Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit facts for kids

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
British theatrical release poster
Directed by	Nick Park Steve Box
Produced by	Claire Jennings Carla Shelley Peter Lord David Sproxton Nick Park
Screenplay by	Steve Box Nick Park Mark Burton Bob Baker
Starring	Peter Sallis Ralph Fiennes Helena Bonham Carter
Music by	Julian Nott
Cinematography	David Alex Riddett Tristan Oliver
Editing by	David McCormick Gregory Perler
Studio	DreamWorks Animation Aardman Animations
Distributed by	DreamWorks Pictures (United States) United International Pictures (United Kingdom)
Release date(s)	4 September 2005 (2005-09-04) (Sydney) 7 October 2005 (2005-10-07) (United States) 14 October 2005 (2005-10-14) (United Kingdom)
Running time	85 minutes
Country	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$30 million
Money made	$192.6 million

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a fun stop-motion animated movie from 2005. It was made by the British studio Aardman Animations and the American studio DreamWorks Animation. This film was the second full-length movie from Aardman, following Chicken Run (2000).

The movie is a funny take on classic monster films. It's also part of the popular Wallace and Gromit series, created by Nick Park. The story follows Wallace, a kind but quirky inventor who loves cheese, and his super-smart dog, Gromit. They run a business called "Anti-Pesto" to help their village with a big rabbit problem. They need to protect everyone's giant vegetables before the yearly competition!

The Curse of the Were-Rabbit features a bigger group of characters than the earlier Wallace and Gromit short films. Famous actors like Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes lend their voices to the characters. The movie was a huge hit with critics and audiences. It won many awards, including the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. This made it the second film from DreamWorks Animation to win this award, after Shrek. It was also only the second animated film not made in America to win, and the second not made with computers, after Spirited Away.

Plot Summary: The Giant Vegetable Mystery

The town of Tottington Hall is getting ready for its yearly giant vegetable competition. The grand prize is the shiny Golden Carrot! Wallace and Gromit run "Anti-Pesto," a business that helps people get rid of pests in a kind way. They protect the town's precious vegetables.

Wallace's Brainwashing Plan

One evening, after catching some rabbits in Lady Tottington's garden, Wallace comes up with a new idea. He wants to use his latest invention, the "Mind Manipulation-O-Matic," to make the rabbits dislike vegetables. Everything seems to be going well until Wallace accidentally bumps the machine's switch. A rabbit gets stuck to Wallace's head, and their minds get mixed up! Gromit quickly turns off the machine. It looks like the plan worked, as the rabbit, named Hutch, doesn't seem interested in vegetables anymore. They put Hutch in a cage.

The Were-Rabbit Appears

That night, a huge rabbit starts eating many of the town's vegetables. At a town meeting, a hunter named Lord Victor Quartermaine offers to shoot the mysterious "were-rabbit." But Lady Tottington convinces everyone to keep using Anti-Pesto's services. After a failed attempt to catch the creature, Wallace starts to think that Hutch might be the were-rabbit. Gromit locks Hutch in a super-secure cage.

Soon after, Gromit discovers the truth: Wallace himself is the Were-Rabbit! Victor, who wants to marry Lady Tottington, finds Wallace in the forest. But Wallace changes into the Were-Rabbit under the full moon and runs away. Gromit cleverly leads Wallace back home to keep him safe. Victor gets three special "24-carat" gold bullets from the Vicar to use against Wallace.

The Final Showdown

On the day of the vegetable competition, Gromit helps Wallace understand that he is indeed the Were-Rabbit. He needs to fix the Mind-o-Matic to undo the curse. Lady Tottington, who has grown fond of Wallace, visits and warns him about Victor's plan. As the moon rises, Wallace starts to change. He quickly tells Lady Tottington to leave.

Victor arrives and tries to shoot Wallace, who is now the Were-Rabbit, with the gold bullets. Gromit creates a distraction by dressing in a rabbit costume, allowing Wallace to escape. Victor chases them to the competition. Gromit works with Hutch, who has started acting like Wallace and loves cheese. Gromit plans to use his giant marrow (a type of squash) as bait to save Wallace.

The Were-Rabbit Wallace causes a lot of chaos at the fair. After using all his gold bullets, Victor grabs the Golden Carrot trophy to use as a final shot. Wallace carries Lady Tottington to the top of Tottington Hall, where she realizes Wallace is the Were-Rabbit. Victor chases them, admitting he only wants Lady Tottington's money. Victor's dog, Philip, and Gromit have an exciting dogfight using planes from a fairground ride. Gromit sends Philip's plane crashing down. Then, Gromit steers his own plane into Victor's line of fire as Victor shoots at Wallace. The bullet hits Gromit's plane instead! The damaged plane falls, and Wallace jumps to catch Gromit, landing safely in a cheese tent.

Victor brags about his victory, but Lady Tottington hits him with her giant carrot, and he falls into the tent. To protect Wallace from the angry townspeople, Gromit quickly disguises Victor as the Were-Rabbit using the rabbit costume. The townspeople chase Victor away! Wallace changes back to his human self and seems to be gone, but Gromit uses some Stinking Bishop cheese to wake him up. Lady Tottington gives Gromit the Golden Carrot. She then turns the grounds of Tottington Hall into a safe home for Hutch and all the other rabbits.

Meet the Voice Cast

Helena Bonham Carter at the film's North American premiere in 2005.

Many talented actors gave their voices to the characters in the film:

• Peter Sallis as Wallace: He's the kind, quirky, and sometimes clumsy inventor who loves cheese. He runs Anti-Pesto with his loyal dog, Gromit.
  • Sallis also voiced Hutch: This rabbit was captured by Anti-Pesto. After a mind-mixing accident, Hutch starts to act and talk just like Wallace!
• Gromit is Wallace's silent, brave, and very smart dog. He always looks out for his master and helps him out of trouble.
• Ralph Fiennes as Lord Victor Quartermaine: A mean, upper-class hunter who wants to marry Lady Tottington. He doesn't like Wallace and Gromit.
  • Philip is Victor's dog. He's fierce but also a bit cowardly and not very smart. He looks like a Bull Terrier and mostly targets Gromit.
• Helena Bonham Carter as Lady Campanula Tottington: A very rich lady who loves growing vegetables and fluffy animals. She hosts the annual vegetable competition. She asks Wallace to call her "Totty" and starts to like him.
• Peter Kay as Police Constable Albert Mackintosh: The local police officer who judges the Giant Vegetable Contest.
• Nicholas Smith as Reverend Clement Hedges: The local vicar who is the first to see the Were-Rabbit.
• Dicken Ashworth and Liz Smith as Mr. and Mrs. Mulch: Vegetable growers and customers of Anti-Pesto.
• Edward Kelsey as Mr. Growbag: An older neighbor of Wallace and Gromit and a founding member of the town's vegetable growers' council.
• Geraldine McEwan as Miss Thripp: Another Anti-Pesto customer.

Movie Music

The music for Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit was created by Julian Nott and produced by Hans Zimmer. Here are the songs from the soundtrack:

All music composed by Julian Nott and produced by Hans Zimmer.

The End of a Partnership

After this movie, the partnership between DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Animations ended. This happened in 2007. Even though Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit earned a lot of money (over $192 million on a $30 million budget), DreamWorks felt it didn't do as well as they hoped.

After the split, Aardman kept full ownership of the film. DreamWorks Animation still has the rights to distribute it around the world. Aardman soon announced they would make another Wallace & Gromit project. This turned out to be a short film called A Matter of Loaf and Death for BBC One.

During the making of Were-Rabbit, Nick Park, one of the directors, mentioned that working with DreamWorks was sometimes difficult. He said they often asked for changes to make the movie more appealing to American children.

See also

In Spanish: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit para niños