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A Grand Day Out is a 1989 stop motion animated short film directed and animated by Nick Park in the Wallace & Gromit series, featuring his characters Wallace and Gromit in their debut.

Out of all of the films, this one has the most simple plot. A plot without a murder mystery, monster, or criminal on the loose; just an inventor and his dog going to the moon to get moon cheese that is being protected by a robot gas cooking machine.

The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short, but lost to Creature Comforts, another Aardman short by Park also released in 1989.

Summary[]

Wallace and Gromit are devastated when they discover there is no cheese left. With the local corner shop closed for the Bank Holiday, Wallace decides to take a trip to the moon, as "everybody knows the moon is made of cheese." They build a rocket in Wallace's basement and set off to the moon thanks to a box of Duck Vestas Matches lighting a 60-second fuse.

Upon landing, Wallace tries the cheese (which he suggests tastes like Wensleydale) but starts to question his theory on the moon. Also, a strange coin-operated robot shaped like an oven (complete with arms, wheels, and an awkwardly located eye) is encountered by the duo and unsuccessfully attempts to prevent Wallace from eating the cheese. The robot later seems to wish to go with them to Earth so it can try out some skiing. Wallace and Gromit think it is after them for stealing the cheese and try to escape.

The enraged robot breaks into the fuselage of the rocket but is blown out by a gas explosion using Duck Vestas Matches, letting Wallace and Gromit escape. The robot restyles wreckage from the rocket as skis, and happily skis across the moon's surface, waving goodbye to Wallace and Gromit as they return home to Earth.

Characters[]

Trivia[]

  • This is Wallace and Gromit's first television film appearance.
  • It was one of the earliest British television productions presented in full stereo sound mix.
  • Wallace and Gromit look different from their later appearances.
  • The film took over six years to make, almost all of it single-handily done by Nick Park himself.
  • This is one of two movies that does not feature a love interest for Wallace.
  • On the way to the rocket, Wallace accidentally drops a packet of crackers.
  • There is the “Astronuts” episode of the PBS Kids show Nature Cat where the characters build a homemade rocket ship and fly to the moon believing it is made out of cheese. This may have been inspired by A Grand Day Out.
  • In reality, the moon is made of rock and dust and not cheese.
    • The moon is also unfit to breathe because there's no air there while Wallace and Gromit were seen walking on the moon without any spacesuits or even space helmets on.
  • Gromit's mouth can be seen as he carries the basket.
  • When Wallace cut the cheese spike and bit into the cheese and the cracker on the first picnic spot, the lunar cheese made three different squeaky sounds.
  • This was included on Learn English With Wallace and Gromit and had Stephen Tompkinson as the narrator. Peter Sallis even recorded new Wallace dialogue for the entire film.
  • The audiobook version cuts out the scene where the Moon Machine glued the cheese spike and saw the rocket's leak.
  • At the start of A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, footage of Wallace and Gromit on the moon can be seen on the projector.
    • Additionally, in the same film, a children's ride that strongly resembles the rocket Wallace and Gromit take to the moon is seen in multiple scenes.
  • The creators had Wallace say "Wensleydale" as it made his face look nice & toothy. They were unaware that eventually the real Wensleydale Cheese Factory was going to declare bankruptcy. Because of the success of Wallace & Gromit-branded wensleydale, cheese sales went higher than ever and saved this factory.
  • In the basement, there is a sled that says Rosebud on it. This is a reference to a scene in Citizen Kane.
  • Because of the Aardman Animations warehouse fire, most of the props, sets and puppets were destroyed. Those that still exist are:
    • The Moon Rocket, since it was at Nick Park's home during the events of the fire.
    • The Cooker's original model also survives, and is now owned by the Science Museum in London. This might be the small-scale model of him skiing shown in a short on the official Wallace & Gromit YouTube channel.[2]
    • Peter Sallis reportedly owned a Wallace head from the production. It's unknown whatever happened to it after he passed away in 2017.
  • The original story was that Wallace and Gromit were going to go to the Moon and there were going to be a whole lot of characters there. One of them was a parking meter attendant, which was the only one that remained as the Cooker, but there were going to be aliens and other attendees with their own spaceships. There would be a McDonald's cantina on the Moon as an homage to Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. Wallace would be thrown into prison by the Cooker's authorities and Gromit was going to have to get him out with the Cooker chasing them to the rocket. By the time Nick Park came to Aardman, he had just started doing the Moon scenes and a fellow worker told him it would take him another nine years if he did the scene, so Park had to discard the cantina and prison escape subplot while tying up the story on the Moon to finish the film.

Goofs / Errors[]

  • Wallace paints the same part of the rocket three times.
  • When rushing to get in the ship the first time, Wallace kicks away the paint-stained ladder, which falls to the ground as they take off. Yet when they land on the moon, they use the same ladder to get in and out of the ship.
  • There are several mice in the basement where Wallace and Gromit build the rocket. In the first scene, they have no whiskers. However, in all following scenes, whiskers are present.
  • When Wallace cut the cheese spike and bit into the cheese and the cracker on the first picnic spot the lunar cheese made 3 different squeaky sounds.
  • Before Wallace said "Stilton?", the bite from the cracker and 'cheese' was facing Wallace. but when Wallace answered, the cracker and 'cheese' turned, facing the viewers.
  • When the Cooker first inspects the rocket, there is an oil leak from the craft. However, when Wallace and Gromit enter the ship to escape from the robot, the leak is gone.
  • It is uncertain how the Cooker got all kinds of tools and weapons in its storage cabinet.
  • The Cooker breaks into the rocket with a can opener and throws a cut out piece of the ship onto the ground. The piece is never seen again throughout the rest of the film.
  • The robot ignites the rocket using a match to light the ship's fuel supply, causing it to blast off. In real life, this would have caused an explosion that would have destroyed the rocket.

Quotes[]

Wallace: No cheese, Gromit! Not a bit in the house!

Wallace: Gromit, that's it! Cheese! We'll go somewhere where there's cheese!

(Looks at "Cheese Holidays" magazine, then out the window)

Wallace: Everybody knows the moon is made of cheese...

(a machine malfunctions)

Wallace: Come on, stupid... Oh!

(eating the moon)

Wallace: It's like no cheese I've ever tasted...

(Wallace and Gromit are on their spaceship, about to leave Earth)

Wallace: No crackers, Gromit! We've forgotten the crackers!

(Wallace and Gromit are on their spaceship, about to leave The Moon with the Cooker in the Engine Room)

Wallace: The fuse! You forgot to light the fuse!

(Looks at "Cheese Monthly" magazine on their spaceship heading back to Earth)

Wallace: Set coordinates for 62 West Wallaby Street.

Credits[]

Gallery[]

VHS/DVD Releases[]

References[]

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