The World of Wallace and Gromit

Book excerpt: Wallace and Gromitthe eccentric, cheese-loving inventor and his faithful, long-suffering dogstarted life in 1985 in Nick Parks A Grand Day Out, a film he had started while attending Britains National Film and Television school. Gromit actually began as a cat in another story and initially Wallace didnt have a name, but since then the pair have been catapulted to international fame and captured the hearts of millions, along with a cast of characters that includes the adorable Shaun the Sheep, the dastardly penguin Fingers and the long-suffering lady friend Wendolene. From an idea doodled in a sketchbook to three fully realized feature films, the secrets of the model-making shop, the set-design shop and the animation studios are all revealed here for the very first time. Including previously unseen original concept artwork from Nick Park and insights into stop-motion animation, this book looks at the establishment of the characters as global property through innovative marketing, major advertising campaigns and must-have merchandise. The World of Wallace & Gromit will explore the way in which two animated characters from Bristol were taken to the heart of the British public and became a much-loved global phenomenon.