Nick Park’s Wallace And Gromit have been a favorite of mine
since I first saw The Wrong Trousers many years ago. These series of animated
films detail the adventures of Wallace, a lovable--and very eccentric--inventor
and his devoted dog Gromit. Although Gromit never speaks, he’s clearly the
smarter of the two, and is extremely adept at pulling his master’s fat out of
the fire. In The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit, Wallace and Gromit run Anti-Pesto, a
humane pest control company that keeps a constant vigil on the suburban gardens
of their green-thumbed neighbors. Wallace and Gromit are waging an on-going
battle with the bunnies who dare to invade these gardens and threaten the prized,
over-sized, vegetables that are grown for the Giant Vegetable Competition that’s
hosted by Lady Tottington on her estate. Even Lady Tottington’s impressive
gardens are not exempt from the rabbit raid, and she calls Wallace and Gromit
for help.
W&G show up in their van and get rid of the bunnies via a special vacuum which
sucks the rabbits right out of their underground burrows and into a special
glass container where they float around harmlessly (the sight of these bunnies
peacefully swirling around within this glass container is downright sublime to
watch). Lady Tottington is enthralled with Wallace and Gromit’s humane handling
of the bunnies, and Wallace finds himself enthralled with the sweet-natured Lady
herself--much to the chagrin of Victor Quartermaine. Victor is a self-important
little toad of a man who fancies himself as a suitor for Lady Tottington--despite
the fact that she really has no clear interest in him at all. Therefore, he sees
Wallace as being a rival for the Lady’s hand in marriage and will stop at
nothing to ensure he will prevail. But everybody in town has an even bigger
problem when a frightening, monstrous creature begins to assault their gardens
in the pale moonlight.
W&G: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit is a very funny movie. So much so that there
were actually several times when I had to pause the DVD because I was laughing
so hard. The animation, which is done in the old stop-motion style that Willis
O’Brien and Ray Harryhausen made famous, is so seamless and masterful that it’s
easy to forget you’re watching a bunch of puppets. Although this is a great film
for the wee ones, adults can also enjoy it, thanks to some slyly hidden humorous
bits here and there. Actor Peter Sallis once again reprises the voice of
Wallace, while Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Finnes give voice to Lady
Tottington and Victor (Fiennes is almost unrecognizable, as well as very funny,
as Victor). There’s a commentary by the filmmakers, deleted scenes, as well as a
pair of great behind the scenes documentaries. Wallace And Gromit: The Curse Of
The Were-Rabbit is great fun for the family, as well as horror film fans with a
sense of humor.
--SF
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