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jeriendhalSaw this yesterday, and it proved the antidote for what was left of Steve's black mood. Or anyone else's, if they have any portion of their funny-bone remaining.
Anyway. Wallace & Gromit, the Curse of the Were-Rabbit is animator Nick Park's homage to the great Universal/Hammer horror movies of days gone by, except that the primary victims of the Lupisian terror are the town's prize vegatables. Rather than repeat W&G's background and previous triumphs (not to mention the increasingly tired observation that Gromit pwns Buster Keaton), I'll just make a few notes.
1.) This is probably the most British of the Wallace & Gromit films. I know that sounds odd, given the rather obvious setting of the shorts, and Wallace's solid Lancasterian accent, but here the sterotypes are a bit thicker. Aside from the obvious allusions to slightly in-bred British local nobility in the forms of Lady Tottington and VIctor Quartermaine, we've also got the village Vicar (with a small problem of vegetable idolatry), a not terribly effective village bobby, and a fairly large complement of solid British farmer types.
2.) It's nothing big, but it's also the first W&G to have anything like ethnicity in the show. In this case one of the villagers, an Indian gentleman with some speaking lines, and a few African descended folk in the background.
3.) As always, the devil (and the comedy) is in the details. Keep your eyes open for sight gags, such as the obvious (a quick thinking merchant who's sign reads "Gardening Angry Mob Supplies", to the more subtle (most of the book titles shown, the name of the album the Gromit plays for his prize avacado, ect.)
4.) There are also some nice shout-outs to the previous shorts. Keep an eye on Wallace's wall for a quick ref to "A Grand Day Out" and the name of a certain village barber shop.
4 1/2.) One other nice thing. This is the first animated film I've seen for a long time that managed to get the whole way through without resorting to a fart joke. How refreshing. :) There is in fact quite a bit of adult humor, but it's resonably subtle and will likely fly over the kids' heads.
5.) Finally, yes you can see the fingerprint marks on Gromit's very mobile brow. The curious thing is I don't recall ever seeing them before. I can't decide if this just because of the combination of the many close-ups of Gromit and seeing things on the big screen, or it was deliberate choice by the Aardman animation team to retain a 'handmade' quality to things, even while admitting some bits were done with CGI (mostly special effects like the floating bunnies.)
Anyway. Wallace & Gromit, the Curse of the Were-Rabbit is animator Nick Park's homage to the great Universal/Hammer horror movies of days gone by, except that the primary victims of the Lupisian terror are the town's prize vegatables. Rather than repeat W&G's background and previous triumphs (not to mention the increasingly tired observation that Gromit pwns Buster Keaton), I'll just make a few notes.
1.) This is probably the most British of the Wallace & Gromit films. I know that sounds odd, given the rather obvious setting of the shorts, and Wallace's solid Lancasterian accent, but here the sterotypes are a bit thicker. Aside from the obvious allusions to slightly in-bred British local nobility in the forms of Lady Tottington and VIctor Quartermaine, we've also got the village Vicar (with a small problem of vegetable idolatry), a not terribly effective village bobby, and a fairly large complement of solid British farmer types.
2.) It's nothing big, but it's also the first W&G to have anything like ethnicity in the show. In this case one of the villagers, an Indian gentleman with some speaking lines, and a few African descended folk in the background.
3.) As always, the devil (and the comedy) is in the details. Keep your eyes open for sight gags, such as the obvious (a quick thinking merchant who's sign reads "
4.) There are also some nice shout-outs to the previous shorts. Keep an eye on Wallace's wall for a quick ref to "A Grand Day Out" and the name of a certain village barber shop.
4 1/2.) One other nice thing. This is the first animated film I've seen for a long time that managed to get the whole way through without resorting to a fart joke. How refreshing. :) There is in fact quite a bit of adult humor, but it's resonably subtle and will likely fly over the kids' heads.
5.) Finally, yes you can see the fingerprint marks on Gromit's very mobile brow. The curious thing is I don't recall ever seeing them before. I can't decide if this just because of the combination of the many close-ups of Gromit and seeing things on the big screen, or it was deliberate choice by the Aardman animation team to retain a 'handmade' quality to things, even while admitting some bits were done with CGI (mostly special effects like the floating bunnies.)
