Wallace and Gromit in A Close Shave (1995)

Director:

Nick Park

Writers:

Bob Baker (written by) &
Nick Park (written by)

Release Date:

29 December 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Crime | Family

Tagline:

From the makers of Chicken Run.

Plot:

Wallace falls for Wendolene, a wool shop owner, while Gromit is framed for the sheep rustling.

Plot Keywords:

Sheep | Sheep Rustling | Framed | Dog | Prison

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 17 wins

Cast

Peter Sallis	...	Wallace (voice)
Anne Reid	...	Wendolene (voice)

Directed by
Nick Park

Writing credits
Bob Baker		(written by) &
Nick Park		(written by)

Produced by
Peter Lord	....	executive producer
Colin Rose	....	executive producer: BBC
Michael Rose	....	producer
Carla Shelley	....	producer
David Sproxton	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Julian Nott

Cinematography by
Dave Alex Riddett		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Helen Garrard

Art Direction by
Phil Lewis

Art Department
Trisha Budd	....	assistant art director: props
Tim Farrington	....	scenic artist
Richard Higgs	....	graphic design
Michael Salter	....	storyboard artist
Jason Spencer Galsworthy	....	model maker
Zennor Witney	....	model maker

Sound Department
Paul Hamblin	....	dubbing mixer
Adrian Rhodes	....	dubbing editor
Jack Stew	....	foley artist

Visual Effects by
Jeff Cliff	....	mechanical models
Linda Langley	....	model sculptor
David 'Del' Lawson	....	model technician (as Del Lawson)
John Parsons	....	model coordinator
John Wright	....	mechanical models
Stella Bogh	....	digital compositor (uncredited)
Pete Hanson	....	studio manager: CFC (uncredited)
Alison O'Brien	....	visual effects producer (uncredited)
Kevin Phelan	....	scanning and recording producer: CFC (uncredited)
Tim Wellspring	....	visual effects coordinator: CFC (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
John Bradley	....	gaffer
Simon Jacobs	....	photography
Sam James	....	camera operator
Ian Jewels	....	gaffer
Tristan Oliver	....	photography
Frank Passingham	....	photography
Paul Smith	....	camera operator
Nick Upton	....	camera assistant

Animation Department
Steve Box	....	key character animator
Gary Cureton	....	character animator
Sergio Delfino	....	assistant animator
Nick Park	....	character animator
Peter Peake	....	character animator
Loyd Price	....	character animator
Nick Upton	....	animation assistant
Ian Whitlock	....	assistant animator
Allan Yates	....	animation systems engineer

Editorial Department
Bridget Mazzey	....	assistant film editor
Tasmin Parry	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Nic Raine	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Simon Rhodes	....	music scoring mixer (uncredited)

Other crew
Alan Gregory	....	technical crew
Bob Gregory	....	technical crew
Glenn Hall	....	technical crew
Harry Linden	....	floor manager
John Oaten	....	technical crew
Peter Thornton	....	production consultant

Thanks
Tara Bacon	....	thanks
Lisa Bilbe	....	thanks
Mike Booth	....	thanks
Elizabeth Buttler	....	thanks
Douglas Calder	....	thanks
Ben Cook	....	thanks
Charles Copping	....	thanks
Maxine Guest	....	thanks
Toby Hannam	....	thanks
Beverley Issacs	....	thanks
Curtis Jobling	....	thanks
Janet Legg	....	thanks
Beth MacDonald	....	thanks
Stuart Markovic	....	thanks
Jason Marshall	....	thanks
John McAleavy	....	thanks
Viv Paeper	....	thanks
Darren Robbie	....	thanks
Susannah Shaw	....	thanks
Arthur Sheriff	....	thanks (as Arthur Sherriff)
Barry Shutler	....	thanks
John Truckle	....	thanks
Adam Vernon	....	thanks
Sophie Wright	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Aardman Animations (as An Aardman Animation Production)
• BBC Bristol (in association with) (as BBC BRISTOL)
• Wallace & Gromit (in association with) (as Wallace & Gromit Ltd.)
• BBC Children's International (in association with)

Distributors

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (1995) (UK) (TV)
• BBC Bristol (1995) (UK) (TV)
• Northern Arts Entertainment (1996) (USA) (theatrical)
• 2 Entertain Video (2009) (UK) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• CBS/Fox Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Lumière Home Entertainment (2010) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray) (Wallace & Gromit: The Complete Collection)
• Lumière Home Entertainment (2010) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Wallace & Gromit: The Complete Collection)
• ProSieben Entertainment (1996) (Germany) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Computer Film Company, The (CFC) (optical effects) (as Computer Film Company)
• General Screen Enterprises (optical effects) (as GSE)

Other Companies

• Aardman Animations  thanks (as the staff of Aardman Animations)
• Cod Steaks  set construction

Also Known As:

"A Close Shave" - UK (short title)
"Golenie owiec" - Poland
"Läheltä piti" - Finland
"Renrakat på håret" - Sweden
"Vähältä piti" - Finland (video title)
"Wallace & Gromit - Rasé de près" - France
"Wallace & Gromit - Un esquilado apurado" - Spain
"Wallace & Gromit - Wallace forelsker seg" - Norway (imdb display title)
"Wallace & Gromit unter Schafen" - Germany
"Wallace & Gromit: O Fio da Navalha" - Brazil
"Wallace & Gromit: Una afeitada al ras" - Argentina
"Wallace és Gromit: Birka akció" - Hungary (imdb display title)

Runtime:

30 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo (as Dolby Stereo)

Certification:

Finland:S | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:Atp | Spain:T | South Korea:All | Netherlands:AL | UK:U (video rating) (1995) | Sweden:7 | UK:U | USA:Unrated | Australia:G

Company:

Aardman Animations

Trivia:

When Gromit is sitting in jail, "Feathers was here" is written on the cell wall behind him. Feathers was the villain of Wallace & Gromit in The Wrong Trousers (1993).

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When Gromit climbs up the ladder during the motorbike chase, he places the base in the sidecar. When he grabs the cables, Wallace grabs the base of the ladder as it rises; after they finish the spin, Wallace places the foot of the ladder in front of him.

Quotes:

Wendolene Ramsbottom:He's malfunctioning.
Wallace:Mal what?
Wendolene Ramsbottom:Malfunctioning. Preston is a cyberdog.
Wallace:Cyber what?
Wendolene Ramsbottom:A robot. Daddy created him for good, but he's turned out evil.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Comic Relief: Red Nose Night Live 05 (2005) (TV)

Unique Mouths Still Make Me Laugh

This was the third in a series of three short BBC programs featuring Wallace and his pet dog Gromit. I thought the three films got better and better as went along, this being the best of the three.

There are some very clever and entertaining scenes in the 30-miunte movie. the color also was good - nice animation. Of course, it's only gotten better and better since these were made, capped off recently by a full-length Wallace & Gromit film.

I don't think I ever stop laughing looking at the mouths on Wallace and the woman he likes in this story. Wallace is a window cleaner and "Wendolene" is the object of his affections. Unfortunately, both the woman and her pet dog are not good "people." In fact, her pet dog, "Preston" frames poor Gromit for sheep-rustling and winds up in jail. Wallace must rescue him.

A subplot involves Wallace and his love of cheese. It's all silly, of course, but very entertaining and the best of the three short Wallace & Gromit animated films of the period (1989-1993), in my opinion.