Psycho's Movie Reviews #232: Wallace And Gromit: The Wrong Trousers (1993)

The Wrong Trousers is a 1993 British stop-motion animated short film directed by Nick Park, featuring his characters Wallace and Gromit, and was produced by Aardman Animations in association with Wallace and Gromit Ltd., BBC Bristol, Lionheart Television and BBC Children's International. It is the second film featuring the eccentric inventor Wallace (voiced by Peter Sallis) and his dog Gromit, following A Grand Day Out (1989). In the film, a villainous penguin named Feathers McGraw uses Wallace and Gromit's robot "Techno-Trousers" to steal a diamond from the city museum.

The Wrong Trousers premiered in the United States on 17 December 1993, and the United Kingdom on 26 December 1993 on BBC Two. It was commercially successful, and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1994. It also inspired a charity fundraising day, known as "Wrong Trousers Day", one of several events.

The short was followed by two sequels, A Close Shave, released in December 1995, and A Matter of Loaf and Death released in December 2008. Feathers McGraw returns in the 2003 video game Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo.

Plot

To pay off debts, Wallace lets the spare bedroom to a penguin, who befriends Wallace and drives Gromit from the house. The penguin takes an interest in Wallace's new "techno-trousers", which can walk on walls and ceilings, and secretly rewires them for radio control. Gromit realizes that the penguin is Feathers McGraw, a wanted robber who frequently disguises himself as a chicken.

Feathers forces Wallace into the techno-trousers and sends him on a test run through town. Later, Gromit spies on Feathers as he takes measurements of the city museum, and discovers Feathers' plans to steal a diamond from the museum.

While Wallace is asleep, Feathers marches him to the museum and uses the trousers to infiltrate the building. He uses a remotely operated crane claw, contained in a helmet he has made Wallace wear, to capture the diamond, but accidentally trips the alarm. As Wallace wakes up, Feathers returns to the house and traps him and Gromit in a wardrobe at pistol-point.

Gromit rewires the trousers to break open the wardrobe. He and Wallace chase Feathers aboard their model train set. Wallace disarms Feathers and frees himself from the trousers. After Feathers' train crashes with the trousers, Gromit captures him in a milk bottle. The police imprison Feathers in the prison cell wall of the city zoo. Wallace and Gromit pay their debts with the reward money, while the techno-trousers walk off into the sunset.

Soundtrack

In the original airing, first VHS release of the film and the 1999 DVD release, Gromit's birthday card plays "Happy Birthday to You".

In subsequent home video releases and airings, this was replaced with "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" to avoid copyright infringements (likely due to this version of Happy Birthday being copyrighted). Also altered (again for reasons of copyright) are two specific songs from the penguin's radio, which were replaced with unidentified pieces of music, played through a Hammond organ. "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree", also played through the same instrument, was left intact, due to being in the public domain.

The pieces that were removed are "Happy Talk" from the musical South Pacific and "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?", along with Wallace's singing of the latter during the subsequent morning. In addition, Gromit's television during breakfast no longer plays the Open University theme, although an announcer can still be heard saying, "Welcome to Open University".

However, the original soundtrack can still be heard in the background of the commentary track of the DVD release, although the Blu-ray release features the commentary track with the altered soundtrack. The original soundtrack can also be heard in non-English versions of the film.

Reception

The Wrong Trousers was voted as the eighteenth best British television show by the British Film Institute. The film has an approval rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 26 reviews, and an average score of 9.10/10. The critical consensus reads, "An endearing and meticulous showcase of stop motion animation, The Wrong Trousers also happens to be laugh-out-loud funny." The film was awarded the Grand Prix at the Tampere Film Festival, and the Grand Prix at the World Festival of Animated film – Animafest Zagreb in 1994. The Wrong Trousers won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1994.

Budget £650,000

My Review

This is the second Wallace & Gromit film and unlike the last one, which was only nominated for the Best Animated Short Oscar, this one was this prestigious award. While it is pretty much more of the same type entertainment from the first, it is a bit more polished and fun--plus it's still Wallace & Gromit and who couldn't like this?! Wallace, ever the tinkerer, builds Gromit a strange robotic device. It looks like the lower half of a person (hence 'trousers') and was designed to take Gromit "walkies" whenever he wanted. Around this same time, a strange penguin comes to board with them. Little did they suspect that the penguin is evil and will ultimately use Gromit's new trousers for evil! The film, like all Wallace & Gromit films has a lovely and gentle sense of humour and a certain likability that captivates people who watch it. Top animation, voice acting and direction make this a big winner.

THE WRONG TROUSERS was a childhood favourite of mine and I'm pleased to say that it's one that continues to hold up in the modern day. I'm a big fan of Claymation and have been ever since I used to watch the adventures of Morph on the Tony Hart show back in the 1980s. Wallace and Gromit are fun too, although I think THE WRONG TROUSERS marked the peak of their career; nothing else they've been in has been as intense and funny as this.

Everything about this 30-minute film is amazing. The pacing is incredibly fast, the film filled with action and constant funny humour. The heist plot is like that of an old Ealing Studios comedy and the character of Feathers McGraw somehow creepy and imposing despite being a Plasticine penguin. Gromit makes for a thoroughly lovable protagonist and the film is full of warmth and heart without ever crossing over into sickly sentiment. And it closes on THAT train chase, one of the finest chase scenes ever put on film, a 3-minute odyssey of sheer delight that never gets old. Bravo, Nick Park and team!

This is considered the best offering from Wallace and Gromit, and although I love Close Shave just as much, I cannot disagree. Gromit steals the show with his facial expressions and his attempts to foil the plans of that cute but evil penguin. Peter Sallis again does a superlative job, and I must say he sounds more confident than he did in Grand Day Out, while the visuals especially the character designs have more finesse and the music is rousing. I loved the scenes in the museum, and my favourite scene was the train scene, towards the end. The trousers idea was a great idea, and it worked to an advantage. In conclusion, a hilarious short, and my advice to anybody who hasn't yet seen it, is do so now, because you'll never regret it! 10/10!!!!