A Grand Day Out with Wallace and Gromit (1989)

Director:

Nick Park

Writer:

Nick Park (written by)

Release Date:

21 December 1994 (France)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Adventure | Comedy | Family

Plot:

Wallace and Gromit have run out of cheese and this provides an excellent excuse for the animated duo to take their holiday on the moon, where, as everyone knows, there is ample cheese.

Plot Keywords:

Cheese | Wallace And Gromit | Moon | Basement | Rocket

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins

Cast

Peter Sallis

...

Wallace (voice)

Also Known As:

A Grand Day Out (UK) (short title)

Runtime:

23 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:Atp | Spain:T | South Korea:All | Australia:G | Portugal:M/6 | USA:Unrated | UK:U

Company:

Aardman Animations

Trivia:

Nick Park once saw an overweight labrador retriever named Wallace, who belonged to an old woman boarding a bus in Preston. Park remarked it was a "funny name, a very northern name to give a dog" so he used that name for Gromit's owner.

Goofs:

Continuity: When rushing to get in the ship the first time, Wallace kicks away the paint-stained ladder, which falls to the ground as they take off. Yet when they land on the moon, they use the same paint-stained ladder to get in and out of the ship.

Quotes:

[a machine malfunctions]
Wallace: Well, what's wrong with this stupid...?
[it breaks down]
Wallace: [stunned slightly] Oh

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Office: Beach Games (#3.22)" (2007)

What a cracking start to a career

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.