Wallace And Gromit return in feature length special Vengeance Most Fowl, a new 70 minute film coming this Christmas.
It’s a commonly held view among both animation aficionados and film fans in general that The Wrong Trousers is one of the best animated films ever made. Thirty perfect minutes crammed with character, jokes and the most well directed train chase sequence every committed to film, it won a BAFTA and an Academy Award.
It’s perhaps no surprise that for their big return to the small screen, Wallace and Gromit will face off against their iconic foe, Feathers McGraw, once more in Vengeance Most Fowl. The BBC has confirmed that the new film will be bigger in scope than its previous four short films – A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave and A Matter of Loaf and Death – and will in fact be a feature film closer in length to their 2005 big screen outing Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
Vengeance Most Fowl will run for 70 minutes.
The synopsis reads as follows:
Vengeance Most Fowl sees Gromit’s growing concern as Wallace becomes over-dependent on his inventions – which proves justified when Wallace invents a ‘smart gnome’ that seems to develop an evil mind of its own. But who or what could be the cause? As events begin to spiral out of control, it’s up to Gromit to put aside his qualms and battle sinister forces, or Wallace may never be able to invent again!
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Ben Whitehead will voice Wallace – he has voiced the character since 2010; original voice actor Peter Sallis passed away in 2017 – and he’ll be joined by an all-star cast including Peter Kay as Chief Inspector (formerly PC) Mackintosh and new cast members Lauren Patel, Reece Shearsmith, Diane Morgan, Adjoa Andoh and Lenny Henry.
Watch the teaser trailer below:
Creator 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“.
Park directed the film with Merlin Crossingham.
All Wallace and Gromit films from The Wrong Trousers to A Matter of Loaf and Death were co-written with Doctor Who writer Bob Baker – Baker Bob in the latter film was named after him. Baker passed away in 2021. Vengeance Most Fowl is written by Mark Burton, who co-wrote Curse Of The Were-Rabbit and added additional dialogue on Chicken Run, from a story he wrote with Park.
You can enjoy the four wonderful Wallace and Gromit short films on BBC iPlayer. A timeslot hasn’t been confirmed for Vengeance Most Fowl, but it’s a pretty safe bet that this will be the crown of BBC One’s Christmas Day schedule.
