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By FRANK BEHRENS
Talk about cult series! The
moment "Wallace and Gromit" hit the telly screens
overseas, viewers went nuts over the first episode
and immediately collectibles began to appear in
shops. It even won an Oscar. As did the second and
as did the third episodes. Now they are, all
three, available on a single BBC Video DVD with
lots of bonus materials, most of it quite
interesting. Grab it.
The first episode, "A Grand Day Out," is centered
on the cheese-loving Wallace and his faithful
pooch Gromit, both of whom are animated clay
figures, find themselves out of cheese and take
the logical next step of designing a rocket ship
to take them to the moon, which (we all know) is
made of the desired fromage. There their picnic is
disturbed by a Warner Brothers cartoon-type of
device that sends them packing back to Earth. It
is all very clever and starts well, but I found
the second half a bit tiresome and slow paced.
The second episode, "The Wrong Trousers," is light
years better and utilizes many cinematic devices
of the 1950s sci-fi films. When a strange penguin
takes over Gromit's room as a boarder and takes
over all of Gromit's duties in the household, the
dog decamps, only to find that the penguin is a
master criminal…Oh, watch it yourself and find out
what dark secrets the penguin holds. Very clever
and very funny throughout.
"A Close Shave" has memories of serial-killer
tales as well as of the first Terminator film.
Serial-kidnapping of sheep is bringing about a
wool crisis; and while washing the windows of a
wool shop, Wallace falls for the proprietress, who
happens to own a very evil-looking dog, that…. No,
again, I implore you to find out for yourself.
The animation in all of these episodes is
excellent, the scenery in the second two strangely
realistic, the expressions of Gromit's face
priceless (see what can be done with the slightest
manipulation of his brows), and some of the items
in Gromit's "Daily Lamp Post" hilarious (if you
look quickly when he is reading it).
I especially appreciated the shots of the creators
actually filming some of the scenes and their
comments. For example, one of the more fascinating
details is that the word "toast" lasts eight
frames of film, so Wallace's mouth has to be
manipulated that many times for that word alone.
(The first episode took six years to film! I can
see why.)
Finally, yes: these are the same gentlemen who
brought us "Chicken Run." Except for some of that
first episode, highly recommended. (But you have
to appreciate British understatement.)
The collection is introduced by creator Nick Park,
and all three episodes feature a running
commentary by Park and his team. |
