Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (formerly Wallace and Gromit and the Great Vegetable Plot, released in some countries as Wallace & Gromit: The Battle of the Vegetables) is a 2005 British stop-motion animated buddy comedy-drama horror mystery film starring Wallace and Gromit. The film was the only feature-length Wallace and Gromit film. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Animations, and released by DreamWorks Pictures. It was the final DreamWorks Animation film to be distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. The film was directed by Nick Park and Steve Box.

In this film, Wallace & Gromit solve the mystery of a dangerous garden-guzzling rabbit-like beast while conducting pest control.

This was the second animated film from Aardman to be released by DreamWorks. The first was Chicken Run (which was also distributed by European studio Pathé). It was also the second animated film from DreamWorks to win an academy award for Best Animated Feature, the first being Shrek (2001).

Plot[]

The annual Giant Vegetable Competition is on in a week's time and the winner of the competition will win the Golden Carrot Award. All are eager to protect their giant crops from damage and theft by rabbits until the contest. Wallace and Gromit are cashing in by running a humane pest control business dubbed as "Anti-Pesto".

However, they are faced with two problems. Wallace is getting too much weight and they are running out of space for prisoners. Wallace attempts to use his Mind Manipulation-O-Matic machine to brainwash the rabbits with human logic, such as they will stop rampaging in gardens. While performing the operation they may be set free. He combines his device with the BunVac 6000 rabbit hoover, and utilizes lunar energy as a mysterious additional power source. The attempt goes well until he kicks the switch and something goes terribly wrong. The vacuum is accidentally set to reverse; one rabbit is fixed onto Wallace's head as he uses the machine's headpieces, resulting in a mental crossover. Gromit breaks the machine to save his master, and the two offer vegetables to the bunny. The rabbits do reject vegetables, though soon after, The plan has apparently worked on the one rabbit, as it is now revolted by vegetables just like Wallace. They name the rabbit Hutch and set him aside as a pet while they return to their business.

That very night, several townsfolk report that a monstrous rabbit attacked and ate their vegetables and Anti-Pesto has been unresponsive as Gromit finds out the next morning that someone sabotaged their alarm system. Lady Tottington, the host of the vegetable competition, holds an emergency town meeting at the church in order to find a balanced solution to the problem. Lord Victor Quartermaine, an avid hunter and aspiring suitor to Tottington, offers to shoot the Were-rabbit, but Lady Tottington advocates a humane solution and turns to Anti-Pesto's services. Victor becomes increasingly jealous of Wallace. Wallace devises a lure for the monster in the form of a large attractive female rabbit puppet, operated by Gromit. On a nightly patrol, the puppet falls off the van roof and Wallace leaves to inspect it; all alone, Gromit suddenly spotted the real were rabbit escaping from a market and gives chase. Ultimately, the rabbit escapes and eats many of the contestant's vegetables.

Arriving home next morning after being trapped underground, Gromit is berated by Wallace as the entire town complains for their lost vegetables. Gromit spots large rabbit footprints in the house, and he and Wallace follow them to the basement. They find Hutch has grown much larger and broken his cage, terrifying the other rabbits. Wallace believes that Hutch is the beast and said that the lunar panels must have altered Hutch's brain and when the moon appears, he transforms into the were rabbit. Amazed, he tells Gromit that they already caught the monster and has Gromit build a large heavy duty cage to keep him sealed away. He sets off to inform Lady Tottington, but after Gromit build the cage and left the basement he sees more footprints, leading away from the basement and up the stairs. The footprints turn into those of a human outside Wallace's bedroom door, and Gromit finds mounds of half-eaten vegetables therein.

Startled, Gromit discovers that the Were-Rabbit is, in fact, Wallace, suffering from the effects of the accident with the Mind Manipulation-O-Matic. After Wallace spends a romantic evening with Lady Tottington, in which he nearly eats her prized giant carrot before Gromit intervenes, the duo are cornered by Victor Quartermaine and his dog Phillip in the woods. Victor corners Wallace, jealous of Tottington's growing fondness for him because of his humane practice of pest control (whereas Victor thinks it's more effective to simply shoot and kill them).

To Victor and Philip's shock and Gromit's confirmed suspicions, Wallace transforms into the Were-Rabbit under the light of the full moon and bounds away. Gromit escapes Victor, and lures Wallace back home with the female rabbit puppet. Victor consults the town vicar, Clement Hedges, who identifies the monster as a Were-rabbit of legend. Unaware that the beast is Wallace, he provides three "24 Karat" gold bullets to Victor.

The competition begins the next day. Wallace wakes up with his ears still transformed into those of a giant rabbit. Gromit reveals to Wallace that the experiment has swapped his and Hutch's personalities; the latter is grown even further and adopted Wallace-like and is the only one who can fix the Mind-O-Matic. Wallace finally accepted that he is the were rabbit and finally understand, and tries to repair the broken hypnosis machine, but fails to make any progress as his mind is preoccupied by vegetables, however, Hutch begins repairs on the machine by pure instinct, having absorbed Wallace's inventive character. Lady Tottington pays Wallace a surprise visit, and Wallace begins transforming as he desperately shoos her away. Victor lies in wait, and opens fire on Wallace the moment Tottington leaves. Gromit disguises himself as the Were-rabbit using the rabbit doll, causing Victor to waste a golden bullet; the transformed Wallace homes towards the competition at Tottington Hall as Victor gives pursuit. Gromit is trapped by Phillip in a cage, only to be freed by Hutch. Gromit devises a plan to sacrifice the large marrow he had been growing as bait to lure Wallace back to safety.

At the competition, Victor reminds all the citizens that he has only one gold bullet left after he wasting a second one to get their attention and tells them that the vegetables are the perfect bait to lure the rabbit in. Gromit and Hutch arrive and lure the Were Rabbit away from the vegetables and crashed into a cheese tent where Gromit crashed into the marrow, destroying it. Desperately after he ran out of gold bullets, Victor seizes the Golden Carrot trophy to use as improved blunderbuss ammo. Wallace grabs Lady Tottington and climbs onto the towers of Tottington Hall, where she realizes that Wallace is the Were-rabbit. Victor gives chase, revealing that he is only pursuing Tottington for her sizeable inheritance only to be interrupted by Victor who impales her hair with a pitchfork, leaving her stuck. Gromit battles Philip in an aerial dogfight in aeroplanes taken from a fairground attraction. Philip chases after Gromit. Gromit forces his foe out of the air in a fiery crash and explosion - but Philip manages to hold on to Gromit's plane and the two grapple with each other. The fight rages on and in the end, Gromit releases Philip through the bomb doors and into a bouncy castle, which he unintentionally deflates with his teeth.

Atop Tottington Hall, Gromit's plane circles Wallace, who clings onto the flagpole at the top of the building for dear life. Victor fires the musket, but Gromit manages to intercept the carrot with his aircraft, saving Wallace who grabs onto a rope from a flagpole and swings his plane into the path of the improvised bullet. Unfortunately, since it is a toy plane not intended for flying, when Gromit accidentally lets go of the rope, the plane begins to descend rapidly. Soon after, the engine fails, and Wallace leaps off from the flagpole and catches the plane to rescue Gromit. He eventually lands in a cheese tent, unconscious, yet mortally wounding Wallace. while Gromit survives the impact.

Victor gloats briefly before being knocked out with another large carrot by Lady Tottington, who has somehow freed herself and patched the holes with tape. Victor falls into the tent also. Where Wallace lies unconscious and seemingly dying of his injuries. To protect Wallace from the angry mob outside, Gromit, in an attempt to distract the angry mob, throws Victor into the were-rabbit costume and kicks him out of the tent. Much to his satisfaction, Victor is viciously attacked and chased away to his apparent death, never to be seen again, and it is unknown what happened to him after this.

Gromit and Tottington tend to Wallace who, seconds later, seemingly passes away and morphs back into his human form. Gromit, Lady Tottington and the liberated rabbits all mourn on Wallace' apparent death, though Hutch, unaware of his surroundings, comments on cheese. This prompts Gromit to revive Wallace with Stinking Bishop cheese. Despite his losses, Gromit for his bravery and his "brave and splendid marrow", was nonetheless rewarded with his trophy for his courage in the incident. Lady Tottington converts her property into a haven, which was quickly populated by Hutch and all rabbits formerly detained by Wallace, solving the pest problem once and for all. In an alternate ending, Lady Tottington marries Constable Albert MacIntosh, and Hutch explains to Wallace that it would have never worked out if he had married her.

Cast and Characters[]

Peter Sallis as Wallace/Hutch
Ralph Fiennes as Victor Quartermaine
Helena Bonham Carter as Lady Tottington
Peter Kay as PC Mackintosh
Nicholas Smith as Reverend Clement Hedges (aka the Vicar)
Dicken Ashworth as Mr. Reg Mulch
Liz Smith as Mrs. Suzanne Mulch
Edward Kelsey as Mr. Growbag
John Thompson as Mr. Windfall
Mark Gatiss as Miss Blight
Vincent Ebrahim as Mr. Caliche
Geraldine McEwan as Miss Thripp
Robert Horvath as Mr. Dibber
Pete Atkin as Mr. Crock
Noni Lewis as Mrs. Girdling
Ben Whitehead as Mr. Leaching
Christopher Fairbanks, James Mather, and William Vanderpuye (Additional Voices)

Other Characters[]

Trivia[]

Originally, Wendolene was supposed to return with Wallace as her gardener, but was replaced with Lady Tottington.
When it is unintentionally announced to the townspeople at the vegetable competition that the Were-Rabbit is still alive and the area goes still and silent, a kid in a green hood bearing a striking resemblance to Kenny McCormick from Comedy Central's South Park can be seen. He even faints, referencing the recurring running gag of Kenny dying.
If viewers look closely in the scene taking place at Wallace's house in the morning after the title sequence, they will notice several things:
1. There is a cereal packet marked "brown flakes" as a take on bran flakes for the sounding of the name and color of the cereal.
2. There is a jar labeled "Middle Age Spread"
3. While Wallace is hunting for for his secret stash of cheese, a book titled "Swiss Cheese Family Robinson" can be seen.
Adult Joke/Inuendo: When Wallace pulls on the cardboard box near the end of the film, a label can be seen on the front of the box. It reads "may contain nuts"..
In the film, while Gromit is listening to the radio, Bright Eyes can be heard playing, playing homage to the film Watership Down (1978)
This film was released in cinemas in Australia and America early before it premiered in Great Britain and before the Bristol Aardman 2005 fires broke out on October 2005, after the movie was released in the United States.
The book where Wallace's cheese is hidden behind is titled Grate Expectations, which reflects Wallace's expectations and his need for cheese.
The Were-Rabbit is inspired of the classic Universal Horror Movie Monsters.
In the Disney Channel show Phineas and Ferb, one episode ("That's the Spirit!") parodied this movie (Doofenshmirtz made a Mind-Transfer-Inator and accidentally became a Were-Cow).
Were-Cow is actually seen briefly in the Vicar's book.
When part of the big rabbit cage falls down, it mirrors the scene when part of Wallace and Gromit's rabbit trap falls off.
This is the only Wallace and Gromit production to use the help of Dreamworks as after the bombing of the 2006 movie, Flushed Away, Dreamworks terminated contracts with Aardman that same year, despite the positive feedback.
During the meeting in the church, Lady Tottington stands behind a bible stand with wings and a lamp above her head, making her look like an angel. Victor stands behind a fork knife, making him look like a demon.
Hutch doesn't even have a voice actor, but he reuses existing quotes and voice lines from Wallace.
Feathers McGraw makes a cameo appearance in this film.
One sign in the movie shows a Meat-a-Bix product. In The Wrong Trousers, the box Gromit hides in says Meat-a-Bix.
WILHELM SCREAM: After Lady Tottington yells "You great, big, scary thing!", the Were-Rabbit stamps on a person, and the fourth take of the Wilhelm Scream sound effect (a popular audio line in the film industry) was played.
The movie contains a considerable amount of CGI of all kinds, from drifting fog through the bunny rabbits in the Bun-Vac. In all, there are over 700 shots that contain some kind of digital effects work.
The Were-Rabbit attacking the Vicar was the first scene shot.
All of the scenes with water were done with CGI.
Mrs. Mulch bears a striking resemblance to her voice actress, Liz Smith.
PC Mackintosh's first name in the script is Albert.
The Were-Rabbit required several models. The animators were glad not to have to work with clay because it meant less work when designing it, but working with fur proved just as time-consuming.
The script originally had Wallace use the Mind-Manipulation-O-Matic to restore Hutch's taste for vegetables, and his taste for cheese.
Wallace's transformation into the Were-Rabbit was one of Nick Park's favorite sequences, just to see Wallace beat up the villain. Park also liked the way Wallace's personality shines through the Were-Rabbit in some scenes.
Next to Harvey's Vegetable Shop, is a barbershop called "A Close Shave," which is also the name of a 1995 Oscar-winning animated short starring Wallace and Gromit.
The vegetable shop Harvey's is a reference to the 1950 comedy Harvey, about a man who claims that his friend is a six-foot-tall invisible rabbit.
Wallace believes he is about to be kissed by Lady Tottington twice in the film, once after they save the rabbits and when they're opening the sanctuary.
The movie has more characters than its other counterparts. Most, like Victor and Phillip, are still exclusive to it.
The townspeople in the movie were never seen or mentioned again in later Wallace & Gromit media (apart from the film's promotional video game).
The Spanish title of this film is, "Wallace y Gromit: Los Batalla de los Vegetables", which is translated into, "Wallace and Gromit: The Battle of the Vegetables".
In the UK version of the film, Gromit's prize vegetable is a marrow, but in the US version it is a melon. Which is unknown why there were only two different lines in both versions (possibly because marrows were more popular in the UK whilst melons were more popular in the US). However, when the movie made TV airings (such as Cartoon Network), it retained the original line that was said by Wallace and Lady Tottington in the UK version. However, when the film aired on Sky Showcase and ITV2 in the UK, it used the redubbed line that was said by Wallace and Lady Tottington in the US version.
There are 71 rabbits flying though the credits.
This is the last Wallace and Gromit production to be released on VHS, but only in the case of the United States and Canada, and other American territories. It is also Dreamworks' very last VHS released before VHS would become extinct in 2006.
This is the first stop-motion film to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, being followed by Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio (2022).

Gallery[]

Screencaps[]

Posters[]

VHS/DVD Releases[]

Miniatures, Props, and Vehicle Models[]

Characters and Props at Aardman Animations and on Exhibitions[]

Goofs / Errors[]

In some scenes of Gromit, the camera is reflected off his nose.
The second time Wallace enters the kitchen, he does not get his trousers.
The pictures of Anti-Pesto's clients change frequently.
When the Were-Rabbit rips the large illuminated carrot sign from the vegetable store and throws it onto the van, the sign disappears when the van drives off.
There are 8 rabbits in the fridge, but later when Gromit catches them, there are only 6 in his hands (the other 2 could have fled).
After Wallace and Gromit capture the rabbit at the beginning, a banner for the vegetable competition shows there are 4 days left. The night after, when Wallace tries to brainwash the rabbits, Gromit's calendar indicates that there are 5 days left, before Gromit crosses off one more day, making it 4 days.
During the breakfast scene, there are some salt and pepper shakers on the table. In the early shots of that scene, the shakers are farther away from Wallace, but when he pushes the pepper aside, it is closer to him.
During the town meeting at church, Lady Tottington is in front of a bible with angel wings and a light above her. Once the camera cuts to Victor, the light is gone.
When Mrs. Girdling is locking her greenhouse, there are 5 locks in a row on it. In the first shot she locks the first 3, but in the second shot she is again locking the 3rd one.
During Gromit and Philip's airplane chase, Philip's plane explodes upon impact with the ground even though it supposedly does not carry flammable materials such as fuel.
- However, given their ability to maintain flight, it could also be resonable that they were powered by fuel, though this would also not explain the explosion as most real life aircraft fuel explosions often require much more fuel than the film's planes could potentially carry.
A full moon occurred four nights in a row.
When Wallace and Gromit are trapped by Victor's dead end tree in the road, Victor throws a hatchet into the tree next to Wallace. Wallace, nor his clothes, are touching it. Yet, when Wallace tries to run off, we see his suspenders caught in the hatchet. The very next scene, Wallace is next to the tree again, and again his clothes are still not caught in the hatchet.