Return of beloved 90s characters in new film will ‘make everybody cry’-Tori Brazier-Entertainment – Metro

Wallace and Gromit are back (Picture: Aardman Animations/PA Wire)

The return of stop-motion icons Wallace and Gromit in their first adventure in almost 20 years is going to provoke tears among fans.

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, which will air over Christmas on BBC One, marks the first time we’ve seen everyone’s favourite plasticine man and his pet dog since 2008’s A Matter of Loaf and Death.

Before then, creator Nick Park and studio Aardman Animation had already made the duo a hugely popular pair in the 1990s thanks to their adventures in shorts like A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave.

Vengeance Most Fowl marks their second feature-length film after 2005’s Oscar winner, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

Discussing their eagerly anticipated return to screens in a few months, executive producer Carla Shelley promised it would be emotional.

‘I think we’re going to make everybody cry. We’re going to surprise everybody and make you laugh as well,’ Shelley promised onstage at the Deadline’s Contenders London event on Saturday.

‘It’s really emotional. That’s what’s at the heart of it.’

Nick Park and co-director Merlin Crossingham, who joined Shelley on stage, revealed that they had just finished post-production on the painstaking project the day before.

For Vengeance Most Fowl, Wallace and Gromit are also going to be contending once more with a nemesis of over 30 years ago – silent but deadly penguin, Feathers McGraw.

He was last seen in the 1993 Bafta-winning The Wrong Trousers, when the dastardly penguin became Wallace’s tenant, manipulating the Wensleydale obsessive’s mechanical trousers to steal a blue diamond.

The bird was caught and has been behind bars ever since – until now, when he returns ready to take revenge.

The beloved duo returns on Christmas Day with Vengeance Most Fowl (Picture: Aardman Animations/BBC/PA Wire)

In the latest film, which is also launching worldwide on Netflix, Wallace is delighted with his latest invention, a robotic ‘smart-gnome’ named Norbot (Reece Sheersmith), who is designed to help Gromit with his gardening chores. 

Naturally, Wallace is pleased as punch that he’s voice activated – which of course is of no help to Gromit – and Norbot quickly spells trouble for the pair.

Park explained at the event that Wallace ‘was a metaphor for how we’re in love with tech and sometimes it gets in the way of relationships’, whereas Gromit is far happier without these inventions.

Feathers McGraw, the penguin supervillain, also makes a comeback (Picture: Aardman Animations/PA Wire)

Who could forget his appearance in The Wrong Trousers? (Picture: Aardman /BBC)

And as for Feathers coming back, the stop-motion pioneer said they were looking for something edgier than just having ‘machines going wrong’ as their jeopardy this time around.

‘We needed something with a bit more bite, and someone with an actual clear, sinister motive. Feathers McGraw was obviously the perfect candidate, having sat in jail for 30 years, languishing, thinking of nothing but revenge. It seemed like the perfect motivation for a villain,’ he added.

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl airs this Christmas on BBC One.

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