Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (formerly Wallace and Gromit and the Great Vegetable Plot) is a 2005 computer-animated buddy comedy-drama horror mystery film staring 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.
Plot
The annual giant vegetable contest is on! The winner of the competition will win the Golden Carrot Award. All are eager to protect their giant crops from damage and thievery by rabbits until the contest, and Wallace and Gromit are cashing in by running a vegetable security and humane pest control business, "Anti-Pesto".
However, they are faced with two problems: the first is Wallace's weight problem and the second is the space for the captured rabbits. Wallace comes up with an idea — use his Mind Manipulation-O-Matic machine to brainwash the rabbits, allowing them to run freely without harming everyone's gardens. While performing the operation, he kicks the switch and something goes terribly wrong, leaving them with a semi-intelligent rabbit who starts to behave like Wallace (down to his fondness for cheese) and whom Wallace names "Hutch". Soon the town is threatened by the dangerous "Were-Rabbit", a giant rabbit-like monster which eats vegetables of any size. Anti-Pesto enters into a rivalry with the scheming Lord Victor Quartermaine, who pretends to have a crush on Lady Tottington (although in reality he is only after her money and property), to capture the Were-Rabbit.
After a fully hectic nighttime chasing the creature, Gromit discovers that the Were-Rabbit is, in fact, Wallace, suffering from the effects of the accident with the Mind Manipulation-O-Matic. Victor corners Wallace during the night, 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). But then Wallace falls into the path of moonlight and transforms. Victor, having identified the rabbit, goes to Reverend Clement Hedges and gains access to 24-karat gold bullets - supposedly, the only things capable of killing a Were-Rabbit.
During the final showdown, Victor and his dog Phillip capture Gromit, who subsequently escapes and decides to make the ultimate sacrifice by using the marrow he had been growing for the competition as bait for Wallace who, in his rabbit form, has burst in upon the vegetable contest, causing panic. Victor tries to shoot what is apparently the monster — but Gromit is one step ahead of him. Yet the marrow cannot keep the Were-Rabbit's attention as Victor tries to take the golden carrot award from a distressed Lady Tottington. Part of Wallace's personality resurfaces, and his protective instinct kicks in. Wallace ascends to the rooftops, holding a screaming Lady Tottington in his hand, where he reveals his identity. Discovering his identity, she promises to protect him, only to be interrupted by Victor. Meanwhile, in a mid-air dogfight in toy airplanes, Phillip chases after Gromit. Gromit forces his foe out of the air in a fiery crash and explosion - but Phillip manages to hold on to Gromit's plane and the two grapple with an ax (in one segment, when the plane runs out of coins, Gromit hands the ax to Philip and counts his money. Philip grows tired of waiting and hands the ax back to Gromit and pulls out a purse with a flower design, finds the right coins, and inserts them into the slot). The fight rages on and in the end, Gromit releases Philip through the bomb doors and into a bouncy castle, which deflates.
Atop Tottington Hall, Gromit's toy biplane circles Wallace, who clings onto the flagpole at the top of the building for dear life. Victor fires a shot, but Wallace is saved when Gromit maneuvers his plane into the path of the trophy improvised as a bullet by Victor at the last moment. Then the engine in Gromit's plane fails and the plane begins to descend rapidly. Wallace jumps from the flagpole and catches the plane, breaking Gromit's fall into the cheese tent below. Victor gloats, but is knocked unconscious by Lady Tottington, using a giant carrot. He falls into the tent too, where Wallace lies unconscious and seemingly dying of his injuries. To protect Wallace from the angry mob outside, Gromit dresses Victor up as the monster (a costume he used earlier as a lure for the Were-Rabbit), and throws him out of the tent. The angry mob chases Victor away.
Gromit and Lady Tottington tend to Wallace, who seconds later morphs back into his human form, apparently dead. Gromit, the rabbits, and Lady Tottington are saddened by their seeming loss, but then Hutch comments on cheese, which gives Gromit an idea. He is able to revive Wallace with a slice of Stinking Bishop cheese. Wallace and Gromit, for their bravery, is awarded the (now somewhat battered) competition trophy, and Lady Tottington turns Tottington Hall into a bunny haven, where all the rabbits, including Hutch, can live in peace.
Voice Cast
- Peter Sallis as Wallace and 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 and Liz Smith as Mr. Reg Mulch and 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 Fairbank, James Mather and William Vanderpuye (Additional Voices)
Trivia
- 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 character bearing a striking resemblance to Kenny McCormick from South Park can be seen. He even then faints, referencing the recurring theme 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:
- 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.
- There is a jar labled "Middle Age Spread"
- While Wallace is hunting for for his secret stash of cheese, a book titled "Swiss Cheese Family Robinson" can be seen.
- 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".
- 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 an parody of the classic Universal Horror Movie Monsters.
- In the Disney Channel show Phineas and Ferb, one episode ("That's the Spirit!") made an allusion to this movie (Doofenshmirtz made a Mind-Transfer-Inator and accidentally became a Were-Cow).
- When part of the big rabbit cage falls down, it mirrors the scene when part of Wallace and Gromit's rabbit trap falls off.
- 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.
- All Hutch says are Wallace's quotes, such as "Hey Presto!" and other quotes.
- When Victor and his dog leave Lady Tottington's house, his dog points his gun at Victor's leg.
- 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.
- After Lady Tottington yells "You great, big, scary thing!", the Were-Rabbit stamps on a person, who emits the Wilhelm Scream. The Wilhelm Scream is a scream used in many movies.
- This film took 5 years to make.
- 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.
- Gromit rolls his eyes 13 times in the movie, usually because of Wallace.
- Mrs. Mulch resembles Liz Smith, the actress providing the voice for her.
- 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 an 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 firend 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 once when they're opening the sanctuary.
- The movie has the more characters in it than any other film, most of which are never mentioned or seen again.
- 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
- There are 71 Bunnies flying though the credits
Gallery
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 pants.
- The pictures of Anit-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.
- After Wallace and Gromit capture the rabbit at the beginning, a banner for the vegetable competition shows there are 4 days left. The next night, after Wallace tries to brainwash the rabbits, the calendar where Gromit has marked off the days until the competition shows there are 5 days left, before Gromit crosses off one more day, making it 4 days.
- In the beginning of the movie, during the breakfast scene. There is some salt and pepper on the table. In the early shots of that scene the salt and pepper are farther away from Wallace, but when he pushes the pepper it is closer to him.
- During the town meeting scene. Lady Tottington is in front of the bible with angel wings and a light above her. But in the shot after it cuts to Victor, the light is now not above the bible with angel wings.
- In the part where Mrs. Girdling is locking her greenhouse of carrots there are 5 locks right in a row on the greenhouse. In the first shot she locks the first 3 locks. In the second shot she is again locking the 3rd one.
- During the airplane chase sequence, one of the electrically operated plane crashes. It presumably carries no fuel on the board, and yet it explodes in a massive fireball.
- It's a full moon 4 nights in a row.
- When Wallace and Gromit are trapped by Victor's dead end tree in the road, Victor throws the 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 And Old Van Was Build In 1962