Wallace & Gromit: The Complete Collection – DVD Review

The Film:

As a kid I remember stop-motion animation as this surreal special effect, mostly seen in monster movies, by and made famous by Ray Harryhausen, but in the last decade or more, it’s been a pleasure seeing film makers use stop-motion animation for a variety of projects. Tim Burton’s current use is probably the most famous, or well-known at least here in the United States, but abroad there have been a select few that has made some great, interesting projects. The Brothers Quay, Jan Svankmajer, and Nick Park come to mind. While the first two have created some art-house appreciated pieces, Nick Park has used the medium to create two world wide adored characters.

One of the first things about Nick Park’s creation of Wallace and Gromit many will notice is how distinctively British they are. That’s quite obvious, but it will be a line that many will consider, and will depend on if it doesn’t matter to you or not, on the effect of the enjoyment. It’s unfair to sort of bring this up, but there are elements that are strictly cultural to these characters. They’re called one of the best things to come out of the UK, and it’s easy to see why their so beloved. Wallace is so absent minded and that plays for the comedic angle as Gromit, his ever loving dog, does the straight man routine here. It’s like this for everything, and it gives the characters a ying and yang feel to them, as together they complete each other.

This set collects all four of their short films, all around 30 minutes a piece, two of which were nominated for an Oscar, with an all-new short, in A Matter of Loaf and Death. Watching them in order of release date, it’s amazing on the technical level on how good the first short was. Yes, I think story and comedy wise, 1989′s A Grand Day Out has that first film jitters, but the animation is quite nice, and the robot wishing to have friends and ski, is a quite tragic character. For a young Park, he knew what he wanted, and for the most part his first Wallace and Gromit film delivered.

To me, and the Academy as well, 1993′s The Wrong Trousers is their best outing all around. The film starts out with some very mundane aspects of their daily life, but this is all handled with some brilliant pacing and some clever visual gags. The villain of the piece is a penguin who disguises himself as a chicken to rob a rare jewel, that sets up one of the film’s two best set pieces. Park realizes the limitations of the penguin character, but utilizes simple gestures like a head turn, a black stare, as incredibly menacing characterizations. The film ends with some of the best stop-motion animation I’ve seen (sans computer help) with Gromit chasing after the penguin on a toy train set. Voted as the 18^th Best British Film ever made, it never wastes a second of the 30 minute running time, and is full of wit, comedy, and suspense. This has gone on to be the archetypal film for these characters.

Following that up was a challenge for Nick Park. 1995′s A Close Shave follows the previous film’s template, but does something different this time around. It immediately feels like a weaker follow-up because this one packs a darker, film-noir look to it, and feels less comedic. I don’t think that could be anymore false, as this is perhaps the best animated here in this foursome, and ends with a really funny punchline, especially if you’re a long time fan of the Wallace character. She doesn’t like cheese? I understand where some people come from on this. It is a darker film, with a few scenes of some deep menace. Park claims Hitchcock’s thrillers were an influence, and for film fans, it is apparent. It’s still a whiz-bang feature, and a worthy follow-up to their Oscar-winning short.

The new film, is an okay outing. Airing on Christmas Day 2008, I would say it features the slickest animation Park has done yet for these characters, but it is also sort of by-the-numbers. Coming a few years after their first full feature length film (the absent from this set) Curse of the Were-Rabbit, I think this is more Hitchcockian than the last, as Wallace quickly falls for a women with murder hidden under her attentions. The film shoots out some pop culture references to Batman and Ghost to slightly amusing effect. This short was perhaps their most popular, but it isn’t their best. While it’s the slickest, finest short like I mentioned before, some of the charm is gone. Maybe it’s because they’re so popular and we know all of their nuances, that it feels a bit stale. Don’t get me wrong, even though it has some very dark elements, it’s still a fine outing.

Wallace and Gromit might be at first an acquired taste, but once you get the taste they are addicting. Nick Park in time will be seen as one of the better stop-motion animators working post-Harryhausen. One can only hope he continues with these characters and inspires more people to pick up the medium.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: LionsGate and HiT Entertainment deliver a solid set here. While the Blu-ray I heard is better, each transfer is fine. The older shorts do show their age a bit, but it’s nothing anyone would cringe at. The newer shorts are the best looking. All shorts keep their fullframe aspect ratio. The sound is decent too. While it’s nothing to write home about, everything is handled and presented well, and this DVD set should easily please their fans.

Each short is housed on their own disc and has their own set of extras. Each disc features an auto play, that will play the short first, followed by the extras. You can turn this off.

Commentaries: Nick Park talks on each of the four shorts, with some various other people of interest. I found each track a must listen, as he and the guests are very honest, soft spoken, and give wealth of information. They talk about the success, the challenges, and even second guess themselves on some of the story elements. Fans of film, stop-motion, and film school students will find these to be essential.

The Amazing Adventures of Wallace and Gromit: This 15 minute piece packs a lot of information of their success and origins. It’s pretty informative and a solid watch for fans.

Making Of: Each short has their own behind the scenes, and the best one is for Wrong Trousers. Early on Park recaps their origins with some old sketches, but then it turns to the making of the short. Short but full of information, and the same can be said for How They Donut, the making of A Matter of Loaf and Death. The weakest one is a silent 5 minute piece for A Close Shave, has it shows the process of animation style. With no audio, non-fans of stop motion will be clueless to what’s going on. All in all, these are pretty good bonuses.

Cracking Contraptions: These are super shorts of Wallace and Gromit, featuring a new invention by Wallace and the zaniness that ensues. These are decent quick doses, worth watching. They are spread out over the four discs.

Shaun the Sheep: The co-star of A Close Shave has his little episode called Off the Baa! The character has his own spin-off series, and the epsidoe is mildly entertaining.

Trailers, Scrapbook, and a Game Demo round out the extras.

Conclusion: Wallace and Gromit fans should jump all over this set as soon as possible, and even non-fans might be won over by it. The extras are good and the retail price is low enough to fully recommend this as a purchase.

The Films: Rating:

The DVD: Rating:

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