Art of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
/The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is an animation movie produced by Aardman Animations and directed by Nick Park and Steve Box in 2005. The movie is the second feature-length film by Aardman (after Chicken Run) and is part of the Wallace and Gromit short film series (created by Park) featuring an expanded cast of characters relative to the previous Wallace and Gromit shorts. The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a parody of classic monster movies and Hammer Horror films. The story centers on good-natured yet eccentric cheese-loving inventor Wallace and his intelligent quiet dog, Gromit, in their latest venture as pest control agents. They come to the rescue of their town plagued by rabbits before the annual Giant Vegetable Competition. However, the duo soon find themselves against a giant rabbit consuming the town's crops.
In March 2000, it was officially announced that Wallace and Gromit were to star in their own feature film. It would have been Aardman's next film after The Tortoise and the Hare, which was subsequently abandoned by the studio in July 2001, owing to script problems. The directors, Nick Park and Steve Box have often referred to the film as the world's "first vegetarian horror film". The film was originally going to be called Wallace & Gromit: The Great Vegetable Plot, but the title was changed, as the market research disliked it. The first reported release date for The Great Vegetable Plot was November 2004. Production officially began in September 2003, and the film was then set for release on 30 September 2005. Park said that after separate test screenings with British and American audiences, including children, he adjusted the characters' speech for American audiences. Park was often sent notes from DreamWorks, which stressed him. He recalled one note that Wallace's car should be trendier, which he disagreed with because he felt making things look old-fashioned made it look more ironic. The vehicle Wallace drives in the film is an Austin A35 van. In collaboration with Aardman in the spring of 2005, a road-going replica of the model was created by brothers Mark and David Armé, founders of the International Austin A30/A35 Register, for promotional purposes. In a 500-man-hour customization, an original 1964 van received a full body restoration, before being dented and distressed to perfectly replicate the model van used in the film.
The pictures on this page are a collection of artworks created for this movie.
THE STORY
As Tottington Hall's annual giant vegetable competition approaches, the cheese-loving inventor Wallace and his beagle Gromit provide a humane pest control business known as "Anti-Pesto", protecting people's vegetables from rabbits. One evening, after capturing rabbits found in the garden of Lady Tottington, Wallace uses two of his latest inventions, the "Bun-Vac 6000" and "Mind Manipulation-O-Matic", to brainwash them into disliking vegetables. All goes well until Wallace accidentally sets the Bun-Vac to "BLOW", and his brain is fused with that of a rabbit, forcing Gromit to destroy the Mind-O-Matic. The transfer appears to have worked, as the rabbit shows no interest in vegetables. They named the rabbit Hutch and placed him in a cage. That night, a giant rabbit devours many people's vegetables and the duo fails to respond. During a town meeting the next day, the creature is revealed to be the Were-Rabbit. Hunter Victor Quartermaine offers to shoot the creature, but Tottington persuades the townsfolk to give Wallace and Gromit a second chance. After Anti-Pesto unsuccessfully tries to trap the rabbit, Wallace suspects that Hutch is the beast and has Gromit lock him in a high-security cage. Gromit then follows a trail of footprints into Wallace's bedroom and finds a pile of half-eaten vegetables inside, indicating that Wallace is the real culprit.
After celebrating his success with Tottington, Wallace is cornered in the forest by Victor, who vies for Tottington's affections and fortune. Wallace transforms into the Were-Rabbit under the full moon and flees. Now seeing the perfect chance to eliminate his rival, Victor obtains three "24-carrot" gold bullets from the town's vicar, Reverend Clement Hedges, to use against Wallace. On the day of the vegetable competition, Gromit reveals to Wallace that the experiment has swapped his and Hutch's personalities; the latter is now carrying his human traits and is the only one who can fix the Mind-O-Matic. Tottington visits and informs Wallace of Victor's plan; as the moon rises, Wallace begins to transform again and hastily forces Tottington to leave. Victor arrives and attempts to shoot Wallace with the golden bullets, but Gromit helps Wallace to escape. Once Victor is gone, Gromit and Hutch devise a plan to save Wallace…
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