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British Ingenuity, Claymation and Cheese
By Linda | February 11, 2008
Do you love crazy inventions, exciting story lines, and maybe a nice bit of Gorgonzola? If so, you must meet Wallace and Gromit!
Wallace and Gromit are the main characters in a series of three animated short films (A Grand Day Out
Wallace is an absent-minded inventor, cheese enthusiast and companion to his dog Gromit, who appears to be rather more intelligent than his master. Wallace is an inveterate inventor, creating elaborate contraptions that often do not work as intended. He is a self-proclaimed genius. Most of his gizmos look not unlike the designs of Heath Robinson and Rube Goldberg, and Nick Park has said of Wallace that all his inventions are designed around the principle of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
Some of Wallace’s contraptions actually are based on real-life inventions. For example, Wallace’s method of getting up in the morning incorporates a bed that tips over to wake up its owner, an invention that was exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851 by Theophilus Carter, and is similar to a device sold in Japan that is used to ensure a certain wakeup time.
The three short films are favorites in our family movie library with my personal pick being “A Close Shave”. You can meet the characters and see excerpts from these films on Wallace and Gromit’s official web site at www.wallaceandandgromit.com.
Topics: Jokes, Humor & Poetry, Movies & TV, The Petri Dish |
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