Underplayed Gems

A Grand Day Out (1989)

A Grand Day Out poster
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
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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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)

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