Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

Wallace and his loyal dog, Gromit, set out to discover the mystery behind the garden sabotage that plagues their village and threatens the annual giant vegetable growing contest.

Directors:

Steve Box, Nick Park

Writers:

Steve Box (screenplay by), Nick Park (screenplay by)

Stars:

Peter Sallis, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes

Won 1 Oscar. Another 39 wins & 25 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Sallis	...	Wallace / Hutch (voice)
Ralph Fiennes	...	Victor Quartermaine (voice)
Helena Bonham Carter	...	Lady Campanula Tottington (voice)
Peter Kay	...	PC Mackintosh (voice)
Nicholas Smith	...	Reverend Clement Hedges (voice)
Liz Smith	...	Mrs. Mulch (voice)
John Thomson	...	Mr. Windfall (voice)
Mark Gatiss	...	Miss Blight (voice)
Vincent Ebrahim	...	Mr. Caliche (voice)
Geraldine McEwan	...	Miss Thripp (voice)
Edward Kelsey	...	Mr. Growbag (voice)
Dicken Ashworth	...	Mr. Mulch (voice)
Robert Horvath	...	Mr. Dibber (voice)
Pete Atkin	...	Mr. Crock (voice)
Noni Lewis	...	Mrs. Girdling (voice)

Storyline

It's 'vege-mania' in Wallace and Gromit's neighborhood, and our two enterprising chums are cashing in with their humane pest-control outfit, "Anti-Pesto." With only days to go before the annual Giant Vegetable Competition, business is booming, but Wallace & Gromit are finding out that running a "humane" pest control outfit has its drawbacks as their West Wallaby Street home fills to the brim with captive rabbits. Suddenly, a huge, mysterious, veg-ravaging "beast" begins attacking the town's sacred vegetable plots at night, and the competition hostess, Lady Tottington, commissions Anti-Pesto to catch it and save the day. Lying in wait, however, is Lady Tottington's snobby suitor, Victor Quartermaine, who'd rather shoot the beast and secure the position of local hero-not to mention Lady Tottingon's hand in marriage. With the fate of the competition in the balance, Lady Tottington is eventually forced to allow Victor to hunt down the vegetable chomping marauder. Little does she know that...

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Plot Keywords:

pest control | giant vegetable | dog | human becoming an animal | stop motion animation | 

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Taglines:

They've made gadgets, they've made contraptions, and they've made a movie.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

DreamWorks [United States]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$4,005,875 (United Kingdom), 7 October 2005

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,025,987, 9 October 2005, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$56,110,897

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$192,610,372

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aardman Animations, DreamWorks Animation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the the last DreamWorks Animation film to have full opening credits.

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Goofs

When Wallace and Gromit capture the rabbit at the beginning, it is briefly subdued when Mrs Mulch's husband's teeth come shooting out of his mouth and hit it in the face. But as the rabbit is being taken away it grins, revealing the teeth in its mouth, and Mrs Mulch is heard shouting "Reg! Me teeth!", even though they were clearly his teeth.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Wallace: Oh ho ho, cracking job, Gromit!

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Crazy Credits

The word "Were-Rabbit" on the opening title grows fur, a cottontail, and long ears.

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Alternate Versions

In the German theatrical version, all of the inscriptions seen on the props in the film have been seamlessly translated into German. However, this is not valid for the German DVD: it has an English video master.

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Connections

Spin-off Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

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Soundtracks

The Planets Opus 32:2. Venus, The Bringer of Peace
Performed by Berliner Philharmoniker / Gustav Holst / Herbert von Karajan
Composed by Gustav Holst
Courtesy of The Decca Record Company Limited
Licensed by kind permission from The Film & TV Licensing Division, Part of The Universal Music Group

User Reviews

Gromit is one of the most expressionate expressionless actors ever

I went in to watch the new Wallace & Gromit movie with a little bit of bias. Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers happens to be one of my favorite short animation pieces and although just because it's a Wallace & Gromit film, doesn't mean that I'll love it, I went in expecting to be charmed.

And I was.

The film was true Wallace & Gromit in form and fashion, this time featuring Wallace & Gromit as humane pest control operatives "Anti-Pesto." Again, featuring many cute Rube-Goldberg-type inventions, cheese, and menacing, but somewhat silly, villains, the film is full of things to adore.

There were a couple moments that threw me off, namely a couple of jokes that belong in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, but I suppose it will fly over the heads of the target youth audience. Actually, I haven't seen a General Audiences rated movie this enjoyable in a while, and minus those moments, this film is good clean fun.

Wallace & Gromit's sense of humor is less the laugh-out-loud humor but more the grin-inducing chuckle-laden charming type, with some punny moments, and it works to great effect. In particular, Gromit is perhaps the best silent character in recent film history. Without saying nary a word or making a single sound, he manages to convey a great deal of emotion and comic excellence, which is quite impressive considering that Gromit is made entirely of clay.

The plot is simple and not particularly original, but I was surprised by the inventiveness by which Nick Park and company took a few old stories and refreshed them. I really can find no solid wrong with the film minus those unexpected moments of adult humor.

Highly recommended. 8/10.