Did You Know?
The creators made Wallace say "Wensleydale" because it made his face look nice and toothy. What they did not realize was that the cheese factory where Wensleydale cheese is made was on its last legs and was about to declare bankruptcy. Happily, this film's success brought the factory back from the brink.
Share this
This film took over six years to make, almost all of it single-handedly done by Nick Park himself. It formed part of his graduation project from the National Film and Television School, hence the co-production credit.
Share this
The maker's name on the clock inside the spaceship is "Wulstan". This is Nick Park's middle name.
Share this
Gromit was originally a cat, but then changed to a talking dog, whose voice was recorded by Peter Hawkins. The idea of Gromit speaking was dropped when it became clear how expressive he could be just through small movements of the eyes, ears and brow, so this voice was never used.
Share this
Even though the mysterious mechanical moon patroller had no given name, the official Wallace and Gromit website lists this character as "The Cooker" as it does resemble an oven.
Share this
Nick Park offered Peter Sallis £50 to voice Wallace, and his acceptance to record the part greatly surprised the young animator. Park wanted Wallace to have a Lancastrian accent like himself, but Sallis could only do a Yorkshire voice. Inspired by how Sallis drew out the word "cheese", Park chose to give Wallace large cheeks. When Park called Sallis six years later to explain he had completed his film, Sallis swore in surprise.
Share this
Gromit was named after the word "grommets", because Nick Park's brother, an electrician, often mentioned them, and Nick liked the sound of the word.
Share this
Wallace was originally a postman named Jerry, but Nick Park felt the name did not fit with Gromit.
Share this
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.
Share this
Nick Park loosely based Wallace on his own father, who was an incurable tinkerer. He once built from scratch a small trailer the family would take on trips to the beach. Park described it as a living room on wheels, complete with wallpapered interiors and wooden furniture bolted to the floor. Much like the rocket ship in A Grand Day Out.
Share this
Aardman Animations took on Nick Park in 1985, before he had finished A Grand Day Out. He worked on it part time while still being funded by the National Film and Television School.
Share this
To make the film, Nick Park wrote to the inventor of Plasticine William Harbutt's company, where he requested a long ton of it. The block he received had ten colours, one of which was called stone. He used that for Gromit.
Share this
According to the book The World of Wallace and Gromit, the film was originally 40 minutes in length, including a sequence where Wallace and Gromit discover a Fast-food restaurant on the Moon. Nick Park remarked: "Originally, Wallace and Gromit go to the Moon, and there's a whole lot of characters there. One was a parking meter attendant, and the only one that remained - the robot cooker character, but there were also aliens and all sorts. There was even a McDonalds on the Moon, and it was going to be a spoof on Star Wars. Wallace would get thrown in prison and Gromit had to get him out. By the time I came to Aardman, I had just started the Moon sequence and somebody told me, it will take another nine years to do that. I had a reality check and cut the scene. Somehow, I had to tie up the story on the Moon and finish the film."
Share this
Although nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, A Grand Day Out lost, ironically to another one of Nick Park's creations, Creature Comforts.
Share this
