‘Wallace & Gromit’ directors say new film is like ‘Cape Fear’ — with penguins

In Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, the latest stop-motion adventure from Aardman Animations, the beloved duo is back and battling a new foe — “smart” robot gnomes that seemingly have minds of their own.

The franchise’s second feature-length film, from directors Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham, comes nearly 20 years after its first, the Oscar-winning Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The new film, which begins streaming Jan. 3 on Netflix, tackles a subject that’s been playing out even beyond the big screen. What happens when technology gets out of control? And who’s behind it?

“The idea of Wallace inventing a smart gnome was kind of bubbling away many years ago, back on Curse of the Were-Rabbit,” Park told Yahoo Entertainment. However, it was an idea for a 30-minute film, not a feature.

The co-director said that the idea “seemed to lack something, like a more sinister element” that’s always played a role in the Wallace & Gromit films.

“What’s motivating the gnomes? Who’s motivating [them]?” he asked, saying that it couldn’t just be the inventions just going wrong. “You need something a bit more personal.”

That personal element comes in the form of a fan-favorite franchise villain — Feathers McGraw, a clever penguin who first appeared in the 1993 short film Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers and who uses a signature red rubber glove to disguise himself as a chicken.

When the creators settled on Feathers McGraw, who wasn’t originally intended to be in the film, they knew the story “had a lot more legs.”

“It became Cape Fear with penguins all of a sudden,” Park said, referring to the thriller about a released prisoner who’s out for revenge.

“The themes of the story started to really blossom about not just technology and the relationship that we have with it, but also who’s controlling it,” Crossingham added.

As Gromit becomes more concerned with his inventor friend Wallace’s growing dependence on his new tech creation, the film asks whether technology enhances relationships or diminishes them in ways we’re not aware of.

“We’re definitely not saying tech is bad, not at all,” Crossingham said. “‘Cause we love tech as much as the next person, but it’s just asking the question about that balance.”

The film has since been nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Motion Picture — Animated category.

Park and Crossingham were sitting down to a goodbye lunch with some of the Vengeance Most Fowl crew when they learned the news.

“We just had some champagne poured” when the nominations were announced on Dec. 9, Crossingham said. “and so it was a fortuitous moment. We raised a glass.”

“It’s just amazing to be nominated,” Park added. “You don’t make these things for awards, really. Just being nominated is an accolade in itself and a reward for all those incredible craftspeople and artists that worked on the movie.”

More than 200 crew members worked on the film, which took about five years to complete. With each animator producing 4.2 seconds of animation per week on average, 30 animators produced about 127 seconds of animation weekly during peak production time, ultimately creating a 79-minute feature film.

So what gets left out in the process, especially in the case of such a beloved franchise?

Park and Crossingham said they didn’t want to be “too gross” or “too dark” and definitely decided not to include swearing.

“We’re trying to maintain their innocence without them being cutesy innocent,” Crossingham said. Park called their work “gentle humor that’s observational.”

“Wallace is very well-meaning. He’s not got an agenda. He’s not trying to be nasty. It’s just his faults make him, and Gromit have that friction in their relationship,” Crossingham said.

“It’s kind of mild-mannered. He’s mild-mannered. He’s not in-your-face,” Park added.

When the film debuted at Hollywood’s AFI Fest in October, audiences cheered when Feathers McGraw appeared onscreen.

So would the filmmakers consider a spinoff featuring the popular villain?

“I think if the good idea falls out of the sky into our lap, then why not?” Crossingham said. “Otherwise not. He needs to remain special.”

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl starts streaming Jan. 3 on Netflix.

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