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 38 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:

It gnaws no fear...

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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

The rune stones shown in the vicar's cupboard when retrieving the golden bullets represent harvest and defense.

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Goofs

In the beginning of the movie, during the breakfast scene. There is some salt and pepper on the table. In the early shots of that scene the salt and Pepper are farther away from Wallace, but when he pushes the pepper it is closer to him.

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

Rabbits float up the screen during the closing credits. On the Sci-fi music, they flash in different colors. On the romantic music, two rabbits act romantic and sometimes fly in other directions. The final line in the credits is "We would like to stress that no animals were harmed during the making of this film", and a rabbit hits its head on the text and falls.

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Alternate Versions

In the American theatrical and DVD version, Wallace's dialogue "How's your prize marrow?" is changed to "How's your prize... melon?" However, airings on Cartoon Network keep the original quote.

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Connections

Spoofs Horror of Dracula (1958)

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Soundtracks

I'm a Freak
(Only in 3D)
Written by Enrique Iglesias, Niles Hollowell-Dhar, Marty James and Rome Ramirez
Performed by Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull
Dance: Tanisha & Nick - Cha-Cha-Cha

User Reviews

A really Grand Day Out – and A Close Ten!

I saw it at a German press screening. Without giving too much away: Most critics really seemed to like it very much. There was even applause afterwards, which is quite unusual for that species. From my point of view and until now, it was the funniest movie of the year. It keeps the charm and wit of the three W+G shorts and it is enlarged with many references to these and other movies. Of course, there are obvious allusions to monster- and werewolf-movies, especially to "An American Werewolf in London", "Jaws", "King Kong" and even to Peter Jackson's "Braindead"/"Dead Alive", but also to other genres.

Characterization was better done in "Chicken Run", but that movie had a complete new "cast" where introduction was necessary. Here, you are already able to know the two main characters. So, the new "Wallace and Gromit"-movie is enjoyed best if you watched (and liked) the shorts already, yet it also works on its own. "Chicken Run" had the more convenient, but also more "storytelling" plot. Instead, this new Aardman masterpiece keeps that crazier and somehow more "isolated" feeling of the W+G shorts. Children should also enjoy it very much, especially because of the sweet rabbits (if you love cute bunnies, this is a must-see for you!!!) and because Gromit has a lot do to and really steals the show (children also love dogs... :-) ). But many jokes are thought for a more adult audience (there are even soft sexual allusions in it). The movie manages, like "Shrek 1+2" and "The Incredibles", to fulfil high level entertainment for the whole family, with adding a British and at least a little bit darker edge to the humour of American animated movies.

The animation is – as expected – superb, and they kept true to the Aardman style because they didn't put in too many digital effects - I realized just a few when it came to Wallace's inventions.

Finally, the score works fine in the movie, although one of the main themes definitely is "borrowed" by Randy Edelman's "Dragonheart" score.

The bad thing is: It will probably take another six years from now until we can see a new animated gem from Nick Park & Co.