½ This is a series of British clay-animated short films featuring an inventor named Wallace, who makes some very clever contraptions, and his very clever dog, Gromit, who seems more rational than Wallace, and sometimes helps with his inventions. He's very loyal to Wallace, though he often seems exasperated by Wallace's absent-mindedness and everything. Anyway, the animation is always quite good, and the shorts are always rather amusing.
tek's rating: ½
A Grand Day Out (23 minutes)
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The first Wallace & Gromit short film, from 1989. I don't recall when or how I first saw this, but it was probably sometime in the 1990s, or maybe the early 2000s? In this story, Wallace is trying to decide where to go on holiday. Then he realizes they have no cheese in the house- and he really likes cheese. So, he and Gromit build a rocket to go to the moon, since everyone knows the moon is made of cheese. (What most people don't know is that you can walk around up there without a space suit.) And um, there's some sort of robot up there, which causes a bit of trouble. I don't want to go into any specifics, but it's definitely a fun short.
The Wrong Trousers (30 minutes), on BBC Two
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The second short, from 1993. Because it originally aired on TV, I should consider it a special, but I'm listing all the Wallace and Gromit short films together. And I don't think the original one was a special. Again, I probably first saw this in the '90s or early Aughts. On Gromit's birthday, Wallace gives him a pair of "techno trousers" which can walk by remote control or whatever... Then Wallace decides to rent out a room to pay off some debts, and it gets rented by a penguin, who appropriates the trousers to pull off a diamond heist. And that's all I want to reveal of the plot, but as always, the short is clever and amusing and utterly ridiculous. It's great.
A Close Shave (30 minutes), on BBC ?
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The third short, from 1995. I think this also aired on TV, but I'm not sure what specific network (surely one of the BBCs). It's quite likely that I never saw any of the shorts until after this one came out, but I still am not completely sure when I first saw any of them. This one begins with a sheep escaping from rustlers, and sneaking into Wallace and Gromit's house. It's some time before they find the sheep, and Wallace names him Shaun. Meanwhile, Wallace & Gromit get called to do a job washing windows, and Wallace meets this shopkeeper named Wendolene Ramsbottom, whose late father had been an inventor. And the woman has a dog named Preston. Wallace seems to quite fancy Wendolene. Eventually, Preston frames Gromit for sheep rustling and killing. I don't want to reveal any more of the plot, but it gets to be kind of like a film noir, and later turns into more of a sci-fi horror. But as always, the whole thing is ridiculous and quite amusing. And Shaun the Sheep would later star in a spin-off TV series and movies, none of which I've seen.
A web micro-series from 2002. I don't remember when I first saw it, but it was probably in the late 2010s or early 2020s.
A feature film from 2005. I first saw it on DVD in 2014.
A Matter of Loaf and Death (29 minutes), on ABC1 (Australia) / BBC One (UK)
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The fourth short, from 2008. Another TV special. I didn't see it until 2025, on Blu-ray. Review coming soon.
Vengeance Most Fowl
A TV movie from 2024. I hope to see it sometime in 2025.