I figured it was about time that I write one of these media diaries about my favourite film. The Wrong Trousers is a 1993 British stop-motion animated short film directed by Nick Park and released on Boxing Day 1993 on BBC Two. It is the second short film in the beloved Wallace and Gromit series, and follows a fiendish penguin who controls Wallace with a pair of techno-trousers that were a birthday gift for Gromit as he plans out a heist to steal a diamond from the museum.
The texts target audience would be for families and specifically younger audiences and children, and this can be seen with the BBFC rating the film received, as it was given a U rating meaning that anybody can watch it and without parental guidance. Referring to Young and Rubicans model, the film can be categorised as being targeted towards the mainstream, as the Wallace and Gromit brand name has become instantly recognisable globally with the series being highly beloved and marketable, and aside form a few 'dark' moments, the film is safe to watch and enjoyable for anyone, with the writing catering to both younger audiences who may enjoy the charming and funny moments, and older audiences also with the references to mainstream films, with The Wrong Trousers taking inspiration mostly from the work of Alfred Hitchcock, who himself is a recognisable figure who made some films that are still well known and highly regarded. However, I would argue the film does cater to an audience of explorers, as the stop-motion animation is a more unique and experimental approach to animation, and gives audiences something much more recognisable and memorable. This reason is why I would argue the film is targeted towards older audiences too, as younger ones may find the stiffness of the animation and awkward movements unappealing and maybe scary to watch. But unlike Aardmans previous work, the quality of the animation and grander scale reflects an attempt to appeal to a wider audience range, but keeping to the appeals of what made their first short A Grand Day Out so memorable tells us of an need to appeal to audiences who were already around.
In terms of the preferred reading, then the film is meant to be entertaining for its audience. The film contains many scenes of action, suspense and slapstick, telling us we are supposed to watch this and find it enjoyable. However, the film takes time in the first five minutes to establish our main title characters enough for newcomers, so that we can instantly relate to them when the more emotional scenes take place such as when Gromit walks out on Wallace, telling us we are supposed to recognise the familiar but with the film fresh traits of good guys and the bad guys. However, some audiences may take an oppositional reading to the film, as whilst they can recognise this film is something that is meant to be watched for entertainment, as previously mentioned they may be discouraged completely by the stop motion style, which they may find unnatural or uncanny, resulting in these audience members finding nothing of entertainment if this is constantly distracting for them. If some audience members had already watched the first Wallace and Gromit short, or even anything else by Aardman such as Creature Comforts, then they may already be familiar with this style of animation and see the charm in it instead. Audiences are likely to take a preferred reading too if they recognise that the film is a homage to the works of Hitchcock and other 1950s directors who worked with suspense. This could be the result as to why someone may take an negotiated reason instead, as whilst the stop motion may be off-putting, they can at least recognise the familiar traits that they are likely to have recognised or seen in other films.
Since we have to include a video, then I figured this would also be the perfect opportunity to place below my favourite scene from any film...
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