Wallace & Gromit

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Wallace & Gromit are the main characters in several British animated films by Nick Park and his company Aardman Animations . The figures are modeled from plasticine on wire frames and animated using the stop-motion technique. This process is also known as “ claymation ”.

Movies

Short films

Short film collection

  • In 2002, the BBC beamed this collection of one- to three-minute films from: Wallace & Gromit - Great equipment ( Wallace & Gromit's Cracking Contraptions ). The German first broadcast took place in 2008.
    • The Soccer Winner Machine ( The Soccamatic )
    • The remote control device ( The Tellyscope )
    • Kitchen Machine ( The AutoChef )
    • Der Schlafomat ( The Snoozatron )
    • The turbo-Diener ( The Turbo Diner )
    • The Burglar Boxer Vest ( The Bully Proof Vest )
    • The cracker sucker ( The 525 Crackervac )
    • A Christmas Kartomatik ( A Christmas Cardomatic )
    • The Snowman-o-mat ( The Snowmanotron )
    • Shopping Cart 13 ( Shopper 13 )

Motion picture

On October 13, 2005, the first full-length Wallace & Gromit film was released in German cinemas. It is called Wallace & Gromit - On the hunt for the giant rabbit (Original title: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit ).

On October 10, 2005, the upcoming celebrations for the premiere of the movie were overshadowed by a major fire in the warehouse of Aardman Studios in Bristol . The archive of the studios, which also included the props for the three Wallace & Gromit short films and the feature film Chicken Run , was completely destroyed. The props for the movie On the Hunt for the Giant Rabbit were spared as they had not yet been stored in the archive.

Television series

In autumn 2010 the BBC started the television series "Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention". The popular science program, which combines animation and documentary film recordings, provides, according to the BBC, "a carefree and humorous look at real inventors, gadgets, devices and inventions". Wallace is the moderator of the show, supported by Gromit, with his voice again being taken over by Peter Sallis. The first season consists of six episodes and is accompanied by competitions and a "roadshow" with live events.

Nick Park had previously rejected requests for a TV series only with the plasticine figures, due to the high time required for each individual episode. However, short commercials were created on the BBC for crackers and Wensleydale cheese.

characters

Wallace lives with his dog Gromit in the typical English town of Wigan at 62 West Wallaby Street. The two live in a shared apartment, but Gromit also has a dog house in the garden.

Originally, all speaking characters have a Yorkshire accent. The well-known British actor Peter Sallis (in the German dubbed versions: Peter Kirchberger ) lent Wallace his voice until 2010; After Sallis resigned, he was replaced by voice actor Ben Whitehead .

Wallace

Wallace is an eccentric but lovable inventor. Many of his inventions are similar to the devices and machines from the comics by Rube Goldberg and Heath Robinson . The functioning or non-functioning of the machines is a main part of the plot in all films.

Wallace has a distinct preference for crackers and cheese (especially Wensleydale cheese ) and usually wears a white shirt with a red tie, a green tank top, and brown wool trousers. In addition to his passion for cheese, Wallace likes to drink tea and reads the Morning Post , the Afternoon Post and the Evening Post . Occasionally he treats himself to a glass of Bordeaux . Apparently he doesn't pursue a regular job, but earns his money with changing odd jobs, in which he repeatedly brings new of his numerous inventions to more or less efficient use.

Gromit

Gromit, a dog whose name is derived from a small rubber sealing ring ( grommet ), has its birthday on February 12th. In the joint activities with Wallace, Gromit appears to the viewer as the more intelligent, although he does not speak. The communication between the two therefore seems very one-sided at first, as only Wallace speaks. Gromit communicates through the very expressive facial expressions of his eyes. Many critics compare Gromit's facial expressions with those of silent film actor Buster Keaton . Gromit is the smarter of the two and helps Wallace with his work. He graduated from Dogwarts University (alluding to Hogwarts School from Harry Potter ). Gromit is mostly unclothed, but wears different items of clothing depending on the situation, such as B. a raincoat or other protective or work clothing. Gromit is left-handed, loves knitting, likes to do jigsaw puzzles and read technical books or works of world literature:

  • Electronics For Dogs (allusion to Electronic for Dummies )
  • The Republic of "Pluto" (allusion to Plato's Politeia and Disney's dog Pluto )
  • Crime and Punishment of "Fido Dogstojewskij" (allusion to the dog name Fido and Fyodor Dostoevsky and his work Crime and Punishment (Engl. Crime and Punishment))
  • Men are from Mars, Dogs are from Pluto (allusion to Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus by John Gray ).

"Feathers" McGraw

"Feathers" McGraw is a criminal penguin in The Techno Pants , who moves in as a lodger with Wallace and Gromit. With Wallace's invention, but without his knowledge, McGraw breaks into a museum to steal a diamond. In order not to be recognized, he disguises himself as a rooster with a red rubber glove. Except for the jingling of his little button eyes and the occasional sweat, McGraw shows no facial expressions. He is also mute to the audience, but in one scene you can see McGraw chatting away with Wallace. In the end he ends up in the zoo. He himself is never addressed by anyone with Feathers, his name can only be read briefly on a newspaper at the end of the film.

Shaun

Shaun is a sheep that leaves his flock in Unter Schafen and finds temporary shelter with Wallace and Gromit. Shaun ends up in a shearing and knitting machine invented by Wallace and abused by the film antagonist, from which it comes out sheared and freezing; Wallace's wool sweater, which was knitted by the machine at the same time, is lovingly put on. Its name alludes to the English word "shorn".

Shaun is also the main character in the Wallace & Gromit spin-off Shaun the Sheep .

Wendolene Ramsbottom

Wendolene runs the wool business "Wendolene's Wools", founded and passed on by her father in Unter Schafen, on a square in the village, and commissions Wallace and Gromit to clean their windows. Wallace and Wendolene get closer at first, but since she doesn't share his passion for cheese (it makes a difference), the contact between the two ends. Wallace and Gromit save Wendolene from their robot dog Preston.

Preston

Preston is Wendolene's dog, which - as it turns out in Unter Schafen - is actually a "cyber dog", i.e. a robot. Preston has bad intentions and wants to turn Shaun's flock of sheep into dog food.

Piella easy to bake

Piella appears in the film Auf Leben und Brot as Wallace's new love. She was a “model” in an advertisement for baked goods, in which she flew in a balloon as a “baking light fairy”. In the course of the film, she turns out to be the serial killer who ran amok during the film and kills the baker . When trying to kill Wallace with a giant wrench, she confesses her motive: she had eaten too much candy and became too heavy for the balloon, which is why she was fired. Since then she has hated bakers who she blames for the weight gain. She is obsessed with murdering exactly thirteen bakers. Finally Piella ends up trying to escape by balloon because of her weight in the crocodile tank at the zoo.

More figures

See: Wallace & Gromit - On the hunt for the giant rabbit

  • Lord Victor Quartermaine (Speaker: Ralph Fiennes ) is a nobleman who hunts animals for pleasure. He is in love with Lady Tottington, as it turns out later, but only because of her money. In the end, he ends up wearing a giant rabbit costume and is hunted by the villagers and his own dog.
  • Lady Tottington (spokeswoman: Helena Bonham Carter ) is a noblewoman on whose property the vegetable competition takes place. Since she is haunted by thousands of rabbits, she asks Wallace for help. She is after Wendolene Wallace's great love.

Video games

Trivia

  • Nick Park originally intended a cat as Wallace's “pet”.
  • The NASA has the prototype named a new Mars probe to Gromit.

Awards

  • 1990 - Oscar nomination in the animated short film category : Wallace & Gromit - Alles Käse
  • 1993 - Oscar for the best animated short film: Wallace & Gromit - Die Techno-Hose
  • 1995 - Oscar for the best animated short film: Wallace & Gromit - Unter Schafen
  • 2006 - Oscar for the best animated feature film : Wallace & Gromit - On the hunt for the giant rabbit
  • 2010 - Oscar nomination in the animated short film category : Wallace & Gromit - Auf Leben und Brot

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archive Brand: props of "Wallace & Gromit" destroyed . SPIEGEL Online . Retrieved October 22, 2011.
  2. ↑ BBC: Website for the broadcast (English).
  3. ↑ wallaceandgromit.wikia.com: 62 West Wallaby Street (English).
  4. ↑ www.dogwarts.net (English).
  5. ↑ Gromit nearly a cat, says Park . In: BBC News . July 10, 2012 ( bbc.com [accessed April 26, 2020]).
  6. ↑ David Perlman: NASA's new robots show their stuff / Gromit, K-9 have the smarts to travel on the moon, Mars. October 4, 2005, accessed April 26, 2020 .