Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Good Grief it's Them! A Wallace and Gromit Retrospective || AniMAYtion Month
55 Plays16 days ago
Welcome to AniMAYtion Month! This May we are diving into the world of animation by reviewing some of the genre's greatest entries, from 2.5D and stop motion to anime and live action hybrids. So get your pencils ready because this is one month you won't want to miss!
In this episode, Satsunami and Martin MacAlistair take a trip down memory lane to visit one of their favourite series with the stop motion phenomenon Wallace and Gromit! But after all these years, what makes this British series so iconic after 36 years? Why do plasticine penguins make the best villains? And what is Satsunami's opinion on moon cheese?! All of this and more in the second episode of AniMAYtion Month!
This podcast is a member of the PodPack Collective, an indie podcasting group dedicated to spreading positivity within the podcast community. For further information, please follow the link: https://linktr.ee/podpackcollective
Where to find us:
Check out all of our content here!
Support Us:
Patrons:
Super Pandalorian Tier:
- Battle Toaster
- Sonia
- Ghostie
- Cryptic1991
Red Panda Tier:
- Greenshield95
- Danny Brown
- Aaron Huggett
Free Members:
- Middle-aged Bodcast
- IRIDYSCENZIA
- Rob Harvey
- Aaron (Super Pod Saga)
- Billy Strachan
Use my special link zen.ai/chatsunami and use chatsunami to save 30% off your first three months of Zencastr professional. #madeonzencastr
Create your podcast today! #madeonzencastr
Stay safe, stay awesome and most importantly, stay hydrated!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Alright, Satsu, what's the game then? What wacky hijinks you cooked up this time? Martin, I am shocked, and or offended that you would think that, just because I picked up a new hobby of inventing things. Right, okay, okay, let's let's have wee look, let's see what you've got, let's see what you've got. Is this a teapot with legs?
00:00:16
Speaker
Well, how else is it going to refill itself? ah Okay, okay, okay. What about this? That's just a toaster. Right, okay, okay. Sorry, this is on me. You know what, was just so used to you having some wacky ideas, some wacky gizmo. We'll just put the behind us.
00:00:29
Speaker
just go grab my mic.
Exploring Satsu's Inventions
00:00:30
Speaker
We'll get started. Where's my mic? Where did you put it? Oh, um it's just by the crackers and cheese over there, but I'd be careful if I were you. You see, did a Make Our Podcast a Viral button on the side. Basically, it runs a state-of-the-art algorithm that's covers the web for phrases that will make the podcast blow up in popularity. You're absolutely going to love this. Okay, okay, wait, what do you mean go by- Oh my god!
Animation Month Kickoff with Wallace and Gromit
00:00:55
Speaker
Bruh.
00:00:58
Speaker
Two hours later. That's terrible. Why would you invent this? Because it's animation month. By the way, can you grab the teapot? It's doing a runner again.
00:01:13
Speaker
Oh, that's going to hurt.
00:01:19
Speaker
Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of Animation Month. My name's Satsunami and joining me today is wrestler extraordinaire and Play-Doh enthusiast is Martin McAllister. Martin, welcome back.
00:01:34
Speaker
My favourite thing about Play-Doh is eating it. It's got a very peaty taste, doesn't it? Although, i was also going to do a bit there where I was just going to pretend to be Gromit and just like... Nod? Yeah, yeah, yeah, nod. And I was like, this is the worst medium to do a Wallace and Gromit bit on. This is the one thing we did the...
00:01:54
Speaker
Of all the mediums to try it, I do really well with it. hope having a good time. I certainly am. How are you
Personal History with Wallace and Gromit
00:01:59
Speaker
today? Yeah, I was going to ask you about how your shadow puppet theatre in the dark was going, but yeah, no, I'm doing all right. Can't complain because we are indeed going to be talking about, quite frankly, one of my favourite series of all time. I'm not going to lie.
00:02:14
Speaker
I'm not going to sugarcoat this. This is one of the best things. in my life and you can't take away from me. As we talked about last week, we talked about, and again, we mentioned this, the 2.5D slash Spider-Verse animation style with Puss in Boots The Last Wish. This week, we are going into the world of stop motion with Wallace and Gromit, which is a series that has been going on since 1989, which I cannot believe it's been going on for that long. I don't know why I was convinced it started in the 90s, which I know technically it's on the cast, but
00:02:47
Speaker
I can't believe it's been going on for that long. So before we dive in and talk about this incredible series, I've got to ask you, Martin, what was your first exposure to the series? So I knew you were going ask me this, right? Because that's going to always start all lot of these episodes. I have no idea, right, for this. Well, Austin Gromit, to people maybe aren't from the UK, is institutionalised the best word? i don't know what the word is. It's so omnipresent.
00:03:09
Speaker
Wallace and Gromit has always existed as far as I'm concerned. I have always known of it. Yeah. And I have always have seen all of it until new stuff came out. I don't know if I'm explaining myself very well. You know what mean? I assume what the new Star Wars films must be like for someone that's just been born now. It is omnipresent. Wallace and Gromit has always existed in all facets of British life.
00:03:27
Speaker
Yeah, it's very quintessentially British, isn't it? Yeah, is. One of those things that, and I'm totally with you there, and it's funny you say that because I feel exactly the same way, because spoilers, we weren't born when this came out initially, which is really weird to think about. We weren't born in
The Origins of Wallace and Gromit and Aardman
00:03:45
Speaker
the 80s. But it is crazy to think that one day we were born, and then as we grew up, Wallace and Gromit was just there Because I remember watching it growing up, it would come on TV and things like that, I would watch it with my family. Absolutely loved it, but it was just there. We had a grand day out, the wrong trousers, a close shave, those were the three main ones that we had during the 90s that kind of circled. it did and think during christmas as well you know what it reminds me of you know mr bean where i think it's a lot longer than it actually is and that is another series i think we should review sometime because i have very different opinions after binge watching that but that's another story but yeah it's always kind of been there and then it wasn't until 2005 got the film and then 2008 of course where we got well the fourth entry in the series not including the film then we got another one which we'll definitely get on to later but yeah it's a series i do agree it's always been there i'm convinced did we watch this in school by chance because i genuinely can't remember We
Aardman's Influence on Animation
00:04:52
Speaker
must have. One thing as well, just, and i appreciate we're talking about Walsh and Krowit specifically here. Yeah. But I am going to kind wrap this in.
00:04:57
Speaker
Just admin animations in general. Chicken Run was peak primary school for us. think we were like seven or eight at the time, so that was like peak. And then there was that. And I'm forgetting the name of it. Was it Creature Comforts? It was on the BBC. Yes. Mm-hmm. Even though they're not Wallace and Gromit, when you visually see them you think Wallace and Gromit as well, so that's all kind of there and I think, yeah, we probably did watch a of it in school, just if nothing else, in the hype for Chicken Run coming out. Yeah, because, and I want to touch on the argument before we go into the deep dive of Wallace and Gromit, because it was a company that of course at the started in 1972, which... Well, I would say makes me feel old, but again, we weren't born in the 70s. And it was created by two people called Peter Lord and David Sproxton. One thing I found quite interesting because I was watching the documentary on it. I think it's actually on YouTube for free just now. Yardman themselves is a fantastic documentary and it dives into not only Wallace and Gromit, but all the other things that they did. Like i think Morph. was one of them. It was like a kind of plasticine guy that ran around and there was a lot of other projects that they worked on and it wasn't until the 80s that they came across a very indie creator who obviously blew up in popularity called Nick Park. who was the mind and the creator behind Wallace and Gromit, and he was doing it as an art project for
The Unique Style and Humor of Wallace and Gromit
00:06:15
Speaker
school. And they picked it up and they thought this was absolutely incredible.
00:06:20
Speaker
And it is amazing how he got his dream job for this, because the animation company itself, actually thought it was quite interesting that the name behind it, do you know the history behind the name Ardman? No, I can't say that. I would say it was a superhero that they came up with. So I think the combination is between the word aardvark and man. And it was supposed to be like a Superman ripoff. And it's just a guy walking and then he keeps falling down holes and think it's like really incompetent because they had different names that were combinations between Peter Lord and David Sproxson's name. And then eventually they decided on Aardman, which to be honest, it's just so iconic because like you can not think animation without thinking of Aardman. They are fantastic character. company and as you said they have done amazing films and things for tv as well they've done morph of course they've done wallace and gromit and shot the sheep they've done chicken run the spice girls music video viva forever have they actually yes because i know they have done music videos not even that i've done loads of ones and i was like no way but you know obviously it must make sense that they have a life outside walls and gromit they did flushed away which they did flushed away
00:07:34
Speaker
yeah have opinions fortunately we're not talking about admin first away so going back i have to say see when you were growing up with wallace and gromit did you notice and this is gonna sound like such a weird question because obviously the first wallace and gromit a grand day out was basically about an inventor and his dog and he gets hungry for some cheese and he looks at the moon and he says oh, the moon's made of cheese, you know what?
00:08:00
Speaker
Let's just fly to the moon, which is such a wacky concept, but it works so well. And of course, he makes his own rocket and he takes his dog there. It's got his own kind of charm to it, but as the rest of them were made, the animation got better, the model certainly got better. See, back then, did you notice much of a difference between them? Funnily enough, I went back and I watched all these just after Christmas, because obviously the new film came out. And in my head, Wallace and Gromit has always looked...
00:08:28
Speaker
like what it does in the most recent film right that's how I picture Wallace and Gromit when I went back and watched A Grand Day Out I was so taken aback that can't be what that looks like but I'm just looking at the years of filming skin all the stuff came out just now and when we were kids A Close Shave was the most recent one that must have been what it all looked like to us and A Grand Day Out looks nothing like A Close Shave visually i don't remember ever noticing like said in my head it looks like it does in the most recent film that's what it's always looked like yeah I think it's like that same thing with Toy Story as well Woody looks like he does in Toy Story 4 to me yeah Even though that's not what he actually looks like in all the
Challenges in Wallace and Gromit Animation
00:09:00
Speaker
films, you know? I think that's the whole thing.
00:09:01
Speaker
Oh yeah, I had that exact same experience. Yeah, because I had that exact same experience watching the fourth film thinking, oh, this Toy Story film, I'm not a big fan, but you know what? It looks absolutely gorgeous and beautiful. That must be what the first film looks like. Cut ahead a couple of days later when I'm watching the first film going, this is creepy as hell. was the first film of its kind, but this does not look like what we remembered as kids. And it's just such a sober a moment when you're like, huh, that is very interesting. But it's weird how when you're younger, your perceptions are completely different, aren't they? Yeah, your brain fell. is in the gaps a lot of stuff one of the big ones not to go too if far off topic here but I went and watched a clip of someone playing Tekken 2 and that's one of my favourite games of all time and I was watching and was like wow that this game looks terrible visually again Tekken 8 or Tekken 7 is kind of what I think Tekken looks like and so watching it on the Playstation 1 I was like wow that isn't what I thought this game looked like at all
00:09:58
Speaker
yeah so it was must be the same year, because after watching Vengeance was full, I went back and I watched Grand The Out, Wrong Trousers, and I couldn't believe how terrible Grand The Out looked. Maybe terrible is wrong word, but how primitive it looked.
00:10:09
Speaker
It's very visually icky. It really is. see why it is because it was essentially made for the most part by a student correct me if i'm wrong but think towards the end aardman did step in and help him but that's one of the running things that apparently they had a script and one of the paragraphs just said something like in this scene wallace builds a spaceship with gromit it took up ages just to get that one sequence.
00:10:35
Speaker
It's just absolutely baffling how much dedication, because I think it took him six years, see, to make a grand day out. Something that I think is quite interesting about this whole series, and again, there will be something we'll touch on later, is just the fact of how beloved
Audience Engagement and Memories
00:10:50
Speaker
it is.
00:10:50
Speaker
And to kind of prove that point, I reached out to our lovely Pandalurians out there, and they gave us their are memories and opinions of this franchise. So before we deep dive into why we love the series and why certain bits don't hold up because they look like Play-Doh paralysis demons, do you want to hear some of these? Yeah, let's go for it. So our first one comes from SP Film Viewers, who says, staple of my childhood and still absolutely love the franchise to this day, as per our first episode of 2025. My honestly flow shape it's got a certain darkness to it that really stuck with me particularly the reveal at the end we will come on to that for sure because that is a very interesting point dan from casting views and prime member the pod pack collective says i remember seeing a grandie out at school it was one of those last day of term things where the teacher wheeled out the huge tv and vhs player on the trolley do you remember that as well yeah
00:11:52
Speaker
I don't think that went away until probably with the 2000s. I don't know when that went away, but I would love to know if it still existed.
Wallace and Gromit in Gaming
00:12:00
Speaker
So he says as well, I remember finding it hilarious and it's such a great little film. Honestly, although we're kind of joking there, I couldn't agree more.
00:12:10
Speaker
Becky says, definitely the iconic train chase sequence for me and the wrong trousers. I don't think any of the other films came close, to be honest. I agree with that, but again, yeah we'll touch on that. I can't wait to talk about that. And the last one comes from Kenzie, who says, I don't know if this counts, but I was obsessed with the PlayStation 2 game Wallace and Gromit in Project Zoo. Never did beat it as a child, but I have fond memories of it.
00:12:36
Speaker
I have to say, that is something that I genuinely did not really know much of. No. Did you ever play any of the Wallace and Gromit games? I'm just trying to rack my brain. Until you said that out loud, I kind of hadn't ever. I'm just trying really look. think I played the chicken run game on the playstation maybe but i'm just looking at these now no i've never played any of these games do you know i'm convinced there was one for windows 95 but i could be wrong yeah what's and grow about fun pack what's growing cracking animator something like that i have a vague memory of there was a game where you had to build up the track or something i mean maybe i'm just making that up completely and it never exists but genuinely i have a vague memory of a game like that but no i never really got into the gaming side of it i remember seeing when curse of the were rabbit came out there was a video game for it and i saw the adverts and whatnot but i don't know it just never really interested me but then again i think around that time i was trying to go for quote unquote more mature games so you know wallace and gromit was of no interest Yeah, it's quite a strange one. I'm on Wikipedia, right? I just want to... Sorry to cut you off No, no, go for it. This is so weird. So I'm on Wikipedia and looking up the list of games, right?
00:13:46
Speaker
Underneath Wallace and Gromit, there's obviously Sean the Sheep and 2016, Juden, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, Sean's Mossy Mole Mischief. And i clicked on it and it's devoted me to Super Mario Maker. So I don't know if it's trying to say that, you know, this game was just a ripoff of Super Mario Maker. Oh my God, you're right. Guys, go on to Wikipedia.
00:14:05
Speaker
I don't understand. Don't let the truth die out here. I'm going to Google this. I'm going to take a screenshot. It's on the Super Mario Wiki. It's an event course on Super Mario Maker release 4th of June based upon Sean the Sheep. it's been removed.
00:14:18
Speaker
Why would that be part of the... Yeah, what is? Well, there you I like how one of them's just called Untitled the Sandbox Game. Also, what's the roller coaster Tycoon Touch on the Sheep? I saw that. I saw it. What is going on with these?
Overview of Key Episodes and Characters
00:14:32
Speaker
Anyway, sorry. Wallace and Gromach.
00:14:34
Speaker
ah Without any further ado shall we jump into this series? Yeah, give me five minutes to go play Sean's Mossy, we'll miss you for the Super Mario Maker and we'll get on to it. Please never say those words again. Yeah, we'll be right back after we find out what the hell our not-same-all mischief is.
00:14:51
Speaker
Go off your switch. Welcome to Chatsunami, a variety of podcasts that discusses topics from gaming and films to anime and general interests. Previously on Chatsunami, we've analysed what makes a good horror game, conducted a retrospective on Pierce Brosnan's run as James Bond, and listened to us take deep dives into both the Sonic and Halo franchises. Also, if you're an anime fan, then don't forget to check us out on our sub-series, Chatsunani, where we dive into the world of anime. So far, we've reviewed things like Death Note, Princess Mononoke, and the hit Beyblade series. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then you can check us out on Spotify, iTunes, and all good podcast apps.
00:15:27
Speaker
As always, stay safe, stay awesome, and most importantly, stay hydrated.
00:15:51
Speaker
kids, are you looking for a new favourite fortnightly video game review podcast? Then boy howdy have we got the show for you! We take a different game every two weeks and we review them just like a book club.
00:16:02
Speaker
You can find us on all good podcasting platforms. And some of the sketchy ones too.
00:16:09
Speaker
Simply search for the Game Club Podcast and join the club today.
00:16:17
Speaker
Wow, I did not expect that to be so visceral. Honestly, I don't even need to play Silksong anymore. That'll do it. You honestly keep hitting me with the trap card of anti-joke. I see your bit and I'm going to reverse that bit.
00:16:37
Speaker
Oh dear. So yeah, let's talk about Wallace and Gromit. Let's start all the way back in 1989. What a fine year. Because I don't know if it was a fine year personally.
00:16:48
Speaker
I was going to say, neither was I born. ah That's probably what made it so good. That's sad. This episode's over. I thought we left the depression back in the last episode. Sorry, sorry, sorry.
00:17:02
Speaker
But yeah, let's start with a grand day out. Going back to this short film, how did you feel going back to and re-watching it? It was difficult, in a way. don't know difficult is ever, but like I said before, in my head... Wallace and Gromit had a really distinct looking at it going back and seeing two characters that look like Wallace and Gromit.
00:17:20
Speaker
Being Wallace and Gromit. It's very unusual. But yeah, it's dead fun going back and it's still as charming and as wacky as ever. I don't know how to quite describe it, but there's a very Britishness to Wallace and Gromit. The fact that the main character is just this random guy. He's just a bloke. You know, Yeah. A very similar event like a Mr Bean, the Doddery character is a hero. It's very British kind of thing to do.
00:17:40
Speaker
Blackadder is another good example. it So yeah, even now think it holds up weirdly. I don't know if well is the right word but it's still charming and it's funny and it's heartwarming as ever but visually it is kind of a a funnydy funny watch. I don't think it's bad. I feel like I'm sounding like I'm kind of being mean about it.
00:17:54
Speaker
I just think it's nominal. It's just funny going back and watching it as an adult now. What about itself? I think what ruins it for me, and don't get me wrong, I still love it. I still think it's really charming. You know, I love the spaceship design. It's just so... I don't know, there's just something about it. I just love it. And I love later on, you know, how you used to have that design. And again, this isn't our generation, but you to have the ducks on the wall. They've got the spaceship on the wall and everything, and just love the design. Everything's so iconic. You know, you've got the robot in the moon that runs off of a meter, which I think is hilarious. You've got, obviously, the cheese and everything. The fact that Wallace almost forgets the crackers, and despite the fact that it's about to blast off, he actively leaves his dog on there. runs downstairs to get crackers and then runs up. And you know those are Jacob's crackers. You know, they obviously hide the thing, but you see them and you're like, yeah, that's a particular brand here. But you don't care because you're like, oh, this is so good. And I don't know about you, and this is going to put me as being a weirdo, but you do you not think that cheese looks really good?
00:18:56
Speaker
When you were younger, yeah. Even now, I would definitely go to the moon for that. Because I'm not going to lie, when I saw that to begin with, I'm like, oh man, I know there's not any cheese on the moon, but that looks really good. we should have done an episode just on animated food. Oh yeah, that's next week's episode. Let's do like Tew Tew Tsunami. Ooh, that's a good call actually. But yeah, would eat that cheese.
00:19:16
Speaker
I think it's as well. He's so greedy with it. It's not even like, you know, I don't know about you. So greedy with it.
00:19:25
Speaker
about you but when i have crackers and cheese right i'd have entertaining you though where'd you go i'll mute myself when you have crackers and cheese right do you cut yourself thick slices or seriously i need to know this before we go on no i don't cut myself gigantic mint cheese slices moon cheese slices. Is that going to be the measurement one that's going on? One moon cheese slice, please. That's pretty big, I guess. It's like he takes a big stalactite of cheese. It's like, no wonder he was going to get clubbed over the head. I mean, I'm not saying the
The Humor and Iconic Moments in Wallace and Gromit
00:20:00
Speaker
robot was right, but he did have a point.
00:20:02
Speaker
I mean, there's a law and order and there's anarchy. If you have anarchy, they're just going to take all the cheese off the moon. There'd be no moon left. There wouldn't be. Aye, because Wallace has eaten the damn thing. He's got big teeth. Oh, come on. Now he's getting personal. We called him greedy. He's got cheese-bearing teeth, you know.
00:20:20
Speaker
He's evolved specifically just to eat cheese. It's the wide mouth. It's what we in the British Isles call the cheese eater. Dairy farmers fear him. Anyway, my nightmares are... dairy farmer, apparently. I love the creativity. That's the roundabout way I was going to say. I love the creativity for this film. But I think what ruins it for me in retrospective is we are so used to the way that Wallace is characterised that he is an inventor, a little bit doughty, but he's well-meaning. have to admit, my perception of Wallace is slightly coloured negatively as I rewatch these as an adult but I'll get on to that putting love over Gromit I mean for god's sake anyway that wouldn't be me anyway as I said yeah I think because his character is so basic in that and again I don't mean that in a negative way to be like oh he's not got as much character but I think that's just a product of because it's the first one it was a student project that kind of thing so I wouldn't say that's inherently a negative thing that's the main reason for it so that's why he's so greedy with his cheese that's what i'm trying to say but i love it i also love have you seen star wars visions yeah have you seen the aardman one no where is this the season two or something yeah season two and there's actually a cameo see from the grand day out robot in the background and that is the most heartwarming thing don't make me go watch most stars well just watch that episode don't watch the whole thing i mean goodness sake
00:21:50
Speaker
Don't be like Wallace. I can't go back. I can't go back to the Star Wars. No, honestly, just watch that episode and peace out. It's a really good episode. But yeah, they've got the robot from that and it just warmed my heart. I was like, honestly, that's such a nice wee cameo, wee nod. But love it. I love it for just its absolute craziness. It's yummy moon cheeses.
00:22:10
Speaker
so fair and just everything else i i think it's absolutely fantastic which then brings us on to of course the wrong trousers which this might be controversial but i would say this is the best one out of all of them it's hard to not call this the best one this is like the choice i'm looking just at the list just now and it's probably ones that might be better i guess but i think i would pick the wrong choices as my person if i can watch it over any like you know i would give them a choice to watch one of them right now yeah probably be the wrong trousers Some people might say that Vengeance Most Foul has overtaken it, but i feel as if without the wrong trousers, it doesn't nearly have the same impact.
00:22:45
Speaker
And I'm not trying to gatekeep Wallace and Cromit here, but I feel as if there's such a beautiful simplicity to it as well. And it's something that, at least until the film, and even in Wolf and Death, They don't really have many characters, which is quite interesting. You know, there's not really a Moles and Gromit, not until we get to the later ones and the feature length ones, but there's not really any background characters, tertiary characters. There's only the main core cast. You've got Wallace and Gromit in the first one, and then you've got the robot. And then in the wrong trousers, you've got Wallace and Gromit, and then you've got Feathers McGraw, who...
00:23:22
Speaker
again is one of the best animated villains of all time the penguin slash chicken head you know well he is absolutely iconic and i can't believe i'm saying that about an animated penguin 100 and not just an animated penguin with no lines yeah no motivation to speak of barely any facial expressions the perfect villain Can we actually talk about that for a second? Because all of the human characters, and I think this is where, slight spoilers for later on, but this is where I feel as if Curse of the Were-Rabbit and things fell down my estimations for me, because there's a lot of very verbal jokes, you know, and wordplay and things, and don't get me wrong, that is really good, but I think
00:24:03
Speaker
one thing that makes shows like you know Mr Bean and whatnot so popular is the fact that although there is speech and there's a lot of lines there is still a lot of visual humor where you see the characters do things and you react to that situation and one of the things I want to say is just how well they characterize Gromit because apparently Gromit was supposed to be a talking dog or at the very least make kind of a Yeah.
00:24:30
Speaker
and i feel as if that wouldn't have worked to all no find god didn't go in that direction they were goingnna i think but they decided that we're not going to do it and the fact that the eyebrows and eyes because he doesn't have a mouth always like a kitty character The eyes and the eyebrows are the only indicators of how he's feeling. Some of this gets really damn heartbreaking, you know, when he gets chucked out of the house, or rather he takes himself of the house. He's like crying and everything. One of the moments that really got me was seeing when he's packing up his
Visual Storytelling and Famous Scenes
00:25:00
Speaker
stuff, although a bit of an over-exaggeration, but it's like, I just love that silhouette where... Walwarsson, Feathers McGraw having the wine. That's so good.
00:25:10
Speaker
And he just decides to pack up and he's watching him in the window. It is incredible. But yeah, he's hacking up the picture of them and the alarm c clock and he goes in. And it's so sad. Between that and the music, it is so heartbreaking. And then you realise this is a lump of clay, you know. I mean, granted, it took them... I think they said six months? Maybe it was longer. But it took them a while to actually do this. But it's amazing how you feel so much emotion for, it as I said, this lump of clay. And I think that's what's so good about Aardman, but like Walter Grom in general, you're not watching clay. Yeah. but You're watching people act. I know you can set up any animation style but i feel like in particular something about walls and gromit where you just there's like such an emotional connection to it i'm just looking at the postcards now for the wrong trousers because i'm on the wiki page and even and still as a frame that doesn't look like clay to me that looks like almost like a person you know and i'm so they do such a good job of the week because the facial expression is so good the body language is so good you're so emotionally invested the second it starts because you just get into that world straight away and what love as well and i don't know if you've ever thought about this in your life but just the fact that It's called the wrong trousers, obviously, because Wallace invents a pair of trousers that he can program, you know, to walk about and everything. Why did he make trousers? Like, why did he have a feature where anybody could climb into them in the first place?
00:26:25
Speaker
On the one hand, you know, you could usually say, oh, makes no sense, blah, blah, blah. But somehow in the Wallace and Gromit universe, you don't question No, and that's the thing about Wallace and Cromwell that's phenomenal. That's part of it. They have the whole bit where they get stuck in the wardrobe and Feathers the Girl looks them in. It's just like stupid. The big sequence for this film obviously being the train sequence. If you stop and think about that for two minutes, there's no way that train's going anywhere apart from rounding the room. There's no way that it's faster than any of them walk. You know what I mean? It's so absurd.
00:26:52
Speaker
But in that moment, your brain is so allowed to switch off in a way that I think no other film lets you. Wallace Cromwell is just so unapologetically silly that you just kind of go, okay, sure. They were on the moon in the last episode. They're doing this now. Okay. Because I think that's something that they said in the behind the scenes that they had a set that was like 20 feet long.
00:27:11
Speaker
Yes. And you know, obviously the room, that's what they, and that, obviously the room's not going to be so long, but it was just amazing to see such a dedication and such passion. And I think they've even said themselves that it would be very hard to replicate. I think they've gone as far as saying now it's impossible. Yeah. i would never do it again. See when you watch it, haven't watched the specific documentary you're talking about, but I haven't watched other documentaries about it. There's a couple of frames where Wallace gets hit by the train, he gets stuck on the train. His face blurs.
00:27:39
Speaker
So they had to make like a blurred face or they did some kind of weird camera technique where it made him look like he was traveling really fast. Because it's kind like gets hit from the side. That's just an unbelievable amount of work for a shot that's in it for point something something of a second, know? I mean, that kind of level of detail, they would never do it again because there's just never going to be the budget for it again. Yeah, honestly, it is amazing how well it still holds up today. Because the thing is, it's not really something you think of. And obviously, Gromit with the infinite spare track. I love that. Oh I love it too. He's got three arms in that scene just as another point aside. Oh yeah. Because they want him move so fast they give him three. I just think that's so brilliant. Give me a thousand
Exploration of Darker Themes and Cultural Impact
00:28:20
Speaker
years and I would never come up with that. No. Like how make that look like that. You know I brain would never work like that. Unbelievable.
00:28:25
Speaker
Honestly they are absolutely fantastic creators. There's a reason why Aardman and Nick Park especially as well, they are just the pinnacle of stop-motion animation. And yeah, i i honestly, I can't praise them enough. So if any you and Aardman are listening, great job. I'd also reach out to us. Yeah, please reach out to us. We would like a goody bag.
00:28:47
Speaker
No, jokes aside. No, I don't want a decapitated Wallace head and a goody bag. I give very much like The Godfather. But The Wrong Trousers, absolutely fantastic. It's goofy. It's over the top. You've got a penguin trying to steal a diamond, a blue diamond, which, funny enough, as of recording this episode, to tie in with Vengeance Most Foul, I think it's a store or something. They're doing a promotion and it's, oh, find a blue diamond in our gravy. And I'm like, don't even want to know what What is going on here? thought that was quite funny. Me and everyone, of course, it's time for A Close Shave, the third of the short films. Obviously, you know, Great Film introduces my boy, Sean the Sheep.
00:29:26
Speaker
What's your thoughts on this film? I thought Sean overstayed his welcome after A Close Shave. No, no, I'm thrown down here. This is the hill I'm dying on. Slow down, slow down. I'm just going to reintroduce this episode, sorry, this feature. A Close Shave is a spin-off to Sean the Sheep. The Wallace fans. Yeah.
00:29:45
Speaker
the crafting pitchforks out of Play-Doh right now. Yeah, Sean's alright, but I feel as if he overstayed his welcome. I thought, why Sean of all characters? When Sean's not on the screen, every other character, you'd be like, where's Sean? Well, don't put your volume. Come on Yeah, because a close shave is probably the darkest, or sorry, the darkest at this point that the series got. I would say there's only one other that got darker after this, which we will come on to, but yeah, follows a sheep w rustler.
00:30:18
Speaker
is kidnapping sheep for their wool. And then, yeah, Wallace and Gromit have got a window cleaning business. I'm not gonna lie, adore this film as well. I still think The Wrong Trousers is the best for me personally, but I can see why people love a close shave. I do think it's, ironically enough, a close second. I just, I love the ideas of it. The idea of someone stealing sheep is just such a silly idea, but they're just stealing it because there's a wool shortage. they're the only wheel shop in town and nobody's caught on to that i think it's so stupid but it's so funny and i love love love see the motorbike that they've got and then it turns into a mini spitfire and they're all like saluting it and everything and it's got the gun on top that fires the porridge again the porridge looks great i'm just saying
00:31:12
Speaker
his head gets shot with a face of a porridge me with my munchies and cannon porridge yeah I've got some issues with food in this one. Honestly, I think this is fantastic. And of course, you've got the Terminator of core. Let's just say at the very end, when spoilers, it is indeed revealed that one of the characters is a robot and they want to kill the sheep for meat, which is absolutely horrifying because they're trying to kill everybody, to be honest. And then we get the biggest reveal, bigger than the robot, which is Wallace, of course, falls in love with a woman who looks exactly like him, but with a wig on. And then she says, oh, well I don't like cheese. It brings me out in a rush. The heartbreak that man felt, justice to my boy Wallace. But what did you think of this film? Yeah, I think you've summed it up just of how wacky it You gotta love it. I think this is something, i' was going to mention it in the wrong trousers, but it's so a British thing for these films of the stakes could not be lower. Yeah. Which is what I think is so funny, every other franchise in the world wants to keep up in the stakes and up in the stakes they're like, no no no, we have to bring these stakes way down and that's what makes these films so great. But still everyone's going absolutely nuts to try and get more Will, know what mean? They've got like the robot dog. This is the last of the three ones that would have been out when we were kids. Terminator dog obviously very iconic, but like all the characters are so iconic to us growing up. It's hard to differentiate the three these really in my head, but yeah all three are fantastic. like No, I'd completely agree with you there, because they were the perfect trilogy. I'd still say that, that you could easily watch all three of these and then just say, that's a great series, let's just cut it off there. yeah Because you're right, they do feel indistinguishable at times, where it's like, oh yeah, let's watch the one where they go to the moon and eat all the cheese, or oh, let's go to the one where there's the criminal penguin with a gun, or let's go to the one where Gromit gets arrested, or and then a sheep breaks him out of prison it's so silly but i love it so much it's the right amount of silliness it's very again as i said it's very but british humor british silliness a lot of kind of wordplay in the background and visual humor but it is just so well done i do love the scene where they're reading the newspaper and then the sheep in the background are getting more and more invested and then they are crying and again i don't don't know it is about seeing Gromit cry in these, but is heartbreaking. Please stop doing it.
00:33:31
Speaker
of course we get to 2005 which again i can't believe it's 10 years between the close shave and curse of the were rabbit that's actually really surprising because again as you were saying we grew up with these we kind watched it whenever they came on tv and then they were like oh we're gonna make a film of this old series and they're like oh cool fair enough and i'm gonna be honest i feel as if this is probably one of the weaker ones i don't think it's bad but yeah before i go on with my thoughts i'm gonna hand it over to you first of all what were your thoughts on the film one thing i do have to mention before we start getting to into this film of course i know exactly what you're gonna say yeah it won the academy award for best animated feature i guess it was 2005 2006 beating out hell's moving castle this is one of these things that people always bring up is one of the oh it should never have won it should never have won you know what as a ghibli fan maizaki make better films
00:34:25
Speaker
Make a film as good as Curse of the Way, Rabbit. So what you're saying is get good? Get good. I do think Hell's Moving Castle's a better film than this, but that's the undealable. No, no, the Academy said differently. The Academy said differently.
00:34:37
Speaker
Yeah, this film, I love Chicken Run. Just want to put it out as well. So I don't think this is like a feature length film versus a shorts. problem but this film kind of loses I think a bit the charm of the low stakes low key kind of silliness and know it is low key but the whole were rabbit thing just and it's never really got it if I'm honest I think that's the big thing for me I'm not a big fan of the rabbits in general I think they look kind of
Discussion on 'Curse of the Were-Rabbit' and Creative Risks
00:35:00
Speaker
icky very much a precursor to rabbits and minions and that kind of mascotty sellable toy character like it's not bad by any means but I'm looking down the list of the other films here of all the other stuff they've done and like oh man I'd love to watch that again I'd love to watch that again this one I just feel kind of not a lot towards. You mentioned as well about the whole not really ever having a big cast of characters. I'm actually looking at the number of characters in this film and it's actually there's so many that get introduced and you don't really care about. Yeah it's just a lot.
00:35:24
Speaker
don't I'm sure it's still a good film but you know that with my heart I'm just kind of like I'm not that excited by it compared to the other ones. What about yourself? I feel like I've been quite negative there. Have you got a totally different opinion or you're kind of the same bullet as me? No. No, again, don't think it's the worst thing. I would never say that Walsing Gromit falls into that, oh, it's completely terrible, unredeemable, that kind of thing. But I do personally feel as out the core films and the main series, feel like it's probably... probably the weakest as the first attempt to feature film it's a blend of stop-motion of course and cgi as well one scene that thought was quite interesting i see when can't remember his name but the antagonist of the film goes to see the vicar and he gets the golden bullets which i have to admit i cracked up when they gave him the bullets and said they were 24 carat and i'm like okay okay you won the back But apparently the rain in that was CGI. And I thought, well, of course it's CGI. You know that way? It sounds so stupid to say, but I'm like, of course it's CGI, because otherwise it's going to ruin the plasticine. A bit like with the scary ghost of Christmas past puppet. in the Muppets Christmas Carol, but yeah, listen to our episode and that, after this episode, of course. I just, I don't know, I watched this before we came on tonight, and I don't know, I didn't feel the same, there were lot of funny scenes, but I felt as if maybe just because it went on for a bit too long, and you know, he's trying to get together with Helena Bonham Carter, and
00:36:54
Speaker
Oh, yeah, I thought that's her. Yeah. And you know who the villain is? It's Ray Fiennes. It's actually... Yeah, actually. And Hans Zimmer does the soundtrack. It's like, what is stacked cast? It's so overproduced. It really is. I mean, it's fantastic, but it's... Really, really bizarre. Again, what you were saying, because the whole point of Wallace and Gromit they're always trying new inventions and getting on wacky adventures as it were. There's always a uniqueness to them. And don't get me wrong, this is very unique, but I feel as if for the wrong reasons. There's a subplot where Wallace puts his consciousness or his smarts into a rabbit. And there's a creepy bit the end where he's like, oh, don't worry, a there'll be a bit of me on this bunny sanctuary. And then it's the rabbit at the end jumping up going, cheese! And it's like, oh my god, you didn't reverse that!
00:37:47
Speaker
Is that rabbit in love with Herb on a bottom Carter as well? Or why is there a humanoid rabbit roaming the ground? That's canon in the Wallace and Gromit universe. That's out there. Where was that in Vengeance Most Filled?
00:38:00
Speaker
That would have been handy, you know? But nah, in all seriousness, I still think it's a good enough film. I think it's half of us from that thing where see if it wasn't a Wallace and Gromit film. We'd probably be sitting here going, that's a great film. But because we've got these kind of preconceived notions and like these different ideas for what Wallace Gromit should be, I think that's the issue, isn't it?
00:38:17
Speaker
Even before, and again, it's obviously because of limitations and they have a very finite amount of plastazine, but yeah, there wasn't really many side characters, whereas, as you said, you know, it did feel a bit bloated with everybody running around. On the one hand, it did make the town feel a lot more alive, but on the other hand, you were kind of like, eh.
00:38:39
Speaker
I don't know. I remember seeing this in the cinema and kind of feeling the same way that I love the wrong trousers, I love a close shave, and I even have a fondness for a grand day out. But no, this one just didn't hit the same marks. And it wasn't, of course, until 2008 where we got quite possibly one of the best ones.
00:38:57
Speaker
Again, I was alluding to it earlier, but one of the darkest ones, A Matter of Loafing Death, my girlfriend and I, we watched it recently. Oh my god! This gets dark fast. We've got animal abuse, we have murder, we've got body issues. Yeah, I was going to say the body dysmorphia, yeah. Yeah.
00:39:17
Speaker
We've got someone getting eaten by a crocodile off screen. I mean, again, it was just baffling, but at the same time, it felt Wallace and Gromity, Yeah, I think that's like It's this whole escalation of nothing is what i think makes it so funny. And yeah, it's a lot back down to being quite a tight film. you know, it's only half an hour long again, as opposed to being in one and a half hours. And it's got a voice actor from Coronation Street in Which one? Sally Lindsay is from Coronation Street. oh Sally Jane Lindsay is in Coronation Street as Shelley Unwin.
00:39:45
Speaker
That's just what Carnation Street sets up for. Definitely not. We're not Googling this. Nah, you take time. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. know where it is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Carnation Street. Yeah, she's long gone from the series on this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know that. Don't you... Catronash. Don't do your question my Carnation
Mature Themes in 'A Matter of Loaf and Death'
00:40:00
Speaker
Street knowledge. That's an extra example. If there was an animated Carnation Street movie, we'd be talking about that. Yeah, well, we're not.
00:40:05
Speaker
Don't remind me. It's already gone. I don't know what my point was. Another great film I watched later. Yeah, a lot darker. It really just went all in and just, this film's gonna be weird. Another big time jump as well. Was this a Christmas film? Not as in, it a Christmas film? Yeah. But like, Vengeance Moe's film when it came out at Christmas. Yeah, did come out at Christmas. I vaguely remember people talking about at the time, but I can't remember that much to it. See, that's the really weird thing about this, because, and I think that's why British people and us as well, in particular, have such a fondness for it, because if you can get the payback, perfect thing for people to watch at christmas you know like the snowman and all of that then you've made it for life let's use it not even financially just in the minds of the public and everything and every country obviously has its own special films and tv shows but for wallace and gromit i'm just looking at the uk releases here and a grand day out came out on the 4th of november 1989 the wrong trousers surprisingly came out in boxing day okay yeah that still counts That came in 1993, and then A Closed Shave, for some weird reason, came out on Christmas Eve in 1995. And, yeah, Matter of Loaf and Death came out in Christmas 2008. Oh, it was actually on Christmas Day. Yeah, but Curse of the Were-Rabbit came out on the 7th of October. Oh, neither side for the cinema. Yeah, maybe that's why it failed, I'm just saying. But honestly, I really like this film. I genuinely think that, although it's obviously darker than the other ones, and although they kind of made slight jokes, there is genuinely a reason why this woman who was initially a spokesperson for, is it Bakelite? Yeah, yeah. Red or something, which I think is supposed to be a parody of Wonderloaf or something like that. She used to be thin, but she got fat because of the bakers and everything, and because of, as you said, her body dysmorphia, that she decided to kill all bakers.
00:42:03
Speaker
In fact, no, sorry, not kill all bakers, kill 13 of them, because it would be a baker's dozen. And I'm not gonna lie, I didn't understand why she was killing 13 until she said, finally have it, my baker's doesn't. And you know that way it clicks, and you're like, it's so good it's amazing i was like that's perfect perfect writing 10 out of 10 but it's weird and we will get on to it soon but it is weird that they didn't continue some of the characters like you've got the weirdly enough love interest of gromit fluffy is it fluffles sorry yeah yeah she never comes back i don't know what went on there yeah i think there's a weird thing with that because same with the curse of the wave rabbit as well they introduce a lot characters and you never really see them again i'm going to share it some random person on reddit apparently but someone on reddit i read a thread on it a while back and it's what is the actual chronological order of the films and apparently it's simultaneously makes sense and simultaneously doesn't it's kind of got that james bond thing but like some things work in a line and other things don't the sings and vengeance moves foul that contradict things in a matter of from you know that kind of stuff so it's hard to tell what order the films are actually in take for that what you will for any side characters and stuff i'm gonna be honest i didn't dilute my no enjoyment of the other films but yeah it's just a kind of small minor nitpick is there a smart rabbit running around is
Latest Release and Its Reception: 'Vengeance Most Foul'
00:43:20
Speaker
fluffle still out there yeah because i mean they definitely link the wrong trousers and vengeance most of them yeah those certainly are definitely related because and i never really read the comics but i remember that there were adverts and want to say it was the simpsons comics because those were the ones that i collected at the time but i remember in them they advertised feathers mcgraw breaking out of prison and and it's like, oh wow, the comics and things already did that.
00:43:46
Speaker
Well, for vengeance most foul, and I just want to, before I go on to this, I have to, of course, point out the very sad fact, and I can't remember off the top of my head, but I think between the time that A Matter of Loaf and Death came out, in 2008 and obviously now that there was a fire in the Yardman studio and unfortunately they lost a lot the original models, a lot the plasticine and things and that set back a lot of the projects because as we were saying before the Fortis so many films you know obviously had chicken run and then i want to say two years ago they had the sequel film on netflix and then of course last year we finally got avengers most foul because i know there's things in between it like the is it wallace's contraptions or something like that yeah there's like little animated shorts and stuff short shorts like one or two films and adverts and stuff lot of shot on the sheep it's kind of under the list is now timmy time the hell is timmy time No idea.
00:44:43
Speaker
Sean the Sheep champion sheeps? Yeah, a lot of stuff like that. Yeah, that sheep definitely outlived his... Absolutely not. Outlived reputation, I'm gonna say it now. He's the goat. That's why he's the goat. Wallace and Gromit's cracking contraptions in Wallace and Gromit's world of invention.
00:44:58
Speaker
I do want a segue actually, I've got a segue real quick. I've got time for a segue. Also in 2013, the Wallace and Gromit Frill-O-Matic A Riveting Ride opened at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. I've been on that. You travel about on a rollercoaster on a giant slipper and that's all I have to say about it.
00:45:13
Speaker
It's good fun, and you go and see some of the movie scenes. So of course we get onto Venge's Most Foul, which I have to admit is probably one of the most anticipated British films of all time. It was so hyped up that even I think it's Netflix has the rights to distribute it elsewhere, whereas here we get it on, well we used to get on BBC iPlayer, I don't know if it's still on there now, but yeah we got to see it at Christmas. Everyone was huddled around the TV like, oh, let's go see this. It's such a rare thing as well for anything on TV nowadays to be on the day. You have to watch it and especially for an animated film. You know what I mean? Like for it to be, you have to see us on release day. It was, it was like a big event. Oh yeah.
00:45:51
Speaker
I mean, it honestly felt like traveling in a time machine because we had Doctor Who that day and then we had It was absolutely wild. But at the same time, it absolutely held up. yeah You know, there's the pros and cons of it, but I think overall it really held up. And of course, it follows the story of Feathers McGraw, who has served his 20 or so years, both in real time and the show, which I thought was absolutely hilarious. Kind of going Twin Peaks-esque. I suppose, it was like, see you in 25 years, and then 25 years later so they made the dance role. Love it. But no, it was absolutely fantastic to see them again. The only thing that annoys me, and it wasn't until I rewatched A Matter of Loaf and Death, was, I said this earlier about viewing Wallace as a negative figure.
00:46:38
Speaker
And it's the fact that he is dopey as an inventor, but sometimes he's dopey to a fault. Yeah. To the extent, and there's a running meme going around, you keep sending them to me. Oh, what's Wallace's plot for this episode? Oh, we're gonna get cheese from the supermarket. And it's like, what's Gromit's? And he's fighting for his life.
00:46:59
Speaker
That's every single Wallace and Gromit thing. Obviously he cares about Gromit. We can see that he really tries to save him and whatnot, but it really ticked me off in a matter of loafing death when he was putting his love interest ahead of him, saying like, oh, Gromit bitter and everything. And it's like, no, Gromit would never do that. How dare you? Although, that did make me laugh, though, when they did the parody for Ghost instead of the clay. It was the bread that was top tier. They had that in all the adverts, but I don't care. They knew was good. They knew was good. Yeah, they had to throw in. But I feel as if with... And this is going sound so weird, but without the wrong trousers, I don't think this would have been as popular. And I know obviously because it's a follow-up to the wrong trousers, that's why it's so popular, because it's one of the best Wallace and Gromit adventures, and they obviously want to capitalise on that, and they have a minimum amount of characters, I want to say.
00:47:53
Speaker
You know, you've got the police and you've got the dynamic duo themselves and you've got all the gnomes, really, and maybe a couple of side characters, but it's not as egregious as Were-Rabbit.
00:48:04
Speaker
Yeah, I'd say the whole film, I think, is a lot tighter than the Were-Rabbit film. I don't want to keep you saying tighter like the Were-Rabbit's a really over-the-top film, but, you know, and it's a much more streamlined. It's got a lot less going on for the runtime. think helps it a lot. Because even by the end, I genuinely wanted to see more of it. Yes. I think that's probably the crux so of why I disliked Curse of the Were-Rabbit so much. When it ended, I was like, oh, thank God, that's it, it's ended, it's gone, I can forget those creepy rabbits yelling cheese. Whereas in this, you have so many amazing action set pieces where, and again, I keep saying quintessentially British, but what other country can you tell me goes over a viaduct with one of those Rosie and Jim boats, right? Does a fast and furious turn and everything.
00:48:51
Speaker
And get saved by robotic garden gnomes. The police chasing it on the bike as well. So good. It is absolutely amazing. And I love that the, oh, it's a nun. Yeah, that's so good. It is absolutely brilliant. It's... 10 out of 10. But before we wrap up, I've got to ask you something really quickly. quick What is your tier list for this series? What would you say is your best one versus your maybe not as well liked one? It's hard one. I think, as we discussed, I think Wrong Trouzes has to be the top.
00:49:21
Speaker
Maybe then a clothes shave? Matt, The Loaf and Death? No, I've heard that, Man of Loaf and Death and Vengeance Most Foul are both really good for different reasons. I think maybe Vengeance Most Foul because it's the film, it's a lot more grand stuff.
00:49:32
Speaker
Loaf and Death, Grand Day Out, and Curse the Way Rabbit would be the order from best to worst. Vengeance Most Foul peeking out the other one because it has the single greatest joke of all the Wallace and Gromit, of course, in that there's a newsreader and his name's Antondek. Oh yes. You see, you know that would pop me. Ten out dead for that. What about you? What's kind of your list?
00:49:49
Speaker
It's hard because if it was a tier list, then most of them would be S tier. And I think maybe... Yeah, if you were just ranking it on a scale, it's dead easy. just give them all five out of five. Pretty much, yeah. Except
Final Thoughts and Recommendations
00:50:00
Speaker
for Curse of the Wereyrabbit, that can get four or a three. Yeah. trying to think of it. I think The Wrong Trousers definitely. That is the one that I think I fell in love with Wallace and Gromit where, you know, you had the big chase scene at the end, you had the comedy, you had all the kind of visual ones in the background. was just so creative. I mean, you have a penguin going up the side of a building with a tape measurer. That is incredible.
00:50:26
Speaker
Yeah. And honestly, it was just so clever the way they did the whole thing. So definitely that film at the top. But I feel as if there's a three-way tie between a close shave, vengeance most foul, and a matter of loaf and death. Yeah, it's hard to tell the difference. It's hard hard to make a difference between them.
00:50:43
Speaker
I think maybe Vengeance and Wolfsville is probably a ahead now. A, probably because of recency bias, and B, because of the fact that it's related to one of the greatest two ones of all time. So you've got those. Garanday out, I would say, is probably the penultimate one at the bottom. Again, I don't think it's bad by any means, but I do think it doesn't hold up as well just because of the animation and whatnot. But again, it's what sparked Wallace and Gromit's presence.
00:51:13
Speaker
in the animation landscape, which is so good, as well. Surprisingly, did you know Nick Parker lost out on an Oscar for A Grand Day Out? Well, A Grand Day Out got nominated for it, and he lost it to himself.
00:51:27
Speaker
but Yeah, apparently he got nominated for Creature Comforts as well. And Creature Comforts won. Amazing. I know, isn't that weird? But I'm so glad he won it, because Nick Park is just absolutely fantastic. But going last is definitely Cursed of the Were-Rabbit, I would say. It's not a bad film. It's not the worst film I've ever seen. It didn't ruin Wallace and Gromit, but... It's not the best, which is a shame, but honestly, as a closing point a kind of summary for me, I genuinely think that if you haven't seen Wallace and Gromit and you are listening to this and go, that may be up my alley. Genuinely, go watch either The Wrong Trousers or... A cloche first, I would recommend. I'd say if you were curious, go see a grand day out, but a grand day out doesn't really give a good representation of what it evolves into, does it? doesn't Yeah, i to agree with that. i But I would wholeheartedly recommend a series, and I think there's a reason why so many people were more excited about Wallace and Gromit over the Gavin and Stacey finale.
00:52:25
Speaker
into the Doctor Who special combined. So yeah, that's absolutely fantastic. But flipping up to you for one last time, is there are any final thoughts that you have about this iconic series?
00:52:36
Speaker
I think we've covered all the big hits. I mean, don't know what it's left to say. Watch it if you haven't. I mean, if you haven't, I don't know why listened to all this, but please watch it. Please watch any you've missed. Please go on the ride at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Fly the games. Blackpool getting a shout out though. Yeah, it's a phenomenal series and I think the UK would be worse off if it didn't have it.
00:52:54
Speaker
Don't you think it's that big a deal? Back to you. I mean, even when you've got other really prolific animators and creators saying the same thing as you were saying there, that inspired them, they want to take ideas from it. Even Matt Groening from The Simpsons, he was really positive in his take on it. He was like, oh my god, that chicken's so funny, how can we take it? And you know, we make Simpsons references on a daily basis, so it's like
Wallace and Gromit's Universal Appeal and Legacy
00:53:20
Speaker
one of the most influential creators there giving praise to this iconic series. There is honestly nothing like it, I think, that I've seen. Because you could have clones of, oh, it's a wacky inventor and their pet and whatever, but it's not even that. It goes beyond that.
00:53:35
Speaker
It's about, ah as we said, a doughty inventor and their dog that basically gets them out of trouble 90% of the time. if like It's crazy. It's over the top. It's wacky, but it's the right amount of wacky and over the top that you are going to love it And again, what's really good about it is it's good for all ages, which I know sounds like a weird thing to end on, but it's not like you're saying, oh, kids will absolutely love this. Adults are going to love this especially. And it's just such a great all ages thing that it's not too, well, it is dark at times, but it's that kind of 80s and 90s British children's programming dark. if you know what mean. Your Walsh ship down-esque.
00:54:14
Speaker
ah There's actually a a reference in that in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Anyway, on that very depressing note, if you haven't seen it, definitely go watch it. But Martin, thank you so much for discussing this iconic series with me. Yeah, no, absolute pleasure. Always happy to talk about Wallace and Gromit and I will continue to talk about Wallace and Gromit every opportunity. So thanks for having me on to do it. and yeah, before we wrap up, where can these amazing Pandalorians at home listening find your content? You can find me all over social media, but the main places I usually post are Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. You can find me any one of those. Just search up Martin McAllister and you will find me. And indeed, if you want to check out more episodes from ourselves and animation month, as well as sadly non Wallace and Gromit related episodes. Thank you so much for supporting the show and would like
00:55:02
Speaker
as well as all good podcast apps i also want to thank our amazing pandaloian patrons robotic battle to start sonia ghosti and crypttic ninety ninety one thank you so so much for supporting the show and if you would like early access to episodes, exclusive episodes, commentary tracks, as well as our advice on how not to eat Play-Doh, then indeed you can check us out on our Patreon page, patreon.com forward slash chat tsunami. This podcast is a proud member of the PodPack Collective. For more information, check us out at our Twitter slash X page at PodPack Collect. But until next week, I cannot wait to dive into the world
00:55:38
Speaker
Well, animation and live action with Andrew next week, where we're going to be talking about Detective Pikachu. The week after, we'll be discussing the anime hit Your Name. And then last but not least, we have a wild card on the horizon. So be sure to look out for that. Until next time, stay safe, stay awesome.
00:55:54
Speaker
And most importantly, if you're going to have some moon cheese, have a respectable slice, okay? I'm sick of you stealing my moon cheese, Martin. I'm sick of you.