Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death
Aardman's Claymation Duo Return to British Screens
Dec 27, 2008
Since their first adventure to the moon in 1989, Wallace and Gromit have become a certified British institution, charming the public and winning international film awards to boot. This Christmas they returned to British screens with a brand new 30-minute short film A Matter of Loaf and Death, which saw the cheese loving inventor and his observant pooch's bakery business come under threat from a baker-murdering serial killer.
The Plot
Wallace's new entrepreneurial venture 'Top Bun', a bakery business that delivers 'dough to door', is doing well, mostly thanks to Gromit's hard work. While on a delivery one morning, they chance upon Piella Bakewell (voiced by former Coronation Street actress Sally Lindsay) and her dog Fluffles careening out of control on a bicycle. In a sequence reminiscent of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's mine-cart chase, Wallace saves the pair moments before they fall into the local zoo's Crocodile enclosure. As a result, Wallace falls for Piella, a former pin up girl for a bread company who let herself go, and they begin a love affair. Meanwhile, the local press report the murder of a twelfth local baker, and Gromit grows concerned for his master's safety when he discovers some sinister evidence at Piella's home...
As ever with Wallace and Gromit's outings, the plot is essentially a skeleton on which to hang heaps of child-friendly silliness and more adult-aimed references. It could be argued it's the least important factor in the overall creation - not that it's bad necessarily - it's just that it plays second fiddle to the barrage of on screen jokes.
Lovingly Crafted
The Wallace and Gromit films have always shown an acute eye for detail and a flair for visual puns, and their fourth short adventure is no exception. Practically each frame is crammed with intertextual film references and self-reflexive nods to the clay duo's previous adventures. Quick visual gags allude to everything from Pulp Fiction (or in this case Pup Fiction) to Citizen Kane (Citizen Canine), while the more extravagant set-pieces see homages to the pottery scene in Ghost and the iconic 'power-loader' sequence in James Cameron's Aliens.
Wallace and his faithful friend's adventures have certainly evolved since 1989 - their home town is lushly and lovingly realised, with exquisitely crafted model houses complementing their plasticine inhabitants. It is reassuring though that these inhabitants still retain their earthy, hand-moulded feel. Even when rogue fingerprints appear on the character's bodies, evidence of the painstaking stop motion process used to shoot these films, it only goes to reinforce the warm and familiar feel they evoke.
Claymation Chums
Another key element is the exemplary vocal talents of Peter Sallis, a pitch perfect voice for the loveable dope Wallace - a voice that defines the warm tone and feel of the whole series . But surely it is Gromit who is the real star of the show. Given that he is essentially a plasticine pooch, he must be recognised as one of the best actors of his generation - his expressiveness puts most Hollywood stars to shame. Each sideways glance and every roll of the eye is perfectly executed, and when he breaks the fourth wall to stare in resignation at his master's antics, he forges a very real connection with the audience that is rarely seen in television or cinema.
It's telling that in a day and age ruled by the iPod and the Internet that 14.4 million people tuned in to the BBC to watch the adventures of a man and his dog crafted from clay this Christmas, and it just goes to show how ingrained Wallace and Gromit are in British TV history. Creator Nick Park's claymation chums once again delivered a proper Christmas cracker.
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