My date with Wallace and Gromit
Bringing you the lowdown from creator Nick Park on this year's Christmas special
I have been a big fan of loveable Lancashire inventor Wallace and his long-suffering dog Gromit ever since they first shuffled onto our TV screens back in 1989 with the short film A Grand Day Out.
I remember our family - my parents, younger brother and sister and probably a couple of snoozing grandparents in the mix too - gathered round to watch their debut antics when the cheese-loving duo set off to the moon in a rocket they’d built to replenish their Wensleydale supply. We had never seen anything quite like it before on television and the wry humour, their touching relationship, not to mention the elaborate inventions dreamt up by Wallace, (that I secretly very much wanted in our own home), were a winning combination.
Since that first outing the stop-motion animations, created by talented Nick Park and his team have become a regular sparkling jewel in the BBC’s Christmas schedules and I, (along with my not so young children these days), have watched every single one over the decades. So it’s fair to say I was rather excited when I was sent off by the publications I work for, (TV Times, TV&Satellite, What’s On TV), to meet multi-award winning Nick and creative director Merlin Crossingham to hear all about their new feature-length film, Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl which is going to be shown on Christmas Day.
Our interview took place at BBC HQ in Portland Place, central London and when I walked into the room it was lovely to see Wallace and Gromit themselves in pride of place while Nick and Merlin pulled up a perch on the sofa behind them.
I had already been given a 30 minute sneak peek of the new film ahead of our interview and I’m pleased to say I loved what I saw. (Always a bonus. It’s always slightly less comfortable interviewing someone if you haven’t really enjoyed the fruits of their labour).
So what’s the story then? Well, the new adventure sees Wallace bursting with pride at his new invention, a ‘smart-gnome’ called Norbot which can be programmed to help with all domestic jobs, (and yes, I want one of those too). However trouble is brewing in the shape of the most sinister penguin on TV: Feathers McGraw.
Feathers, who never speaks but whose beady eyes can bore holes right through you from afar, was last seen in 1993 in The Wrong Trousers and has been stewing in ‘zoo prison’ since being banged up for masterminding a diamond heist. Now he’s hellbent on getting his revenge on Wallace and Gromit who helped put him behind bars so when he gets wind of Wallace’s latest snazzy invention, Norbot, he manages to remotely hack the gnome, reprogramming it into something demonic and bringing chaos to the entire neighbourhood.
Actor Reece Shearsmith (Inside Number 9 and The League Of Gentlemen) is brilliant as the voice of Norbot and I’m looking forward to watching the full spectacle when it hits our screens at 6.10pm on BBC1 on Christmas Day.
In the meantime here’s a few things I learnt from my pre-Christmas rendezvous with Wallace and Gromit, Nick and Merlin which I’m sharing with you here. Consider it my little Christmas gift from me to you….
So what did I discover? Well, that….
1. Oscar-winning creator Nick Park is utterly lovely. He’s softly-spoken, (Lancashire-accent), slightly shy with a gentle-demeanour and a big smile (just like Wallace). His colleague Merlin is very nice too.
2. This will be the first feature-length film in which actor Ben Whitehead is the voice of Wallace. Ben took over from Last of The Summer Wine actor, Peter Sallis, who died in 2017. Nick says, ‘What Peter brought to Wallace was such a treasure so it was very hard shoes for anyone to step into but Ben is a gift and has made Wallace his own.’
3. There’s a star-studded cast of great names doing the voices so keep your ears peeled if you can peel ears. As well as Reece Shearsmith listen out for Peter Kay who is back as Chief Inspector (former PC) Mackintosh, Diane Morgan (a Motherland personal favourite of mine), who is TV news reporter Onya Doorstep, Adjoa Andoh (Bridgerton) as a judge and Sir Lenny Henry as Mr Convenience, one of Wallace’s neighbours.
4. I learnt that the voice recordings happen before the animation comes to life. I don’t know why but I assumed it would be the other way round. Merlin says, ‘It’s a surreal experience for the actors because we might be able to show them a drawing or puppet of their character beforehand but that’s about it. It’s only much later on in the process they get to see more of what we’re up to.’
5. If you imagined the celebs sitting in a recording studio together having a laugh and passing round the chocolate digestives in between takes, that's disappointingly not what happens. Nick says, ‘Everyone records their bits separately so it’s quite an isolated experience. On rare occasions we've managed to do it with actors together and it’s nice because it can create more electricity but that’s usually impossible because everyone has such busy schedules.’
6. Wallace’s mouth has got bigger over the years. Yes. Really. Nick explains, ‘It was the way Peter Sallis said ‘Cheese’. The more films we did, the longer Peter’s vowels seemed to get so over time Wallace’s mouth became more elongated.’ Well there you go. Something for eagle-eyed viewers to look out for. Get your rulers out.
7. The team always likes to slip a few cinematic references into their work. ‘I think it comes from years of doing film studies and watching movies forever as a kid’, says Nick. ‘Feathers the penguin is like a re-imagined Mrs Danvers from the Hitchcock film Rebecca.’ Other classic films they’ve given a cheeky nod to are Cape Fear and Village of The Damned.
8. WARNING: Vengeance Most Fowl contains some nudity. Viewers of a very sensitive disposition take heed, we get to see Wallace NAKED. ‘It’s not the first time’ says Nick. ‘I think he exposed his buttocks at the end of A Matter Of Loaf And Death.’ This time we see him enjoying his morning ablutions involving a bottom-squeaking slide down a watery bubble bath shoot.
9. Nick’s work has garnered him Oscars, BAFTAs and all kinds of shiny, special things to go on mantelpieces but he has a surprising favourite. ‘The one I’m most proud of is my gold Blue Peter badge’ he tells me. ‘I had been given a CBE (by Queen Elizabeth in 1997 for services to the animated film industry), and when I was interviewed about that on the news I said, ‘Oh, it’s like a Blue Peter Badge for grown-ups.’ The next thing you know Blue Peter is on the case.
10. These things take a LONG time to make. Nick came up with the idea of a gnome related story nearly a decade ago but it was just before the pandemic the team started getting to work with story-boarding. He says, ‘We are perfectionists so it’s a nerve-wracking process. As we’re making it we go, “Ok, this scene will be great when it’s edited, this scene will be great when the music is in, this scene will be great when the effects are in. Slowly we get to the point where it’s ‘Right, well this is actually it! We don’t have any more excuses!”
11. Elements like fog, steam, fire and skies are the trickiest to do with stop-motion. ‘We have always been protective of the stop-motion craft, the handmade models and their authenticity’, says Nick. ‘Seeing thumbprints is part of their charm but over the years we’ve adopted some digital effects too. Nearly all the skies are digitally painted now.’
12. Nick has a particular soft spot for Gromit. When I asked who his all-time favourite creation was he said, ‘It would have to be Gromit. He’s the one I relate to most. He’s the one who's put upon and long suffering, misunderstood and unable to express his feelings about things. I think everyone can relate to Gromit at some point.’ You’re so right Nick.
So there you go. A few special insights into the lovely Wallace and Gromit. Settle in on Christmas Day. Get the cheese and crackers out, pass the Celebrations/ Quality Streets/ Hero-thingies and watch along with Nick who says he’ll also be tuning in when it goes out at 6.10pm on BBC1 - peak ‘I’ve overdone the turkey and mince pies, how long before we lie down in bed / do we really have to play that board game?’ point in festive proceedings.
Are you planning to give it a watch? We can regroup and give our reviews in the comments! Who is your all-time favourite Wallace and Gromit character? Have you grown up watching them like I have?
Great writing Tess. I can’t wait for Christmas W&G - I can’t believe they do the voice recordings before the animation, that must be so hard.