Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit: Movie & DVD Review

(Originally published 2005)

In spite of the fear-inducing size of its massive melons, its giant heads of lettuce, and its colossal clutches of carrots, the lot of which look as if they grew deep in the gardens of Chernobyl, the new Wallace & Gromit movie, “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit,” is not your garden variety horror show.

It is, however, the best and most ambitious of the “Wallace & Gromit” lot, which includes the Academy Award-winning “The Wrong Trousers” and “A Close Shave,” as well as a handful of other shorts, all of which have been molded from the wonders of the clay-like product, placticine.

Joining the recent Tim Burton freakout, “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride,” which did its share in startling clever lumps of clay to life, “The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” will be nominated this year for Best Animated Picture. No one should be surprised if it wins.

This is clay animation at its best, with directors Nick Park and Steve Box essentially rubbing computer animation’s nose into something that very closely resembles mud.

Working from a script they co-wrote with Bob Baker and Mark Burton, Park and Box offer a story that once again follows the adventures of cheese-loving inventor Wallace (voice of Peter Sallis), who adores his gorgonzola and Stinking Bishop almost as much as he loves his dog, Gromit, the coolest of canines who is in the know in ways that his out-of-touch master simply isn’t.

This time out, the story swirls around Lady Tottington (Helena Bonham Carter, fresh from the undead success of “The Corpse Bride”) and her Giant Vegetable Competition, which has everyone around her in a snit. Indeed, in Tottington’s town, you are what you garden, so naturally everyone here wants to win the top prize of Golden Carrot.

Trouble is, fear has taken root within the hearts of these liver-lipped Brits. Apparently, bunnies are threatening the very existence of their prized produce, with one rabbit in particular--the towering, dreaded Were-Rabbit-- gorging himself through everyone's gardens. Since it's Wallace and Gromit who own the pest control business, Anti-Pesto, it’s up to them to suck out the smaller bunnies with their Bun-Vac 6000--a splendid machine--while also ridding the world of the Were-Rabbit, which leads to stunning revelations that won't be revealed here.

Appealingly zany, with pop-culture riffs that borrow liberally from the classic Universal Studios horror movies of the 1930s and 40s to the King Kong franchise to the British television show, "Keeping up Appearances," this "Wallace" is a departure and a new beginning. Its $80 million budget finds our heroes going Hollywood in a big way, but the good news is that they haven't sold their souls in an effort to do so. The essence of their relationship remains intact, with their bond just as vital as it ever was.

Perhaps more so, especially considering the spooky circumstances at hand.

Grade: A