After a series of Oscar-wining shorts, claymation heroes Wallace & Gromit made the leap to the big screen in "caper" The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit. Creator Nick Park directed this vegetarian horror movie along with Steve Box and it wound up taking a monster-sized bite out of the 2005 worldwide box office. As Oscar night approaches, Park and Box will no doubt be clearing another space on the Aardman mantelpiece.
Say Cheese...
Park reveals how the cheese-loving inventor and his faithful mutt started life as a college graduation project in The History Of Wallace & Gromit. But from the initial brainstorming session in a Notting Hill pub, it took seven years before the duo made their debut in A Grand Day Out. The Amazing World Of Wallace & Gromit on disc two goes a little deeper into the story and offers Park a chance to reflect on the global impact of W&G. "I think their success has something to do with their Britishness," he says, while a Japanese fan explains: "It shows us English life... They drink tea all day and it's interesting, isn't it?" Um...
A behind-the-scenes featurette talks to voice artists Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes, who wryly sums up his onscreen alter ego with, "I suppose you could call him posh..." There's also a look at the process of shaping the characters (literally), which is complemented by the Build A Bunny featurette and The Making Of The Were-Rabbit on disc two. Even fashioning those tiny, Plasticine vegetables was a meticulous undertaking as evidenced in A Day In The Life At Aardmaan. We're told that one poor bloke spent nearly two years making nothing but carrots and cauliflowers!
Cut, Slash, Hack...
Nine deleted scenes are a mixture of animated storyboards and finished animation. Park and Box explain that an alternative opening was designed to set the old school horror tone while two alternative endings reflect the arduous process of trying to tie up the loose ends. In one of them, Lady Tottington marries PC Macintosh, which only made test audiences "feel sorry" for Wallace.
Park and Box go into more depth about capturing the right tone in an engaging commentary for the main feature. "We felt that their whole world had to open up for this movie," says Box, "but somehow still retain its colloquial, local, small feel."
Perhaps the best addition to the package is a section of 10 animated short shorts where Wallace and Gromit demonstrate some of their wackiest inventions. Behold the Soccamatic (for friendless footballers) and the Snoozematron, which tenderly fluffs your pillows when you can't sleep! Box's BAFTA-winning short Stage Fright is included too, following the exploits of a vaudevillian dog juggler...
Back behind the scenes of Were-Rabbit, there are five photo galleries showcasing storyboards and designs. Finally, for the kids there are four interactive games to test the trigger finger (you can go bunny hunting with the Anti-Pesto SWAT Team). As well as packing in lots of fun, this two-disc Special Edition is satisfyingly meaty - despite its vegetarian credentials!
EXTRA FEATURES
