The great Roger Ebert once called Wallace and Gromit “arguably the two most delightful characters in the history of animation,” and who are we to argue with that? Ever since 1989, a Wensleydale cheese-loving inventor and his beloved dog have starred in four short films and two features, every one of these adventures utterly joyous. WithoutWallace and Gromit,the great Aardman Animationpossibly would’ve never been discovered outside the UK, and arguably stop-motion as a medium might not have ever gotten critical recognition.
Everyone knows the magic trick by now: creator Nick Park builds his sets and character models out of Plasticine modeling clay, adjusting them in every frame to give the illusion of movement. The effect still looks amazing to this day, and the care put into the craft is a huge part of what makes the franchise feel like such a labor of love. But there’s more toWallace and Gromitthan just eccentricities, so with their new adventure,Vengeance Most Fowl, hitting Netflix this weekend, we’re taking a look at the deeper meaning within the series.
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
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‘Wallace and Gromit’ Cleverly Satirizes Class and Privilege
EveryWallace and Gromitadventure has a similar setup — bumbling tinkerer Wallace creates a new invention, meant to improve the lives of him and his mute dog, Gromit. But things always go wrong; in the franchise high point,The Wrong Trousers, Wallace’s “techno-trousers”, intended to take Gromit on walks, are reprogrammed to partake in a jewel heist. The featurefilmThe Curse of the Were-Rabbitsaw Wallace accidentally swap parts of his mind with a rabbit’s, turning him into the titular monster.
YetWallace, outside the latter example, is rarely the one to face the full repercussions of his malfunctioning inventions, and because he’s so naive, he doesn’t learn from his mistakes. Gromit, who regularly proves himself the only sane figure in the series (expressed just through his facial expressions, as he never speaks), bears the brunt of their mishaps and finds himself having to save Wallace and clean up his messes.
Since Wallace is established as having a fairly privileged, upper-class existence, his adventures with Gromit can thus be seen as a sly satire on class struggle. Wallace almost never gets the worst of it when things go wrong, and he’s ignorant enough that he doesn’t see how fully dependent he is on Gromit to fix things. And Gromit, who too often suffers at the hands of his master, stands as a clear embodiment of the exploited lower class, arguably right down to his literal voicelessness.
That being said, as opposed to the bleak futility ofParasite’s take on capitalism,Wallace and Gromitis optimistic to its core. Wallace never acts out of malice, as his inventions come from a desire to help others, and his mistakes are borne more out of rushing into situations without thinking them through. And as hard as Gromit gets it, he still clearly loves Wallace and is nothing if not devoted to helping him when push comes to shove.It’s clearly no accident that their conflicts are always resolved when the two of them are able to work together and allow Wallace’s ingenuity to effortlessly blend with Gromit’s pragmatism.
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‘Wallace and Gromit’ Has Fascinating Psychological and Technological Perspectives
Arguably part of the universal appeal ofWallace and Gromitis the fact that the title characters don’t have one definitive allegorical reading, and that they can simply work as a modern Laurel and Hardy comedy duo.But their dynamic can still be interpreted in a number of different ways, and maybe the most fascinating is a psychological reading, in which Wallace embodies the base impulses of the id, while Gromit’s moral standards represent the superego. Creator Nick Park himselfhas commented on this relationship: “I think we all have a Wallace and Gromit inside us. Wallace is the part that has wild plans. Gromit is the sensible side, reining you in.”
But the characters also illustrate a more universal issue, and one that’s become increasingly relevant in recent years. Since the plots of almost all their adventures are driven by one of Wallace’s inventions going wrong,the franchise is a clear examination of the dangers of letting technology fully dictate our lives. The misadventures with the techno-trousers may not have even happened if Wallace had been so lazy to simply walk Gromit himself, and the fact that one of his own gadgets accidentally turns him into a Were-Rabbit speaks for itself.
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Vengeance Most Fowldives headfirst into this allegorical angle. The plot kickstarts when Wallace’s new “smart-gnome” develops a mind of its own, leading things to spiral out of control as Gromit learnsthat a particular “chicken” from their pastis manipulating the situation for his own gain.Critical reception indicates that this focus on Wallace’s over-reliance on inventions proves the franchise’s most pointed social commentary yet, as it still stands ata 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Grab the Wensleydale cheese and crackers and a cup of tea — we can’t wait to see arguably Britain’s best export back for another smashing adventure.Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowlis now playing in select theaters and will be streaming on Netflix on January 3.
