Cracking celebration for Wallace & Gromit’s famous film’s 30th anniversary
Wearing the Wrong Trousers for three decades has endeared Wallace & Gromit to the nation, and creator Aardman and licensee Danilo are celebrating the anniversary with a cracking competition.
Released in 1993, Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers was the first film starring the Plasticine duo and there are big plans to mark the occasion, with licensed products, a museum partnership, escape room adventure, screenings with live musical performances, and a tie-up with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO).
“We’re joining in the official celebrations,” Danilo’s licensing director Dan Grant told PG Buzz, “as this year’s calendar is a special 30th anniversary edition, there will be a competition hosted by Aardman with some signed calendars by creator Nick Park and/or director Merlin Crossingham as the prize.”
There’s also a brand-new tale in production, the first since 2008’s A Matter Of Loaf And Death which became the UK’s most-viewed TV programme of the 2000s, pulling in over 16.2million viewers. Set for release in 2024, the as-yet-untitled movie will premiere on Netflix everywhere except in the UK where it will debut on the BBC first.
Also currently in production is The Grand Getaway, an interactive, narrative-led, single-player VR experience for the Meta Quest all-in-one VR headset, where users can walk around, explore and get hands – or paws – on within the world of Wallace & Gromit.
Nick, who started at Bristol-based Aardman working on props for the Morph shorts, commented: “It’s very exciting to have some brand-new Wallace & Gromit stories in the works as we celebrate the anniversary of such an important moment in the characters’ history.
“The Wrong Trousers was a special film for all of us at Aardman. It’s wonderful that it continues to find new fans today, and that we can bring those fans more adventures – and more inventions, more mishaps, and more problems for Gromit to solve.”
As well as the Danilo cracking competition, where the dates are still to be confirmed, there’s A Grand Way Out Wallace & Gromit-themed escape room adventure being launched next month in Bristol; the Aardman exhibition at London’s Cartoon Museum will have clips, storyboards and movie materials from The Wrong Trousers between September 2023 and April 2024.
The movie also starred villainous penguin Feathers McGraw who wanted to put Wallace’s inventions to criminal use and Aardman has run with this idea, working with the IPO for the annual Wallace & Gromit’s Cracking Ideas competition, which this year will have the theme Make The Wrong Trousers Right.
Budding inventors will be tasked with the challenge of re-inventing Wallace’s Techno-Trousers and turning them into something that can do good for the planet, and the competition will be supported by teaching resources, home study packs and a series of events in partnership with regional science centres and museums.
Screenings of The Wrong Trousers are to be held across the UK with the soundtrack performed live by the WFEL Fairey Band, one of the world’s finest brass bands, and there will be model-making workshops at family festivals where fans can learn how to make their own Gromit and Feathers McGraw models from modelling clay.
Cracking new anniversary products include the limited edition The Wrong Trousers x Olympia Le Tan designer clutch bag with just 77 numbered copies, and from ranges from licensees including jewellery company Licensed To Charm, paper engineers Paper Engine, and eco-conscious independent tea mixology company Bird & Blend Tea Co, who are launching a themed tin of 20 tea bags specially blended with Wallace & Gromit in mind – it will be an energising everyday brew, perfect for inventors and those needing a lift!
Plus, there’s a partnership with Carrs Pasties to launch a new Wallace & Gromit-inspired More Cheese, Ham & Jam Pasty, containing a blend of Wensleydale, Red Leicester, Mature Cheddar, Mozzarella, pulled ham and caramelised onion.
At Spring Fair, which runs from this Sunday until Wednesday, 5-8 February, Wallace & Gromit licensees exhibiting include Ancestors Group Hall 4 A22, A Perry & Sons Hall 4 C48-D49, Aurora Hall 5 J10 K11, Bottled Baking Company Hall 4 B88, Danilo Hall 3 N20/L01, Half Moon Bay Hall 4 H20-J21, Paper Engine Hall 5 G30, Pawprints Hall 5 M35, and Puckator Hall 4 B10-C11.
