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The creators of the forthcoming Wallace and Gromit sequel have said that the “emotional” new entry will have viewers in tears.
Wallace & Gromit:Vengeance Most Fowl will see the claymation characters reunited with an old foe, the villainous penguin Feathers McGraw, who first featured in 1993’s The Wrong Trousers.
Set to arrive at Christmas, the film represents the first feature-length outing for the madcap duo since The Curse of the Were-Rabbit in 2005.
Speaking at Deadline’s Contenders London event on Saturday (12 October), executive producer Carla Shelley gave fans a hint at what they could expect from the new film.
“I think we’re going to make everybody cry,” she said. “We’re going to surprise everybody and make you laugh as well. It’s really emotional. That’s what’s at the heart of it.
Co-directors Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham also featured at the event, and revealed that they had finished post-production work on the film this week.
The film sees Wigan-based inventor Wallace develop a high-tech garden gnome called Norbot, who begins causing chaos.
According to Park, the character of Wallace – whose eccentric technology innovations have been a recurring source of drama in the series – has taken on new relevance in the modern age.
“Wallace is well meaning,” he said. “He’s not a bad guy, but it’s kind of a metaphor for how we’re in love with tech and sometimes it gets in the way of relationships. Gromit would be a lot happier without the tech, inventions and gadgets.”
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He also addressed the return of McGraw, which many have described as the new film’s biggest selling point.
“The idea of McGraw coming back in was a slightly later breaking idea,” said Park. “Just machines going wrong seemed a bit normal. We needed something with a bit more bite, and someone with an actual clear, sinister motive.
“Feathers McGraw was obviously the perfect candidate, having sat in jail for 30 years, languishing, thinking of nothing but revenge. It seemed like the perfect motivation for a villain.”
In The Wrong Trousers, McGraw appropriates some of Wallace’s tech (a pair of animatronic trousers) to pull off an audacious diamond heist. The film is considered a high point of the franchise, and the climactic set piece is often cited among the finest action sequences in the history of animation.
Vengeance Most Fowl will be released on 25 December 2024.
