Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
2024 animated film by Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham
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Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is a 2024 British animated comedy film produced by Aardman Animations for the BBC and Netflix. It was directed by Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham and written by Park and Mark Burton. It is the sixth Wallace & Gromit film and the second feature-length film following The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005). In the film, Wallace's latest invention is hijacked by Feathers McGraw. Ben Whitehead voices Wallace in his first feature-length appearance following the death of the original actor, Peter Sallis, in 2017. The remaining voice cast consists of Peter Kay, Lauren Patel, and Reece Shearsmith.
- Nick Park
- Merlin Crossingham
- Nick Park
- Mark Burton
| Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl | |
|---|---|
Official Netflix release poster | |
| Directed by |
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| Screenplay by | Mark Burton |
| Story by |
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| Based on | |
| Produced by | Richard Beek |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Dave Alex Riddett |
| Edited by | Dan Hembery |
| Music by | Lorne Balfe Julian Nott |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | |
Release dates |
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Running time | 79 minutes[1] |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $191,452[2] |
Owing to difficulties with working with DreamWorks Animation during the production of The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Park was hesitant to direct another feature-length Wallace & Gromit film for several years. Vengeance Most Fowl, which was announced in January 2022 was conceived as another 30-minute short, before expanding into a feature. The score was composed by Lorne Balfe and Julian Nott.
Vengeance Most Fowl premiered at the American Film Institute on 27 October 2024. It was broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on 25 December in the UK and released on Netflix internationally on 3 January 2025. After 28 days, it became the BBC's most watched scripted show since 2002. The film received acclaim, holding a 100% rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. It was nominated in the Animated Feature categories at the Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Annie Awards. At the BAFTAs, it won the inaugural award for Children's & Family Film and was nominated for Outstanding British Film.
Plot
Wallace has invented a robotic garden gnome called Norbot and opens a business hiring it out to work in gardens. Gromit feels left out and is concerned about his owner's reliance on technology, while expressing annoyance towards Norbot.
Criminal penguin Feathers McGraw hears about Norbot on the news; plotting revenge against Wallace and Gromit for foiling his plan to steal the Blue Diamond,[a] he hacks into and reprograms Norbot to serve him and mass-produce an army of gnomes. While working at homes around the city, the gnomes steal various objects. Chief Inspector Albert Mackintosh and his new recruit, PC Mukherjee, conclude that Wallace is responsible; they confiscate his inventions, but do not find the gnomes.
Gromit reclaims Wallace's tracking device from the police station and tracks the gnomes to the zoo where Feathers is imprisoned. He discovers they have used the contraband to build a submarine for Feathers to escape in through the sewers. Feathers spots Gromit and has Norbot cut him from the tree he is hiding in. They fall into a nearby enclosure and the impact resets Norbot.
Gromit goes to the museum, where the Blue Diamond is being put back on display, just as Mackintosh discovers it has been replaced with a decoy; Feathers hid the diamond at Wallace's house in a teapot prior to his arrest. Wallace and Gromit are captured by the gnomes. Feathers recovers the diamond and locks the duo in the pantry.
Wallace and Gromit use a leaf blower to escape with Norbot. They pursue Feathers down a canal on narrowboats while Mackintosh and Mukherjee, who expresses doubts about Wallace's guilt, pursue on a bicycle. As Wallace engineers a method of reprogramming the gnomes, Gromit jumps aboard Feathers's narrowboat, but when Feathers sees that the police have blocked the canal, he steers off an aqueduct. With the boat teetering on its parapet, Wallace convinces Gromit to surrender the bag containing the diamond to Feathers as he jumps off the narrowboat, which falls over the edge, but Gromit is rescued by Norbot and his fellow gnomes. Feathers escapes to Yorkshire on a freight train, only to sadly discover that Gromit tricked him with his previous deception. Wallace is exonerated, while Mackintosh praises Mukherjee for trusting her instincts and retires, passing his position to her. Wallace returns to inventing, confessing that machinery cannot replace the human touch, and Gromit gains a new respect for Norbot.
Voice cast
- Ben Whitehead as Wallace, an eccentric inventor and Gromit's owner. Vengeance Most Fowl was Whitehead's first full film performance as Wallace following Peter Sallis's retirement in 2010 and death in 2017. Whitehead has voiced Wallace in video games and commercials since 2008.
- Peter Kay as Chief Inspector Albert Mackintosh, former police constable having been promoted to chief inspector. Kay reprises his role from Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.[3]
- Reece Shearsmith as Norbot, Wallace's latest invention designed to do jobs around the house, but whose personality setting is altered by Feathers McGraw[4]
- Lauren Patel as PC Mukherjee, Chief Inspector Albert Mackintosh's plucky young protégée[5]
- Diane Morgan as Onya Doorstep, a news reporter for Up North News[6]
The Farmer from the Wallace & Gromit spin-off series Shaun the Sheep makes a cameo, voiced by John Sparkes.[7] Adjoa Andoh and Lenny Henry have cameo roles as a judge and Mr. Convenience. TV presenter and radio DJ Roman Kemp also made a brief appearance as part of an angry mob.[citation needed]
Production
During production of A Matter of Loaf and Death (2008), Nick Park remarked on difficulties with working with DreamWorks Animation during the production of The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), such as the constant production notes and demands to alter the material to appeal more to American children.[8][9] This discouraged him from producing another feature film for years, with Peter Lord noting that Park preferred the "half hour format".[10]
A new Wallace & Gromit film was announced in January 2022, with Park and Merlin Crossingham as directors, from a screenplay by Mark Burton, while Claire Jennings was announced to produce.[11][12] Park conceived the film as another 30-minute short, which expanded into a feature film.[13] Newclay Products, the factory that made Lewis Newplast, the modelling clay used by Aardman, shut down in March 2023; Aardman purchased enough remaining clay to cover the film.[14] The Daily Telegraph reported that the studio may not be able to produce further films, but Aardman released a statement clarifying that it would find a new supplier.[15][16]
The title was announced on 6 June 2024, alongside the reveal that Feathers McGraw, the villain of The Wrong Trousers (1993), would return. At that time, Richard Beek was announced to have replaced Claire Jennings as the producer, although Jennings would remain credited as a consulting producer.[17]
Music
The score was composed by Lorne Balfe and series composer Julian Nott, with the themes composed by Nott. Balfe previously provided additional music for Nott's score in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005).[18]
Release
Vengeance Most Fowl premiered worldwide on the closing day of the AFI Fest on 27 October at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, with a limited theatrical release on 18 December 2024.[19] It aired in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 25 December 2024, and was released outside of the UK on Netflix on 3 January 2025.[20][21][22][11][12] To promote the film, the BBC also commissioned three Wallace & Gromit-themed idents for BBC One, which were aired through the Christmas season.[23][24] Vengeance Most Fowl was viewed by 9.38 million BBC One viewers on Christmas Day. It was the second-most-watched broadcast in the UK since 2022, after the Gavin & Stacey Christmas special, also broadcast that day.[25] After 28 days of catch up viewing, that figure increased to 21.6 million, becoming the BBC's most-watched scripted show since 2002.[26]
Reception
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 138 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "Comforting as cheese and crackers, with some gentle ribbing of modern technology sprinkled on top, Vengeance Most Fowl revives this lovable pair with all their charm intact."[27]
Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 83 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[28]
Writing in The Guardian, Stuart Heritage called the film "a triumphant return" for a series "genetically incapable of being bad". However, he felt that the extended runtime made it "less densely packed with jokes and invention than we've become used to" and that its greater focus on dialogue was a detriment to Wallace and Gromit's international appeal.[29] Peter Bradshaw, who also reviewed the film for The Guardian, called it an "exciting, ingenious, funny and an unmissable, ingenious Christmas treat". He also said that Ben Whitehead's performance was "an affectionate homage to the late Peter Sallis".[30] In the Irish Independent, Vicky Jessop praised Aardman as still being "head and shoulders ahead of everybody else when it comes to delivering the warm and fuzzies", though similarly felt the film presented fewer jokes and lacked innovation compared to previous Wallace & Gromit stories.[31] Brian Tallerico, writing for RogerEbert.com, gave the film three and a half out of four, describing it as "beautifully structured, a perfect rhythm of plotting and humor".[32]
Manohla Dargis of The New York Times praised the film for the stop-motion animation and called it a "soul-satisfying" return for the beloved stop-motion duo.[33] Carlos Aguilar of the Los Angeles Times said that the film is a hilarious and expertly crafted new clay-animation caper and that its heroes and foes are still unequivocally human-operated.[34] Helen O'Hara of Empire gave the film four out of five and felt that while it is not as good as the others, she said it is a fun set-up, and one that is pacily told and such a treat of a return to its characters.[35] Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a very strong positive review, saying that although the film is a little predictable, the journey it has more than makes it enjoyable.[36]
Peter Debruge of Variety said: "Although less ambitious than 'The Curse of the Were-Rabbit,' Aardman's adorable new feature gives fans what they want: the return of a cold-hearted penguin and more puns than you can count".[37] Dan Norris, who was the Mayor of the West of England at the time of the film's release, criticised the BBC and Aardman for not including a "Made in Bristol" line in the closing credits as with other successful films produced in Bristol, such as David Attenborough's nature documentaries.[38]
Accolades
Future
Park said Vengeance Most Fowl would not be the final Wallace & Gromit film, and that "there's always ideas worth kicking about".[64]
Notes
- As depicted in The Wrong Trousers (1993)
