Picture: Netflix
Wallace and Gromit are returning to the big screen. Almost 20 years after their 2005 feature film Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Netflix and the BBC will release a new entry in the long-running stop-motion animated franchise. We got a full reveal at Annecy in June 2024, with a new trailer released on October 16th. Here’s everything we know about Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.
This will mark Aardman Animation’s seventh major project with Netflix, following Robin Robin and the sequel to Chicken Run. Netflix also distributed the 2019 movie A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon and two Shaun the Sheep series. The studio is also involved in the upcoming mobile Netflix game Chicken Run: Eggstraction.
The animated feature film was first announced in January 2022, with the BBC and Netflix boarding the project. At that point, the title had yet to be revealed.
Ahead of the Annecy Film Festival in June 2024, where got a complete reveal, Netflix gave us sneak peeks at the upcoming film via a Next on Netflix Animation sizzle reel. We also got the official title, which we now know to be Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. Per Netflix, at Annecy, we can expect the new film will be shown at the main presentation. In addition, there will be a Wallace & Gromit Exhibition “featuring some of the puppets from Aardman’s new film, which will take center stage and celebrate these beloved stop-motion characters.”
What’s the new Wallace & Gromit movie about?
So far, we’ve been provided with the following synopsis for the upcoming movie:
“Gromit grows concerned that Wallace has become over-dependent on his inventions, which proves justified when Wallace invents a “smart gnome” that seems to develop a mind of its own. As events spiral out of control, it falls to Gromit to put aside his qualms and battle sinister forces or Wallace may never be able to invent again.”
According to several people involved in the project, the movie is believed to be 70 minutes long.
Pictures: Netflix
Who’s behind Wallace & Gromit for Netflix?
Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham – Picture: Aardman Animations
Nick Park, the original creator of Wallace & Gromit and the spin-off Shaun The Sheep, will be directing the movie alongside Merlin Crossingham (Wallace & Gromit and Early Man).
Park and Mark Burton, who worked on The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Madagascar, are writing the story.
In a statement released in June 2024, Nick Park said:
“I’d had the idea of a film about garden gnomes turning bad for more than a decade, but I could never work out what made them bad. It occurred to me that the single most asked question I get when I meet fans is, will the penguin Feathers McGraw, Wallace and Gromit’s original antagonist from The Wrong Trousers 30 years ago, ever return? We’ve had fun bringing him back in cameo capacities but now, three decades on, it felt like the right time. Then it hit me: What if Feathers was involved with these gnomes? We’re hoping that this film will appeal to fans of ‘Gnome Noir’ everywhere and that people will be gratified when they see what Feathers has been up to since The Wrong Trousers.”
Of course, as with any other animated movie, especially a stop-motion film, it requires an army of talented concept artists, cinematographers, camera crew, lighting crew, sound, and much more.
Among the names of people we’ve seen attached to the new movie include:
- Claire Jennings (Producer)
- Richard Beek (Producer)
- Dave Alex Riddett (Cinematographer)
- Lucy Rans (Casting Director)
- Daniel Lewis (Lighting Technician)
- Laura Howie (Senior Lighting Camera)
- Will Becher (Supervising Animator)
- Gareth Love (Character Animator)
- Terri Matthews (Story Artist)
Who’s in the voice cast for Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl?
Netflix confirmed the following voice actors to appear in the new upcoming film:
- Ben Whitehead (Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Shaun the Sheep Movie) as Wallace
- Peter Kay (Phoenix Nights, Car Share) will reprise his role as PC Mackintosh (now promoted to Chief Inspector) having previously been seen in PC Mackintosh, the character who previously appeared in The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit.
- Lauren Patel (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie)
- Reece Shearsmith (The League of Gentlemen, Inside No. 9)
- Diane Morgan (Cunk on Britain, After Life)
- Adjoa Andoh (Bridgerton, Doctor Who)
- Muzz Khan (Four Lions, No Offence)
- Lenny Henry (The Lenny Henry Show, Rings of Power)
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl © 2024 Netflix, Inc.
Feathers McGraw is back after his Chicken Run appearance!
Picture: Netflix
Finally, if you watched Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget on Netflix (we advise you do – it’s excellent), then right at the end, you may have spotted a familiar face. We’re referring to Feathers McGraw, featured briefly at the movie’s end before the credits begin rolling. Is this simply a fun easter egg, or is it teasing the return of one of the greatest villains of all time for the forthcoming Wallace & Gromit movie? The answer is yes!
When will Netflix’s Wallace & Gromit Film Be Released?
When the BBC Media Centre published an article in January 2022, it referred to the movie as “an early Christmas present,” suggesting it could be in that December window.
As noted above, Netflix is expected to carry the movie globally, but the BBC will distribute it in the United Kingdom. The BBC Media Centre states that the movie will premiere on BBC One. Where we’ve seen BBC co-releases with Netflix like this before, Netflix in the UK has picked up the title as a licensed movie further down the line after the rest of the world gets it, so perhaps in 2025.
In the teaser trailer released in June 2024, the BBC states that the movie is “Coming This Winter,” although a subsequent press release confirms it’ll drop on the BBC on Christmas Day.
In October 2024, Netflix confirmed it’d be receiving the movie on January 3rd, 2025, alongside the release of a brand new teaser trailer:
While waiting for the new movie to head to Netflix, you may be interested in the fact that Wallace & Gromit was recently featured in a VR Game for Meta Quest. Titled The Grand Getaway, the hour-long experience takes you through the franchise’s history and on brand-new adventures.
Are you looking forward to the new Wallace & Gromit movie on Netflix? Let us know in the comments.
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