A Grand Day Out
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 The film that started the Wallace & Gromit franchise.
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This page is dedicated to Peter Sallis, who passed away on June 2nd, 2017, and all of the props destroyed in the Aardman warehouse fire of October 10th, 2005. May they rest in peace.
A Grand Day Out with Wallace and Gromit, later marketed as A Grand Day Out, is a 1989 British stop-motion animated short film starring Wallace and Gromit. It was directed, co-written, and animated by Nick Park at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield and Aardman Animations in Bristol.
The short premiered on 4 November 1989, at an animation festival at the Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol. It was first broadcast on 24 December 1990, Christmas Eve, on Channel 4. A Grand Day Out is 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 many other productions.
The short was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1991, but it lost to Creature Comforts, another stop-motion animated short film made by Nick Park and Aardman Animations, also released in 1989.
Plot
While trying to decide where they will spend their bank holiday, cheese-loving inventor Wallace and his dog Gromit run out of cheese. As "everybody knows the Moon is made of cheese", they decide to build a rocket and fly to the Moon. Upon arrival, they begin sampling and gathering cheese, later encountering a coin-operated robot. Wallace inserts a coin, but nothing happens. After he and Gromit leave, the robot comes to life and gathers the dirty plates left at their picnic spot.
The robot discovers Wallace's skiing magazine, and yearns to travel to Earth to ski for itself. It repairs a broken piece of Moon that Wallace had cut off, issues a parking ticket for the rocket, and becomes annoyed by an oil leakage from the craft. The robot sneaks up on Wallace and prepares to strike him, but the money Wallace inserted runs out, and it freezes. Wallace takes the robot's baton as a souvenir, inserts another coin, and prepares to leave with Gromit and the cheese they have gathered.
Returning to life, the robot realizes Wallace and Gromit can bring it to Earth, and follows them. Wallace panics, and he and Gromit retreat into the rocket. Unable to climb up the ladder, the robot cuts into the fuselage using a can opener. Upon entering the dark engine section of the rocket, it lights a match and accidentally ignites some fuel. The resultant explosion throws it off the rocket, and Wallace and Gromit lift off. Initially distraught at losing its chance to go to Earth, the robot fashions discarded rocket fuselage into skis, and skis across the lunar landscape. It waves goodbye to Wallace and Gromit as they return home.
Why It's A Grand Day Out Indeed
- Addressing the elephant in the room, it was a good start to the Wallace and Gromit franchise.
- The animation, while not perfect for Aardman standards, is decent.
- Good British-esque score from Julian Nott.
- "NO CRACKERS GROMIT, WE'VE FORGOTTEN THE CRACKERS!"
- Decent voice acting from Peter Sallis, despite not using a Lancastarian accent and instead using his own Yorkshire accent as usual.
- Impressive sound design, fits the live-action standards.
- The story is well-written and incredibly on point.
- Little to no pop-culture references or product placement.
Bad Qualities
- The audio quality for this film isn't that good as it sounds like some sort of 60's Disney film.
- While the animation is decent, it can feel rather cheesy, but to be fair, this was all done in the National Film and Television School.
Reception
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 100% approval rating based on 20 reviews.
Awards and nominations
In 1991, the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, but it lost to the short Creature Comforts, which was also a creation of Nick Park.
Videos
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