All Movie Guide
The third film to feature the claymation adventures of Wallace and Gromit, A Close Shave finds the inventor and his dog with a new business, new friends, and a new adversary. As the story begins, the team has decided to open a window-washing service, with Wallace providing clever gadgets while Gromit does the real work. Yet Wallace continues inventing in his spare time and has recently built a new device, the Knit-O-Matic, to clean and shear sheep -- which comes in quite handy when a lost lamb takes refuge in their home. Wallace and Gromit soon discover that this lamb has escaped from a pair of evil sheep rustlers who want him back. The mastermind of the rustling scheme turns out to be Preston, a dog belonging to local wool-shop proprietor Wendolene Ramsbottom; complicating things further is the fact Wendolene is also the object of Wallace's romantic affections. When Preston frames Gromit as the rustler and plots to steal the Knit-O-Matic, the pair must find a way to save the sheep and themselves. Director Nick Park once again mixes inventive animation with deviously clever plotting and whimsical humor, a combination that won him his third "Best Animated Short" Oscar. Judd Blaise
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The second short film to feature the claymation antics of eccentric inventor Wallace and his dog Gromit, The Wrong Trousers sees the duo become unwitting accomplices to a jewel theft. The trouble begins when, struggling to make ends meet, Wallace decides to take in a boarder - a mysterious penguin. At first, Wallace and his new tenant get along famously; indeed, the penguin forces Gromit out of his room and into the doghouse, literally. However, the bird is not what he seems: Gromit discovers that the penguin is actually the infamous burglar Feathers McGraw. Feathers has his eye on Wallace's most recent invention -- a pair of mechanical trousers that can be programmed to automatically walk on their own -- believing the device will help him steal a world-famous diamond at the local museum. When Feathers traps Wallace inside the trousers, Gromit must find a way to stop the malicious penguin and save his friend. This Oscar-winner for "Best Animated Short" works both as a hilarious parody of film noir and as an exciting, action-packed adventure in its own right, combining skillful visual design and superb animation with inventive, witty storytelling. Judd Blaise
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It's another bank holiday in northern England, and eccentric inventor Wallace and his faithful dog, Gromit, are sitting around the house with nothing to do. While poring over stacks of travel magazines, Wallace suggests that the pair break for a hot cup of tea and some cheese. When he discovers that there's no cheese to be found anywhere in the house, he hits upon an ideal place for a picnic: "Everybody knows the moon's made of cheese," and thus begins their Grand Day Out. With Gromit's help, he immediately starts construction on a rocket ship, and before long the two are walking on (and tasting) the lunar surface. As they continue to explore, they are blissfully unaware that they -- and their rocket -- are being watched by a creature that has dreams and aspirations of its own. ~ Emru Townsend, All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
This fourth short-form outing for Nick Park's beloved Wallace & Gromit is truly A Matter of Loaf and Death. Wallace has converted his home into a granary complete with a fully functional, old-fashioned windmill (patent pending) on the roof, and as a result "Top Bun" has become one of the hottest bakeries in town. But all is not well in the neighborhood, because more than a dozen local bakers have gone missing in the last few months alone. Now, as Wallace falls head over heels for former Bake-O-Lite bread girl Piella Bakewell (voice of Coronation Street star Sally Lindsay), Gromit attempts to solve the case of the missing bakers before his hapless master becomes the latest dough-roller to vanish without a trace. Jason Buchanan