A Grand Day Out (1989)

Directed by

Nick Park

Genre

fantasy film, comedy film, adventure film, children's film, family film

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

23 min

Rated

G

Rating

7.5 of 10 from 1,013 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

An eccentric inventor named Wallace and his clever dog Gromit build a rocket ship from household items. They fly to the moon because Wallace wants to find cheese there.

whimsicalplayfulgentlequirkycozyinventivelightheartedcharming

What happens

A Grand Day Out is a 1989 British stop-motion animated short film. Directed, animated and co-written by Nick Park at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield and Aardman Animations in Bristol, it is the first installment in the Wallace & Gromit series. The film centres on eccentric yet good-natured inventor Wallace (voiced by Peter Sallis) and his mute but intelligent pet dog, Gromit, who decide to build a home-made rocket ship and make a trip to the moon in search of cheese. Park started creating A Grand Day Out in 1982 as a graduation project for the National Film & Television School. In 1985, Aardman took him on before he finished the piece, allowing him to work on it part-time while still being funded by the school. William Harbutt's company provided Park with Plasticine for the short. Park wrote to Sallis asking him to voice Wallace; although Park originally envisioned a Lancashire accent for Wallace, Sallis could only manage to do a Yorkshire accent. Park initially sought for Gromit to have a voice, but ultimately he decided to keep the character mute. Julian Nott scored the film. A Grand Day Out debuted on 4 November 1989, at an animation festival at the Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol. It was first broadcast on Christmas Eve 1990 on Channel 4. The film received critical acclaim and was followed by 1993's The Wrong Trousers, 1995's A Close Shave, 2005's The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, 2008's A Matter of Loaf and Death, and 2024's Vengeance Most Fowl. It was a Best Animated Short Film nominee for the 63rd Academy Awards. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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• The Wrong Trousers (1993)
• Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024)
• Wallace & Gromit: The Best of Aardman Animation (1996)
• Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
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