Wallace and Gromit find love in Christmas adventure
A new adventure from Wallace and Gromit will be the highlight of BBC One's Christmas schedule.
By Anita Singh,
17 Nov 2008[/align]
The plasticine duo star in A Matter Of Loaf And Death, their first outing since The Curse of the Were-Rabbit in 2005. The 30-minute special from Aardman Animations is expected to air on Christmas Day and will be Wallace and Gromit's first BBC film in 13 years.
Oscar-winning director Nick Park took Alfred Hitchcock thrillers as inspiration for his tale, in which Wallace and his canine companion open a bakery and find themselves stalked by a "cereal killer". Along the way, Wallace falls for the charms of a model called Piella Bakewell, voiced by former Coronation Street actress Sally Lindsay, while Gromit finds love for the first time with Miss Bakewell's pet poodle, Fluffles. A Gromit and Fluffles spin-off could be on the cards if viewers want to see more of their romance, Park said.
Peter Sallis, star of Last Of The Summer Wine, again provides the voice of Wallace. Unveiling the film, the sprightly 87-year-old said he could not countenance the idea of retiring. "I think I would do voice-overs in bed," he joked. A Matter Of Loaf And Death took Park's team of animators nearly two years to make, with a day of painstaking work amounting to just a second-and-a-half of screen time. It was originally titled Trouble At T'Mill, in homage to the film's Lancastrian setting, but executives ruled it would prove too baffling for international audiences.
After signing up Mel Gibson for Chicken Run and Helena Bonham-Carter for Curse of the Were-Rabbit, actors are now queuing up to provide the voices for Aardman characters. Park disclosed that Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, is among the Hollywood names to lobby for a part.
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Cracking stuff - though I think I might have a problem, I fancy Gromit's girlfriend more than Wallace's... maybe it's the way he's giving her a bone? haha
