A Grand Day Out with Wallace and Gromit (1989)

Director:

Nick Park

Writer:

Nick Park (written by)

Release Date:

21 December 1994 (France)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Wallace and Gromit have run out of cheese and this provides an excellent excuse for the animated duo to take their holiday on the moon, where, as everyone knows, there is ample cheese.

Plot Keywords:

Vacation | Sunglasses | Vending Machine | Skiing | Picnic

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins

Cast

Peter Sallis

...

Wallace (voice)

Directed by
Nick Park

Writing credits
Nick Park		(written by)

Produced by
Rob Copeland	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Julian Nott

Cinematography by
Nick Park		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Rob Copeland

Sound Department
Danny Hambrook	....	sound editor
Danny Hambrook	....	sound effects
Adrian Rhodes	....	sound editor
Adrian Rhodes	....	sound effects

Visual Effects by
Andrew Davies	....	additional modelmaker
Michael Hort	....	additional modelmaker
Janet Sanger	....	additional modelmaker
Michael Wright	....	additional modelmaker

Camera and Electrical Department
Danny Boon	....	camera operator: rostrum camera
Jeremy Moorshead	....	camera operator: rostrum camera

Animation Department
Nick Park	....	animator

Other crew
Joan Ashworth	....	black and white dream sequence
Martin Greaves	....	black and white dream sequence (as Martin Greaves of 3 Peach Animation)
Soozy Mealing	....	production team
Andy Staveley	....	black and white dream sequence

Thanks
Peter Bath	....	thanks: Technicolor (as Peter Bath)
Chris Billing	....	thanks
Jeremy Clarke	....	thanks
Melanie Cole	....	special thanks
David Fine	....	thanks
Alan Gardner	....	special thanks (as Alan Gardner of Aardman Animations)
Andrea Gardner	....	thanks
Richard Goleszowski	....	special thanks
Glenn Hall	....	special thanks (as Glen Hall)
Stephen Lawrence	....	thanks
Darren Long	....	thanks
Peter Lord	....	special thanks
Lesley Manning	....	thanks
Sara Mullock	....	special thanks
Charles Patey	....	thanks
Steve Rushton	....	thanks (as Steven Rushton)
Alison Snowden	....	thanks
David Sproxton	....	special thanks
Roy Swift	....	thanks
Cliff Thorne	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Aardman Animations
• National Film and Television School (NFTS)

Distributors

• Channel 4 Television Corporation (1989) (UK) (TV)
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (1993) (UK) (TV)
• Castle Communications (1995) (Finland) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2001) (Finland) (DVD) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1994) (1995) (1997) (2000) (2006) (Finland) (TV) (TV2)

Other Companies

• Harbutts Plasticine  thanks
• Triad Negative Cutter  thanks (as Triad Neg Cutters)

Also Known As:

A Grand Day Out (UK) (short title)

Runtime:

23 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | Brazil:Livre | South Korea:All | Spain:T | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Portugal:M/6 | USA:Unrated | UK:U

Company:

Aardman Animations

Trivia:

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.

Goofs:

Continuity: The first time you see Gromit making a house of cards, there are only three triangles (not including the ones with the point facing down). Later, when it shows the house of cards a second time (and Gromit has already finished the second level), the first level now has four triangles and the second layer has three.

Quotes:

[Wallace and Gromit are on their spaceship, about to leave Earth]
Wallace: No crackers Gromit! We've forgotten the crackers!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Flushed Away (2006)

A good early effort, but greater things were to come

STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits

In this debut effort for Nick Park's beloved man and dog, they are forced to fly to the moon when good old Wallace runs out of cheese.

As well as being the shortest feature at just 22 minutes, this W/G adventure is also the earliest and it kinda shows. The plasticine animation is a little creaky and funny here, sort of reminiscent of the Mork animation about the little man in the box.

Admirable though the craftsmanship behind it is, I've never actually been hugely into Wallace & Gromit (maybe a bit too clean and traditional for someone of my generation.) The only one I've really enjoyed is The Wrong Trousers (and that was more from when I was younger and less aware of, shall we say, the seedier pleasures of life.) I was driven to actively seek out this early effort due to the resurgence in popularity as a result of the hugely successful recent film adaptation.

As technically impressive as the first two (all things considered!) this one lacks the emotional angle it's successors were to possess. That being said, it's fairly good fun as a first try and certainly set the standard for greater things to come. Two stars, but a good two stars. **