bride*Howl's Moving Castle*Madagascar ... |
Best Animated Effects | Jason Wen | |
| Best Animated Feature Annie Award for Best Animated Feature The Annie Award for Best Animated Feature is an Annie Award, awarded annually to the best animated feature film and introduced in 1992. In 1998 the award was renamed Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Theatrical Feature, only to be reverted back to its original title again in 2001... |
|||
| Best Character Animation | Claire Billet | ||
| Best Character Design in an Animated Feature Production | Nick Park Nick Park Nicholas Wulstan "Nick" Park, CBE is an English filmmaker of stop motion animation best known as the creator of Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep.... |
||
| Best Directing in an Animated Feature Production | Nick Park Steve Box |
||
| Best Music in an Animated Feature Production | Julian Nott | ||
| Best Production Design in an Animated Feature Production | Phil Lewis | ||
| Best Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production | Bob Persichetti | ||
| Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production | Peter Sallis Peter Sallis Peter Sallis, OBE is an English actor and entertainer, well-known for his work on British television. Although he was born and brought up in London, his two most notable roles require him to adopt the accents and mannerisms of a Northerner.Sallis is best known for his role as the main character... as the voice of Wallace |
||
| Best Writing in an Animated Feature Production | Steve Box Nick Park Mark Burton |
||
| Best Character Animation | Jay Grace Christopher Sadler Christopher Sadler Chris Sadler is an award-winning British Animator director who works with Aardman Animations. He has worked on Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, Rex the Runt, Cracking Contraptions, Creature Comforts and Shaun the Sheep.... |
||
| Best Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production | Michael Salter | ||
| Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production | Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane... as the voice of Lady Campanula Tottington |
||
| Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production | Ralph Fiennes Ralph Fiennes Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List.... as the voice of Victor Quartermaine |
||
| Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production | Nicholas Smith as the voice of Reverend Clement Hedges | ||
| Bodil Awards Bodil Awards The Bodil Awards are the major Danish film awards given by Denmark's National Association of Film Critics . The awards are presented annually at a ceremony in the Imperial Cinema in Copenhagen. Established in 1948, it is one of the oldest film awards in Europe... |
Best Non-American Film | ||
| 59th British Academy Film Awards 59th British Academy Film Awards The 59th British Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts on 19 February 2006, honoured the best in film for 2005.... |
Best British Film BAFTA Award for Best Film This page lists the winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Film, BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language and Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film for each year, in addition to the retired earlier versions of those awards... |
Claire Jennings David Sproxton Nick Park Steve Box Mark Burton Bob Baker |
|
| British Comedy Awards British Comedy Awards The British Comedy Awards is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year.-History:... |
Best Comedy Film | Nick Park | |
| Broadcast Film Critics Association Broadcast Film Critics Association The Broadcast Film Critics Association is the largest film critics organization in the United States and Canada , representing approximately 250 television, radio and online critics.... |
Best Animated Feature | ||
| Cine Awards Zee Cine Awards The Zee Cine Awards or "ZCA" for short is an awards ceremony for the Hindi film industry. It was first held in 1998 in Mumbai. Since then, it has gained substantial popularity as a notable awards ceremony to the Indian population as well as to the viewers of Zee Network.In 2004, the ZCA went... |
Best voice actress | Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane... |
|
| Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association The Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association is an organization of 35 print, radio/TV and internet journalists from Dallas-Fort Worth-based publications... |
Best Animated Feature | ||
| Empire Awards Empire Awards An Empire Award is an accolade bestowed by Empire, Britain's biggest selling film magazine, to recognize excellence of professionals in the locale and global film industry. The awards are voted for by readers of the magazine and in an annual ceremony, the Empire Awards, the winners are presented... |
Best Director | Nick Park Steve Box |
|
| Best British Film | |||
| Best Comedy | |||
| Scene of the Year | |||
| Florida Film Critics Circle Florida Film Critics Circle The Florida Film Critics Circle is an organization of film reviewers from fourteen Florida-based publications and websites. In December, the FFCC meets to vote on their awards for films released during that year.- Categories :* Best Actor... |
Best Animated Film | ||
| 50th Hugo Awards | Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form | ||
| Kansas City Film Critics Circle Kansas City Film Critics Circle The Kansas City Film Critics Circle is a group of media film critics in the Kansas City metropolitan area. James Loutzenhiser, a local psychiatrist and film buff, who died in November 2001, founded the group in 1967... |
Best Animated Film | ||
| Las Vegas Film Critics Society Las Vegas Film Critics Society The Las Vegas Film Critics Society is a non-profit organization, composed of selected print, television and internet film critics in the Las Vegas metropolitan area.... |
Best Animated Film | ||
| London Film Critics Circle London Film Critics Circle The London Film Critics' Circle is the name by which the Film Section of The Critics' Circle is known internationally.The word London was added because it was thought the term Critics' Circle Film Awards lacked meaning — for people in LA for example — and the Film Section wished its annual Awards... |
British Film of the Year | ||
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association Los Angeles Film Critics Association The Los Angeles Film Critics Association was founded in 1975. Its main purpose is to present yearly awards to members of the film industry who have excelled in their fields. These awards are presented each January... |
Best Animated Film | ||
| 53rd Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Awards Motion Picture Sound Editors Founded in 1953, Motion Picture Sound Editors is an honorary society of motion picture sound editors. The society's goals are to educate others about and increase the recognition of the sound editors, show the artistic merit of the soundtracks, and improve the professional relationship of its... |
Best Sound Editing in Feature Film - Animated | ||
| New York Film Critics Online New York Film Critics Online The New York Film Critics Online is an organization composed of Internet film critics based in New York City. The group meets once a year, in December, for voting on its annual NYFCO Awards.-Awards:*New York Film Critics Online Awards 2003... |
Best Animated Film | ||
| Kids Choice Awards | Best Animated Film | ||
| Online Film Critics Society Online Film Critics Society The Online Film Critics Society is a professional association for film critics who publish their reviews, interviews, and essays on the Internet.The OFCS was founded in 1997... |
Best Animated Feature | ||
| 17th Producers Guild of America Awards | Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures | Claire Jennings Nick Park |
|
| 10th Satellite Awards Satellite Awards 2005 The 10th Satellite Awards, honoring the best in film- and television making in 2005, were given on 17 December 2005.-Best Actor - Drama: Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote*Jake Gyllenhaal - Jarhead... |
Outstanding Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media Satellite Award for Best Animated or Mixed Media Feature The Satellite Award for Best Animated or Mixed Media Feature is an annual Satellite Award given by the International Press Academy.- 1990s :-2000s:- 2010s :... |
||
| 32nd Saturn Awards | Best Animated Film Saturn Award for Best Animated Film The following are a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Animated Film:-Winners:... |
||
| Southeastern Film Critics Association Southeastern Film Critics Association The Southeastern Film Critics Association is an organization of film reviewers from publications based in the Southeastern United States.... |
Best Animated Film | ||
| Toronto Film Critics Association Toronto Film Critics Association The Toronto Film Critics Association is an organization of film reviewers from Toronto-based publications. As of 1999, the TFCA is member of FIPRESCI.-History:... |
Best Animated Film | ||
| Ursa Major Awards | Best Anthropomorphic Motion Picture | ||
| Visual Effects Society Visual Effects Society The Visual Effects Society is the entertainment industry's only organization representing the full breadth of visual effects practitioners including artists, animators, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and producers in all areas of... |
Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Motion Picture | Lloyd Price for "Gromit" | |
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association The Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association is a group of film critics based out of Washington, D.C., United States that was founded in 2003. WAFCA is composed of 34 DC-based film critics from television, radio, print and the internet... |
Best Animated Film |
Awards shown here are those detailed by the Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
.
Home media
In Region 2, the film was released in a two-disc special including Cracking ContraptionsCracking Contraptions
Wallace and Gromit's Cracking Contraptions are a series of ten Wallace and Gromit stop motion animations varying in length from 1 to 3 minutes. Each episode features one of Wallace's new inventions and Gromit's skeptical reaction to it...
, plus a number of other extras. In Region 1, the film was released on DVD in Widescreen and Fullscreen versions on 7 February 2006. Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
stores carried a special version with an additional DVD, "Gromit's Tail-Waggin' DVD" which included the test shorts made for this production.
A companion game, also titled 'Curse of the Were-Rabbit', had a coinciding release with the film. A novelization, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit: The Movie Novelization by Penny Worms (ISBN 0-8431-1667-6), was also produced.
This was the final DreamWorks Animation film released on VHS.
See also
- List of animated feature films
- List of stop-motion films
- Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (video game)Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (video game)Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a video game developed by Frontier Developments and it is the first and only game in the series to be published by Konami. It was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles...
External links
(UK) (US)- The Curse of the Were-Rabbit at the Official Wallace & Gromit website
- The Making of Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit