Wallace and Gromit in 'A Matter of Loaf and Death' (2008) (TV)

Director:

Nick Park

Writers:

Nick Park (written by) &
Bob Baker (written by)

Release Date:

22 September 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Family

Plot:

Wallace and his dog, Gromit, open a bakery and get tied up with a murder mystery. But, when Wallace falls in love Gromit is left to solve the case.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Baker | Dog | Wallace And Gromit | Bakery

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 wins

Cast

Peter Sallis	...	Wallace (voice)
Sally Lindsay	...	Piella (voice)
Melissa Collier	...	Fluffles (voice)
Sarah Laborde	...	Bake O Lite Singer (voice)

Also Known As:

Wallace and Gromit in Trouble At' Mill (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

30 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Filming Locations:

Bristol, England, UK

Company:

Aardman Animations

Trivia:

Homage: Towards the end of the film, Fluffles uses the yellow fork-lift truck to restrain an attacking Piella. This pays homage to the scene in Aliens (1986) where Ripley uses the yellow cargo loader robot to restrain an attacking Alien.

Goofs:

Continuity: At one point when Piella picks Gromit off the chair, just before she accuses him of biting her, you see him from the back and his tail is missing - yet later in the film it has reappeared.

Quotes:

[Wallace and Gromit are in the baker's van]
Wallace: How's that breakfast coming on?
[Gromit presses a button on the car radio and a slice of cremated toast pops out from the cassette slot]
Wallace: Well done, lad.
[looks at the burnt toast]
Wallace: *Very* well done.

Movie Connections:

References The Sound of Music (1965)

A decent effort but not quite up to the earlier standards

Wallace and Gromit, those two animated clay heroes who have been entertaining families at Christmas for nearly twenty years, have returned from their big screen outing to bring us "A Matter Of Loaf And Death". No doubt about it, their return has been long awaited - easily the biggest viewing figures on Christmas Day when it was first broadcast, this is their first short film since "A Close Shave" in 1995. Technically, it is very impressive and you can see the lessons learnt from their movie outing. But personally, I didn't feel it was as strong as their earlier shorts - the plot felt tired and the in-jokes and references seemed crow-barred in. But these two are so far ahead of most other family films of any length that you still enjoy yourself.

For this film, Wallace (still perfectly voiced by Peter Sallis) and his long-suffering canine companion Gromit are running a very successful bakery business - Top Bun - despite a serial killer apparently targeting bakers in the area. But when Wallace falls head-over-heels in love with the beautiful Piella (Sally Lindsay), things get nasty when Gromit begins to suspect that Piella might not have Wallace's best intentions in mind and soon, he teams up with Piella's own pooch Fluffles to save his beloved master from a fate worse than no cheese!

Classic Aardman animation is nigh-on unbeatable entertainment and from a technical stand-point, this sets new boundaries whilst somehow retaining its earlier charm - fingerprints are still visible on characters clothes and noses so one assumes that Aardman's undoubted success still hasn't brought anyone at the studio gloves. But while the animation has improved, there isn't as much humour in this short as the others. Gone are the glorious and original set-pieces like the train-set chase from "The Wrong Trousers" and they are replaced with endless references and in-jokes instead of their own ideas. But this is still Wallace and Gromit, still as quintessentially English as earl grey tea and still quality entertainment.