Some of the best claymation ever put to film was coming out of Nick Park’s studio in the 1990s. For those who missed them, they can be found in a collection called Wallace and Gromit in 3 Amazing Adventures.
‘A Grand Day Out with Wallace and Gromit’, released in 1989, is probably the weakest of the three – and that’s only a relative term, since it pretty much blew away 90% of all animated shorts that year out of the water. In this adventure, W&G go to the moon in search of cheese. Good, but gets caught up in slapstick at the expense of storytelling. But, like I said before, that’s only relative to other W&G films, when compared to the competition, it is light years ahead.
The series really hits it’s stride in 1993 with ‘Wallace & Gromit in The Wrong Trousers’, a story in which an evil penguin uses Wallace as a pawn in a heist. This should make the list of best animated shorts of the 1990s.
And then, just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, in 1995, Park released ‘Wallace and Gromit in A Close Shave’. Gromit is framed for sheep rustling, by the best villain since the evil penguin. Nominated for an Academy Award, and justifiably so. Should make the list of best animated shorts of all time!
Success, and a partnership with Dreamworks brought digital animated techniques into the world of Wallace and Gromit for their feature film debut, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit. The film is excellent, and very entertaining – and the use of newly found digital tools does not take away from the charm of the series. However, this feature length film, at times feels more like ‘A Grand Day Out’ than the latter two shorts, particularly at the climax where the slapstick gags come rapidfire for a bit too long. Still, it’s great fun, worth checking out!
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