The Story:

A tinkerer and cheese-enthuisast embarks on a series of misadventures from which his long-suffering pooch must rescue him.

The Stars:

Wallace voiced by Peter Sallis or Ben Whitehead. Gromit is silent (but speaks eloquently through facial expressions).

Release Date:

A Grand Day Out (1989)

The Wrong Trousers (1993)

A Close Shave (1995)

Rating:

Because they are British imports, the films are unrated but would surely be G.

Our Take:   

If your family has already discovered these short gems, you know what a joy they are. If you haven’t watched them, you’re in for a treat.

Rarely is a simple concept executed with such flawless delight. The characters pop. The stop-motion claymation is rendered in flawless detail. The gentle humor builds on itself, fully immersed in the the characters and not dependent on smart comments or surface situations.

In A Grand Day Out, Wallace and Gromit solve their distressing problem of having run out of cheese by building a rocket and flying to the moon for a picnic. Because everyone knows the moon is made of cheese. They find the moon may be indeed made of cheese, but it is not uninhabited.

The Wrong Trousers finds Gromit superseded by a sinister penguin desguised as a chicken by means of a rubber glove on the head. This dastardly fowl hacks Wallace’s mechanical trousers, thereby forcing the hapless tinkerer into a brazen heist. But never fear, Gromit is on the job.

A Close Shave introduces Wallace’s knitting-genius love interest Wendoline Ramsbottom. Her blackhearted dog runs a sheep rustling ring and finds the perfect fall guy in Gromit.

Be Aware:

The gentle, soft humor of these shorts is appropriate for all ages. Other than a fondness for Wendsleydale cheese, there is nothing inappropriate in them.

Appropriate for Ages:

All Ages.

Related Material:

There are follow up offerings, including A Matter of Loaf and Death and the full length film Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

 Patheos’s Family Movie Night Feature brings you a weekly  recommendation for a film to watch together…as a family. See our other picks on the Family Movie Night page.