Am I Missing Something?

A Brilliant Conflict

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Blistering performances.

THE WRONG TROUSERS was a childhood favourite of mine and I'm pleased to say that it's one that continues to hold up in the modern day. I'm a big fan of Claymation and have been ever since I used to watch the adventures of Morph on the Tony Hart show back in the 1980s. Wallace and Gromit are fun too, although I think THE WRONG TROUSERS marked the peak of their career; nothing else they've been in has been as intense and funny as this.Everything about this 30-minute film is amazing. The pacing is incredibly fast, the film filled with action and constant funny humour. The heist plot is like that of an old Ealing Studios comedy and the character of Feathers McGraw somehow creepy and imposing despite being a Plasticine penguin. Gromit makes for a thoroughly lovable protagonist and the film is full of warmth and heart without ever crossing over into sickly sentiment. And it closes on THAT train chase, one of the finest chase scenes ever put on film, a 3-minute odyssey of sheer delight that never gets old. Bravo, Nick Park and team!

Wallace has bought a pair of ex-NASA robotic Techno-Trousers to walk his dog Gromit. Gromit is not too happy with the new gadget. They are actually low on cash and need to rent out a room. A penguin comes to rent the room but instead takes over Gromit's room. He starts doing things to push Gromit out and eventually Gromit runs away. The penguin reprograms the Techno-Trousers and trap Wallace in them. It's an elaborate plan to steal a giant diamond. It turns out that the penguin is actually the infamous thief Feathers McGraw and Gromit has to stop him and rescue Wallace.I like the comedy of Wallace and Gromit. I love the addition of the criminal penguin. He is funny, cute and villainous all at the same type. It's such a great character and should be their nemesis as much as possible. I find that's what's missing from some of the Wallace and Gromit fare. They need a good constant evil nemesis like Feathers McGraw.

This little gem has its 20th birthday this year and man has it aged fine. While Wallace serves mostly as a tool (in the truest sense of the word), it's all about the face-off between Gromit and a criminal mastermind. It starts off with Gromit receiving the most curious birthday gift: a pair of remote-controlled mechanical trousers to take him out for a walk, so Wallace can stay at home and do whatever he likes. (Whose birthday is it anyway???) Neither particularly interested in the trousers, nor in being kept on a leash, Gromit just enjoys the day out. Upon return home, he finds Wallace having rented a room to a penguin named Feathers McGraw. This one quickly expresses much more interest in the new trousers than the actual presentee.Right when this film approaches the end and you feel you've never seen crime portrayed better in animation (the chicken comb disguise idea is as simple as it's genius), Park includes a great train chase scene that ought to serve as a lesson to every animator on how to use the western genre in animation. The score is unspectacular, but works wonders from start to finish and it was particularly entertaining to see Gromit metaphorically as Wallace's aged wife during the knitting and rolling pin scenes. My favorite scene that made me break into laughter was the moment Wallace wakes up at the museum and keeps rambling about how he's a respectable citizen. Here it was particularly nice to see him screaming not for his canine pal and not for his feathered "friend", with whom he bonded increasingly early on on Gromit's expense.This film is the most frequently and one of the highest rated IMDb short films for good reason. As of now, it's my favorite W&G piece (mainly because of one of the finest villain performances in animation history) and everybody should see it.

Wallace and Grommit: The Wrong Trousers: The Good, the Bad, and the UglyWallace and Grommit make a great team when they star in Nick Park's Claymation short The Wrong Trousers. But, as in most movies, this one has the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.The Good: A great plot. A pair of techno-trousers. A sinister penguin. A diamond robbery. An amazing train chase scene. And, of course, cheese. Every one of these things alone makes this short definitely worthy of the 1993 Academy Award for the Best Animated Short. The Bad: Why do the techno-trousers walk away at the end of the movie? Is it because Feathers McGraw got away? Do the wrong trousers have another evil controller? The Ugly: There were three mistakes that I caught while watching the movie. The first was when Feathers is making Grommit wait for the bathroom. Wallace passes Grommit fully dressed. The next scene shows Wallace in a bathrobe—not dressed in everyday clothes like he was a few seconds earlier. The next shows Grommit when he cut out a piece of cardboard to spy on Feathers McGraw. We don't see that little piece when we should. The last is right before the chase scene. Grommit is dangling from a light fixture with a light bulb in it, which Feathers shoots down. Next it shows Grommit with the fixture on his head. No crash of the bulb.Overall, it is a movie worth watching—great for kids and adults alike.