Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
Wallace (Peter Sallis) and his ever-faithful dog Gromit are cashing in with their humane pest-control outfit, Anti-Pesto in the movie 'Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'. - CONTRIBUTED
WALLACE AND Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, directed by Nick Park and Steve Box, is a funny animated take on 'were' horror flicks, minus all of the scary bits. It is wonderfully conceived as this mock horror and contains much of the elements that make animation great.
Wallace and Gromit run Anti-pesto a swat team aimed at ridding farms of those pesky, furry, eating machines - rabbits. They live in a quiet, simple little town (clearly without cable) and use their various gadgets to trap rabbits. Life in the town (where the grandest event for the year is a biggest vegetable competition) is about to change when one day a were-rabbit is discovered.
GNAWING RABBIT
The dangerous were-rabbit, who soon becomes the bane of the town's existence, runs about the village gnawing on unsuspecting carrots and ripping into the leaves of the most innocent cabbages.
The film begins in a mode quite befitting of a story about Jack-the-ripper, but then as it takes the 'were' animal genre, it tames into a family-friendly flick, where adults and children alike can find enough to entertain them. Wallace and Gromit is indeed quite funny with sufficient humour for the 'younglings' to nibble on, while adults (who choose to go see it without or without ankle biters in tow) can feast on the pieces that soar above their heads.
MAN AND BEST FRIEND
Wallace (Peter Sallis - voice) and Gromit are the quintessential of the man and his best friend ideal. Wallace is the proverbial absent-minded inventor while Gromit is his assistant who simply happens to be a dog. He is able to do all the things of the average assistant, with the exception of talk, and though he cannot speak he can drive like nobody's business. The two previously appeared in the short films Wallace and Gromit: A Grand Day Out, Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers and Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave. The Curse of the Were Rabbit is their first feature film, and they make a grand adventure of it.
Gromit has much in common with Courage, the Cowardly Dog (with the exception of the intense fear and cavity). He highlights that much of humour can lie within well timed silence and the perfect expression.
Stylistically, Wallace and Gromit is a medley of several horror movie bits. It even has a moment ripped from westerns, thrown in. The flick begins with the Jack the Ripper feel, and as the mystery is revealed and the monstrous were-rabbit (who just happens to be fluffy) is pursued, the movie has samples of flicks such as King Kong to heighten its enjoyment.
Of course, as with many animated flicks, one of the best characters are the villains, and in this case the hilariously pompous Victor Quartermaine, who is artfully voiced by Ralph Feinnes provides a wonderful treat.
A REFRESHING FLICK
The flick refreshingly breaks the trend of animated flicks merely becoming extensive jokes about pop culture (often barely masking wanton product placement). While Shrek had made it hilarious, a few more movies and it would become awfully tiresome.
Wallace and Gromit is certainly funny enough for the entire family, with or without the little ones. It bears enough of the wit that one would expect of a comedy based on rural England, combined with the hilariously absurd one would expect from an animated flick.
