Susan Granger: “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” (DreamWorks)
If you’re looking for the perfect Halloween movie for the kids, this is it!
Wallace (voiced by 84 year-old British actor Peter Sallis) is a bumbling, mild-mannered British inventor and Gromit is his long-suffering, ever-faithful, mute mutt – obviously, the brains of the duo. As their adventure begins, it’s time for the annual Giant Vegetable Competition, sponsored by dotty Totty, Lady Tottingham (voiced by Helena Bonham Carter). To cash in on the “veggie-mania,” they have a humane pest-control company, called Anti-Pesto, that’s aimed at eliminating pesky rabbits. Dazzled by his Bun-Vac 6000 (a vacuum that sucks up bunnies and brainwashes them not to eat vegetables), Totty has become enamored of Wallace, much to the chagrin of Victor Quartermaine (voiced by Ralph Fiennes), a snobby cad who’d prefer to shoot the rabbits and marry Totty for her money. But nothing seems effective against a gigantic Were-Rabbit, ravaging the village gardens after accidentally being created by Wallace’s experiments.
Created by Nick Park (“Chicken Run”), Wallace & Gromit first delighted Anglophiles about a decade ago with two Oscar-winning shorts: “The Wrong Trousers” and “A Close Shave.” The wordplay of puns obviously delights Park and his writing/directing partner Steve Box, who pay homage to “King Kong,” “Frankenstein, “The Fly,” even “Harry Potter.” Utilizing the talents of 250 artists and animators, their old-fashioned stop-motion technique features hand-crafted, 12″ tall clay puppers. And Wallace’s beloved Stinking Bishop cheese is sold by Charles Martell in a Gloucestershire creamery. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” is a cheeky, inventive 9. It’s the world’s first vegetarian horror movie!
