Aardman announces new ‘Wallace and Gromit’ film
This year, Aardman Animations is set to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their classic Wallace and Gromit film The Wrong Trousers. The half-hour television film was the breakthrough for the studio’s dynamic duo and a revelation in stop-motion animation. With critical acclaim and an Oscar for ‘Best Animated Short Film’ in 1994, The Wrong Trousers is the film that Aardman built their entire company on.
As the company celebrates the 30th anniversary of their landmark achievement, the studio had also announced that a brand-new Wallace and Gromit film is currently in production. The as-of-yet-unnamed feature will be the pair’s first since the 2008 short, A Matter of Loaf and Death. Directed by series co-creator Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham, the film is also set to be the second feature-length adventure for the pair after 2005’s Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
“It’s very exciting to have some brand-new Wallace and Gromit stories in the works as we celebrate the anniversary of such an important moment in the characters’ history,” Park said in a statement. “The Wrong Trousers was a special film for all of us at Aardman. It’s wonderful that it continues to find new fans today, and that we can bring those fans more adventures — and more inventions, more mishaps and more problems for Gromit to solve.”
The new film comes as Aardman is also in the development of another Wallace and Gromit spinoff: a single-player VR game. The Grand Getaway will enable users to walk around the pair’s British home, stumbling into the adventures that often befall the wacky inventor and his highly intelligent dog. Many scenes, including some from The Wrong Trousers, are set to be available in the new video game.
In the meantime, screenings of The Wrong Trousers are set to begin across the UK, accompanied by the WFEL Fairey Band, who will perform the short’s soundtrack and score live. There will also be a Wallace & Gromit’s Wrong Trousers Day on June 30th, with donations from the annual fundraising event being run by Aardman’s charity partner The Grand Appeal. Proceeds from the fundraising will go to Bristol Children’s Hospital.
Another celebration ahead of The Wrong Trousers‘ 30th anniversary will be an Aardman exhibition at the Cartoon Museum in London, which is set to open in September 2023 and will run until April 2024. The exhibit will include models, props, storyboards, and other material that goes into making a Wallace and Gromit film.
Check out the train chase from The Wrong Trousers down below.
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