Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave is a 1995 British stop-motion animated comedy film co-written and directed by Nick Park and produced by Aardman Animations in association with Wallace and Gromit Ltd., BBC Bristol and BBC Children's International. It is the third film featuring the eccentric duo Wallace and Gromit, following A Grand Day Out (1989) and The Wrong Trousers (1993). In A Close Shave, Wallace and Gromit uncover a plot to rustle sheep by a sinister dog. This was the first Wallace and Gromit film featuring speaking characters other than Wallace.

A Close Shave
Original USA VHS artwork cover.
Directed by	Nick Park
Written by	Bob Baker Nick Park
Produced by	Carla Shelley Michael Rose
Starring	Peter Sallis Anne Reid
Cinematography	Dave Alex Riddett
Edited by	Helen Garrard
Music by	Julian Nott
Production companies	Aardman Animations Wallace and Gromit Ltd. BBC Bristol BBC Children's International
Distributed by	BBC Worldwide
Release date	24 December 1995 (1995-12-24)
Running time	30 minutes[1]
Country	United Kingdom
Budget	£1.3 million[2]

Like The Wrong Trousers, it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.[3] A Close Shave has the first appearance of the character Shaun, who would later be the protagonist of the Shaun the Sheep spin-off television series and two feature films: Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015) and A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (2019).

Plot

The inventor Wallace and his dog Gromit operate a window cleaning business. Wallace falls for wool shopkeeper Wendolene Ramsbottom (Anne Reid); her sinister dog, Preston, rustles sheep to supply the shop. After a lost sheep wanders into the house, Wallace places him in his Knit-o-Matic, which shears sheep and knits the wool into jumpers, and names him Shaun. Preston steals the Knit-o-Matic blueprints.

While Gromit investigates Preston, Preston captures him and frames him for the sheep rustling. Gromit is arrested and imprisoned, while Wallace's house is inundated with sheep. Wallace and the sheep rescue Gromit and hide out in the fields. Wendolene and Preston arrive in the lorry to round up the sheep. When Wendolene demands Preston stop the rustling, he locks her in the lorry with the sheep and drives away, intent on turning them into dog food.

Wallace and Gromit give chase on their motorcycle. When Gromit's sidecar detaches, he activates its aeroplane mode and resumes the chase from the air. Wallace becomes trapped in the lorry and he, Wendolene and the sheep are transported to Preston's factory, where Preston has built an enormous Knit-o-Matic. The captives are loaded into the wash basin, but Shaun escapes. Shaun activates neon signs to reveal the factory's location to Gromit, who attacks Preston. Shaun sucks Preston into the Knit-o-Matic, removing his fur. Wendolene reveals that Preston is actually a robot created by her inventor father for good, but became evil.

When the Knit-o-Matic dresses Preston in a sweater made of his fur, he inadvertently hits the controls, and the group become poised to fall into the mincing machine. Shaun pushes Preston into the machine, crushing him. Gromit is exonerated and Wallace rebuilds Preston as a harmless remote controlled dog.

Reception

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2021)

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a perfect score of 100%, based on 20 reviews.[4]

The character of Shaun the sheep has spawned his own spin-offs including a tv show and two movies. The show even has its own spin-offs.

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to A Close Shave.

• Official website
• A Close Shave at IMDb

На других языках

[ru] Невероятные приключения Уоллеса и Громита: Стрижка «под ноль»