Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

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Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Directed by	Steve Box Nick Park
Produced by	Claire Jennings Peter Lord Nick Park Carla Shelley David Sproxton
Written by	Nick Park (characters) Bob Baker Steve Box Mark Burton
Starring	Peter Sallis Helena Bonham Carter Ralph Fiennes Peter Kay Nicholas Smith Liz Smith
Music by	Julian Nott Hans Zimmer (producer)
Distributed by	USA Theatrical and Worldwide DVD/Video DreamWorks Pictures Non-USA Theatrical United International Pictures
Release date(s)	September 15, 2005 (Australia) October 7, 2005 (USA) October 14, 2005 (UK)
Running time	85 min.
Language	English
Budget	$30,000,000 US (est.)
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (also known as Wallace and Gromit The Movie: The Curse of The Were-Rabbit, The Wallace and Gromit Movie, or Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit) is a 2005 British stop-motion animated film, the first feature-length Wallace and Gromit film. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Animations, and released by DreamWorks Pictures. The film was directed by Nick Park and Steve Box and shot entirely in Britain.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Production 3 Release and acclaim 3.1 Box office performance 3.2 Awards 4 New Characters 4.1 Lord Victor Quartermaine 4.2 Phillip 4.3 Lady Campanula "Totty" Tottington 4.4 PC Mackintosh 4.5 The Reverend Clement Hedges 4.6 Mr. Reg and Mrs. Suzanne Mulch 4.7 Mr. Clive Growbag 4.8 Hutch the Rabbit 4.9 Minor characters 5 In jokes 6 DVD 7 Video Game 8 Books 9 See also 10 References 11 External links

[edit] Plot

Tottington Hall's annual Giant Vegetable Competition is approaching. The winner of the competition will win the Golden Carrot Award. All are eager to protect their giant crops from damage and thievery by rabbits until the contest, and Wallace and Gromit are cashing in by running a vegetable security and humane pest control business, "Anti-Pesto".

However, they are faced with two problems: the first is Wallace's weight problem and the second is the space for the captured rabbits. Wallace comes up with an idea — use his Mind Manipulation-O-Matic machine to brainwash the rabbits, allowing them to run freely without harming everyone's gardens. While performing the operation, he kicks the switch and something goes terribly wrong, leaving them with a semi-intelligent rabbit who starts to behave like Wallace (down to his fondness for cheese) and whom Wallace names "Hutch". Soon the town is threatened by the "Were-Rabbit", a giant rabbit-like monster which eats vegetables of any size. During a chaotic yet hilarious town meeting, Anti-Pesto enters into a rivalry with Lord Victor Quartermaine to capture the Were-Rabbit, and, to win Lady Tottington's heart. After the first night of the Were-Rabbit, the townsfolk start to argue on what to do. In the argument, there was a comical sequence where Lady Tottington came and stood in front of objects that made her look like an angel and when they showed Victor again, he was in front of objects that made him look like the devil.

After a hectic nighttime chase, Gromit discovers that the Were-Rabbit is, in fact, Wallace, suffering from the effects of the accident with the Mind Manipulation-O-Matic. Victor corners Wallace during the night, jealous of Lady Tottington's growing fondness for him because of his humane practice of pest control (whereas Victor thinks it's more effective to shoot and kill them). But then Wallace falls into the path of moonlight and transforms. Victor, having identified the Were-Rabbit, goes to Reverend Clement Hedges and gains access to "24-carrot" gold bullets - supposedly, the only things capable of killing a Were-Rabbit.

During the final showdown, Victor and his dog Phillip capture Gromit, who subsequently escapes and decides to make the ultimate sacrifice by using the marrow he had been growing for the competition as bait for Wallace who, in his rabbit form, has burst in upon the vegetable contest, causing panic. Victor tries to shoot what is apparently the monster - but Gromit is one step ahead of him. Yet the marrow cannot keep Wallace's attention as Victor tries to take the golden carrot award from a distressed Lady Tottington. Wallace ascends to the rooftops, holding a screaming Lady Tottington in his hand. Discovering his identity, she promises to protect him, only to be interrupted by Victor. Meanwhile, in a mid-air dogfight in toy aeroplanes, Phillip chases after Gromit. Gromit forces his foe out of the air in a fiery crash and explosion - but Phillip manages to hold on to Gromit's plane and the two grapple (in one segment, when the plane runs out of coins, Gromit hands the axe to Philip and counts his money. Philip grows tired and hands the axe back to Gromit and pulls out a purse with a flower design, finds a penny and inserts in into the slot, thereby restarting the engine). The fight rages on and in the end, Gromit releases Philip, ironically, through the bomb doors and into a bouncy castle.

Atop Tottington Hall, Gromit's toy biplane circles Wallace, who clings onto the flagpole at the top of the building for dear life. Victor, having run out of gold bullets, steals the Golden Carrot trophy and stuffs it in an elephant gun. Victor tries one last time to shoot Wallace, but Wallace is saved when Gromit's plane falls into the path of the improvised bullet. The engine in Gromit's plane fails and begins to descend rapidly. Wallace jumps from the flagpole and catches the plane, thereby breaking Gromit's fall into the cheese tent below. Victor gloats, but is knocked unconscious by Lady Tottington, using a giant carrot. He falls into the tent too, where Wallace lies unconscious and seemingly dying of his injuries. To protect Wallace from the angry mob outside, Gromit dresses Victor up as the monster (a costume he used earlier as a lure for the Were-Rabbit), and throws him out of the tent. The angry mob chase Victor away.

Gromit and Tottington tend to Wallace, who seconds later, breathes his last, and morphs back into his human form. Gromit, the rabbits, and Lady Tottington are saddened by their loss, but Gromit is able to revive Wallace with a slice of Stinking Bishop cheese. Gromit, for his bravery and his "brave and splendid marrow", is awarded the (now somewhat battered) competition trophy, and Lady Tottington turns Tottington Hall into a wildlife refuge, where all the rabbits, including Hutch, can live in peace.

[edit] Production

The directors have often referred to the motion picture as the world's "first vegetarian horror film". Peter Sallis (the voice of Wallace) is joined in the film by Ralph Fiennes (as Lord Victor Quartermaine), Helena Bonham Carter (as Lady Campanula Tottington), Peter Kay (as PC Mackintosh), Nicholas Smith (as Rev. Clement Hedges), and Liz Smith (as Mrs. Mulch). Keeping with the tradition of the original short films, Gromit remains silent, communicating only through body language.

Nick Park told an interviewer that after separate test screenings with British and American children, the film was altered to "tone down some of the British accents and make them speak more clearly so the American audiences could understand it all better."^[1]

The vehicle Wallace drives in the film is an Austin A35 van. In collaboration with Aardman in the spring of 2005, a road-going replica of the model was created by brothers Mark and David Armé, founders of the International Austin A30/A35 Register, for promotional purposes. In a 500 man hour customisation, an original 1964 van received a full body restoration before being dented and distressed to perfectly replicate the model van used in the film. The official colour of the van is Preston Green, named in honour of Nick Park's home town. The name was chosen by the Art Director and Mark Armé.

[edit] Release and acclaim

It was released in the United Kingdom, United States and Hong Kong on October 14, 2005 to almost universally rave reviews, including "A" ratings from Roger Ebert and Ty Burr. The DVD edition of the film was released on February 7, 2006 (USA) and February 20, 2006 (UK). On rottentomatoes.com the film won 2 Golden Tomato awards for "Best Wide Overall Release" and "Best Animation". The film received an outstanding 96% from the website. Despite the praise, one of the film's few critics was Peter Sallis, the voice of Wallace, who said that he preferred the half-hour films to the big screen debut.^[2] Also, Richard Roeper gave a disappointing "thumb down" to the film on At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper. He basically said the premise is better as a short, but as a feature length product it bored him, calling it “slightly amusing.” He said to catch it on video or pay TV instead of spending $10 to see it in a theater.^[3]

The animated short The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper was shown before the film during the theatrical release. The short is included as a bonus feature on the Madagascar DVD.

[edit] Box office performance

Wallace & Gromit opened in 3,645 theatres and had an opening weekend gross of $16,025,987, putting it at number one for that weekend.^[4] During its second weekend it came in at number two, $200,000 behind The Fog.^[5] It remained number one worldwide for three weeks in a row.^[6] Overall Wallace & Gromit made $56,110,897 in the US and $192,610,372 internationally.^[7] Despite the big difference between the production budget and the overall gross, Dreamworks considered its returns low in comparison to Chicken Run, which made a slightly larger amount ($224,834,564) worldwide, but nearly twice as much ($106,834,564) within the United States.^{[citation needed][original research?]} When it is factored in that Chicken Run also cost $15 million more to make, the overall profits for both films end up looking very similar. Nevertheless, it was reported on 3 October 2006^[8] and confirmed on 30 January 2007^[9] that the partnership between Dreamworks and Aardman has ended due to "creative differences" about Aardman's CG feature, Flushed Away. But, Aardman have judged it successful enough for a new Wallace & Gromit film to be made.^[10]

[edit] Awards

Group	Award	Recipients	Result
78th Academy Awards	Best Animated Feature Film	Nick Park Steve Box	Winner
33rd Annie Awards	Best Animated Effects	Jason Wen	Winner
	Best Animated Feature
	Best Character Animation	Claire Billet
	Best Character Design in an Animated Feature Production	Nick Park
	Best Directing in an Animated Feature Production	Nick Park Steve Box
	Best Music in an Animated Feature Production	Julian Nott
	Best Production Design in an Animated Feature Production	Phil Lewis
	Best Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production	Bob Persichetti
	Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production	Peter Sallis as the voice of Wallace
	Best Writing in an Animated Feature Production	Steve Box Nick Park Mark Burton
	Best Character Animation	Jay Grace Christopher Sadler	Nominated
	Best Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production	Michael Salter
	Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production	Helena Bonham Carter as the voice of Lady Campanula Tottington
	Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production	Ralph Fiennes as the voice of Victor Quartermaine
	Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production	Nicholas Smith as the voice of Reverend Clement Hedges
Bodil Awards	Best Non-American Film		Nominated
59th British Academy Film Awards	Best British Film	Claire Jennings David Sproxton Nick Park Steve Box Mark Burton Bob Baker	Winner
British Comedy Awards	Best Comedy Film	Nick Park	Winner
Broadcast Film Critics Association	Best Animated Feature		Winner
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association	Best Animated Feature		Winner
Empire Awards	Best Director	Nick Park Steve Box	Winner
	Best British Film		Nominated
	Best Comedy
	Scene of the Year
Florida Film Critics Circle	Best Animated Film		Winner
50th Hugo Awards	Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form		Nominated
Kansas City Film Critics Circle	Best Animated Film		Winner
Las Vegas Film Critics Society	Best Animated Film		Winner
London Film Critics Circle	British Film of the Year		Nominated
Los Angeles Film Critics Association	Best Animated Film		Winner
53rd Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Awards	Best Sound Editing in Feature Film - Animated		Winner
New York Film Critics Online	Best Animated Film		Winner
Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards	Best Animated Film		Nominated
Online Film Critics Society	Best Animated Feature		Winner
17th Producers Guild of America Awards	Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures	Claire Jennings Nick Park	Winner
10th Satellite Awards	Outstanding Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media		Nominated
32nd Saturn Awards	Best Animated Film		Nominated
Southeastern Film Critics Association	Best Animated Film		Winner
Toronto Film Critics Association	Best Animated Film		Winner
Visual Effects Society	Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Motion Picture	Lloyd Price for "Gromit"	Winner
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	Best Animated Film		Winner
Cine Awards	Best voice actress	Helena Bonham Carter	Winner

Awards shown here are those detailed by the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

[edit] New Characters

[edit] Lord Victor Quartermaine

Lord Victor Quartermaine is an upper-class bounder who is fond of hunting; he is rarely seen without his rifle and his hunting dog Phillip. He is the villain of the movie, wears a toupee, and hates Anti-Pesto. It soon becomes clear in the film that Victor's only interest in Lady Tottington is her vast fortune which he is eager to get his hands on. After Lady Tottington discovers that Victor knew that the were-rabbit was Wallace all along, he reveals that all he wants is her money. He is voiced by Ralph Fiennes.

[edit] Phillip

Phillip is Victor's hunting dog. He and Victor will do anything to stop the Were-Rabbit, although he is bright enough to know that the Were-Rabbit is beyond his hunting skills, and that Gromit, closer to his own size, is a better prospect as the target of premeditated violence. He also owns a lady's purse with flowers.

[edit] Lady Campanula "Totty" Tottington

Lady Tottington is a wealthy forty-something single noblewoman with a keen interest in both vegetable growing and 'fluffy' animals. For 517 years, her family has hosted an annual vegetable competition. Lady Tottington asks Wallace to call her "Totty" (which is really just a short way of saying Tottington ), and develops a romantic interest in him. She is voiced by Helena Bonham Carter.

[edit] PC Mackintosh

Police Constable Albert Mackintosh is the village bobby who judges the Giant Vegetable Contest, although, with the havoc it creates every year he would rather it didn't happen at all. His name is probably a play on PC and Macintosh, two common kinds of personal computers. He is played by British comedian Peter Kay.

[edit] The Reverend Clement Hedges

Reverend Hedges is the local vicar. He is the first person in the village to witness the were-rabbit, and describes the full horror of his encounter with the beast, but Victor refuses to believe him. However, when Victor discovers the true identity of the beast, he turns to the vicar for advice on how to kill it. Reverend Hedges appears to have a wide range of knowledge on the habits and the slayings of supernatural animals, and has a whole cupboard filled with the weapons to defeat them. He is voiced by Nicholas Smith. Although his name appears in the credits, it's never said inside the movie.

[edit] Mr. Reg and Mrs. Suzanne Mulch

Mr. and Mrs. Mulch are clients of Wallace and Gromit's Anti-Pesto. Mrs. Mulch has a constant fixation on her gigantic pumpkin. Voiced by Liz Smith, Mrs. Mulch is a more prominent character than her husband - who talks little.

[edit] Mr. Clive Growbag

Mr. Growbag is an elderly resident of Wallace and Gromit's neighbourhood and a founding member of the town's veg grower's council. He constantly recalls memories of incidents from previous Vegetable Competitions - comparing them to what may happen to this one forthcoming. He is credited as one of the film's most hilarious characters. Two of the "disasters" he mentions are The Great Slug Riot of `32, "when there were slugs the size of pigs", and the Great Duck Plague of `53. He is voiced by Edward Kelsey.

[edit] Hutch the Rabbit

Hutch is originally just another captive rabbit, Hutch receives special treatment, and his name, after an attempt to brainwash him and his fellows goes wrong. Hutch is voiced by Peter Sallis, the same person who voiced Wallace, though with his voice sped-up. A very noticeable fact is that everything Hutch says in the film is something Wallace has said before the accident with the Mind-O-Matic. Hutch wears Wallace's clothes, his slippers and sweater vest.

[edit] Minor characters

• Mr. Leaching - Ben Whitehead
• Mr. Dibber - Robert Horvath
• Mrs. Girdling - Noni Lewis
• Miss. Thripp - Geraldine McEwan
• Mr. Caliche - Vincent Ebrahim
• Mr. Windfall - John Thomson
• Miss. Blight - Mark Gatiss
• Mr. Crock - Peter Atkin
• Additional voices - William Vanderpuye, Christopher Fairbank, James Mather

[edit] In jokes

Littered throughout the movie are various plays on names of various items, ranging from renames of books and movies, to references from past Nick Park shorts.

Cheese references are scattered throughout the film. Books in Wallace's collection include East of Edam, Fromage to Eternity,^[11] Waiting for Gouda, The Hunt For Red Leicester, How Green Was My Cheese, Brighton Roquefort, Grated Expectations, Swiss Cheese Family Robinson, and Brie Encounter.^[12] A closed-down antiques shop has the sign of Rare Bits. ^[13]

Vegetable references also make up a sizable number of in jokes in the movie. Movie posters around town lampoon various movies with vegetable counterparts: a poster for a film says Spartichoke, a take-off of Spartacus;^[14] while another poster seen about town advertises The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner Bean, a take-off homage to the 1962 drama The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.^[15] Another poster advertises Carrot on a Hot Tin Roof, a reference to the Tennessee Williams play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.^[16]

Gromit plays a 33 record "Symphony For Vegetables" of The Plants Suite which is actually "Venus" from Gustav Holst's The Planets orchestral suite as he is placing an electric blanket over his marrow.^[17] . Regristration number of the van is HOP 2 IT The Vicar uses two cucumbers to form a cross against the Were-Rabbit, a subtle vegan homage to Peter Cushing's usage of two candlesticks in the 1958 Dracula movie.^[18] A large carrot sign advertises "Harvey's" vegetable shop, a reference to the film Harvey, about a man who befriends an invisible giant rabbit.^[19]

Some earlier Nick Park shorts are also referenced in a few scenes. There is a barber shop named A Close Shave, which commemorates the earlier Nick Park short.^[20] Penguin villain Feathers McGraw from The Wrong Trousers makes a cameo appearance, added as a joke by Nick Park.^[21] Both Nick Park and Steve Box have quick cameos in the film as portraits of vicars on the Vicar's wall.^[22]

Hollywood and American Culture references also litter the film. In one scene where Wallace transforms, his hand grows longer whilst his fingers grow shorter. This is a parody of An American Werewolf in London. Another jab at the movie is when the Were-Rabbit stalks the Vicar in the church, deliberately similar to a scene set in the London Underground.^[23] Gromit tunes the car radio to a station playing "Bright Eyes" by Art Garfunkel (of Watership Down fame). He promptly turns it off (the four station buttons on the car radio spell out "mutt").^[24]

When Gromit tries to explain the truth about the Were-Rabbit Wallace says, "What's up, Dog?" whilst having rabbit ears and holding a carrot in an homage to Bugs Bunny.^[25] At the Tottington Hall Fair, a hot dog stand has a sign that says Hot Dogs, and Cats and Burger. This is a reference to DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg.^[26]

[edit] DVD

The film was released on DVD in Widescreen and Fullscreen versions on February 7, 2006. Wal-Mart stores carried a special version with an additional DVD, "Gromit's Tail-Waggin' DVD" which included the test shorts made for this production.

[edit] Video Game

A companion game, also titled 'Curse of the Were-Rabbit', had a coincidal release with the film.

[edit] Books

• The Art of Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit by Andy Lane & Paul Simpson. ISBN 1-84576-215-0
• Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit: The Movie Novelization by Penny Worms. ISBN 0-84311-667-6

[edit] See also

• List of animated feature films
• List of stop-motion films

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official UK site
• Official U.S. site
• Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit at the Internet Movie Database
• Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit at Rotten Tomatoes
• Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit at Metacritic
• Cracking Fine Art Giclée Editions: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit at The Frame Workshop
• The Making of Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, BAFTA webcast, 26 February 2008

Preceded by Flightplan

Box office number-one films of 2005 (USA) October 9, 2005

Succeeded by The Fog

Awards
Preceded by My Summer of Love	Alexanda Korda Award for Best British Film 2005	Succeeded by The Last King of Scotland

v • d • e Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Shrek (2001) · Spirited Away (2002) · Finding Nemo (2003) · The Incredibles (2004) · Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) · Happy Feet (2006) · Ratatouille (2007)

v • d • e Nick Park's Wallace and Gromit series Short films A Grand Day Out · The Wrong Trousers · A Close Shave · A Matter of Loaf and Death Feature film The Curse of the Were-Rabbit Video game Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo Other adventures Cracking Contraptions · Shaun the Sheep

v • d • e DreamWorks Animation Computer-animated films Antz (1998) • Shrek (2001) • Shrek 2 (2004) • Shark Tale (2004) • Madagascar (2005) • Over the Hedge (2006) • Shrek the Third (2007) • Bee Movie (2007) • Kung Fu Panda (2008) Traditionally animated films The Prince of Egypt (1998) • The Road to El Dorado (2000) • Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) • Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003) Films produced with Aardman Animations Chicken Run (2000) • Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) • Flushed Away (2006) Future films Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) • Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) • How to Train Your Dragon (2010) • Shrek Goes Fourth (2010) • Master Mind (2010) • Puss in Boots: The Story of an Ogre Killer (2011) • Shrek 5 (2013) Direct-to-video Joseph: King of Dreams (2000) Shorts Far Far Away Idol (2004) • The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005) • Hammy's Boomerang Adventure (2006) • First Flight (2006)