Wallace & Gromit: Dia de Folga

Wallace and Gromit are a phenomenon. How many stop motion animation films win Oscars, top the US and UK box office charts etc. But all that came later.

A Grand Day Out was the first Wallace and Gromit film. Low budget. More or less a graduation piece. Of course the animation is less sophisticated than in the later films. Of course the plot is a little shallow. The entire story is designed to minimise the need for sophisticated animation and to maximise the excuse for shortcomings (perhaps dogs and people would move a bit like that on a cheese moon).

Yet it is extraordinary to see how much of the Aardman genius is already there in this short film. Hilarious and clever references to other films. Mice in shades for take off. The rocket handbrake gag. Coin-operated machine gags (brilliantly recycled in Were-Rabbit BTW). And a machine (is it an Aga?) that daydreams about skiing when it sees Wallace's holiday magazines.

Of course TWT, ACS and Were-Rabbit are better movies, but this film is so worth seeing as a sign of early genius and indeed in its own right as a crude but wonderful animated film.

"Gromit, we've forgotten the crackers!" Wallace and Gromit are very funny, very cute little claymation characters that go on adventures so that everybody can have a good time. In this short, they go to the moon, because everyone knows it's made out of cheese, and cheese is what they want. When they get there, it's a bit different than they expected, but that doesn't stop them from exploring around and running into a little mischief with a robot thing that happens to be left there (and take Earthling money, too...).

It's quite a charming little duo, this Wallace and Gromit. Wallace is the inventor with a smile on his face and the plans to do whatever he fancies, while Gromit is his concerned protector, chasing after him to make sure his master is okay. The claymation is of the finest sort, with their expressions perfect and a lot of depth to their eyes.

Just remember: don't forget the crackers.

--PolarisDiB

This short was nominated for the Academy Award. It introduces us to Wallace and Gromit. Interestingly, the stars are less appealing than one of the supporting characters: the little whatever-it-is they run into on their jaunt to the moon for cheese. This little critter apparently wants to be Jean-Claude Killy when it grows up. The best parts of a very fine short are with this odd little entity, whatever it happens to be. Fine beginning to a great series that's gotten better as it goes along. Recommended to those few souls who haven't seen it yet.

Although A Grand Day Out is arguably the weakest of the three existing Wallace and Gromit films, it's still very funny, and very entertaining. This was my first W and G experience. I heard the uncontrolled sounds of hysterical laughter from my family in the next room as a refrigerator on the moon dreamt of skiing down slopes (don't ask, watch.) Everyone, from ages 3-103 will be at least slightly amused by any W and G skit. I also recommend A Close Shave and The Wrong Trousers, which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

Nick Park has created such funny characters with Wallace and his faithful dog Gromit. This time, they run out of cheese and decide to get it on the moon, as 'everybody knows it's made of cheese'.

They make their own spaceship and finally make it to the moon, where the cheese doesn't really taste like anything and they have an encounter with a local robot, whose secret dream is it to ski (as we see in a lovely dream sequence with the W&G theme playing on the background, loved that!).

This short picture is so funny, I can recommend it to anyone. Maybe not as much though as the even more brilliant 'The Wrong Trousers'... oh heck, what am I talking, watch all the W&G right now! You'll be glad you did.

8/10.