Wallace & Gromit's Cracking Contraptions

If you want a quick fix of the loveliness that is Wallace and Gromit, then these should do the trick.

Each focusing on a 'cracking contraption' Wallace has dreamed up, these are a lot of fun.

These Wallace and Gromit short clips were originally broadcast over the BBC web site in 2002, and they featured Wallace demonstrating many different inventions to Gromit. These shorts were developed as a test (and to practice animation) before the full-length film was in production. They used these as a sort of training before making the film.

These short clips were enjoyable and clever in their own right. However, they are not very memorable. The only one that seems to stick with me in any way or form is Wallace and Gromit playing tennis with some sort of automatic tennis player.

Die-hard Wallace and Gromit fans and any fan of this technique of animation would enjoy these, but I would recommend the Wallace and Gromit shorts 'The Wrong Trousers' and 'The Close Shave' to anyone who hasn't seen Wallace and Gromit.

In a series of very short films, Wallace the inventor demonstrates his newest inventions to his faithful dog Gromit. Some are useful but more often than not they cause more trouble than they're worth. Trouble that usually has to be remedied by Gromit.

Who doesn't like W&G? For at least three Christmas times on the BBC we had a new 30 minute film from them that was always wonderful but now I understand they are working on a full length film they haven't been making them for the BBC anymore. Happily Christmas 2002 was different as they made a series of very short (3 minutes generally) films to be shown randomly throughout the BBC1 schedule. I wasn't able to see all of them but saw a few.

Generally they are clever, witty and to the point - a western-style stand-off between a cracker hoover and Gromit was a nice touch, and there are other examples in each short or their unique touches. It's always pleasing to hear Sallis as Gromit - I enjoy Last of the Summer Wine and Wallace just reminds me so much of Sallis' character in that.

I don't know where you are able to see these shorts. I suspect they will be made into a 30 minute video for sale or will turn up as extras on the DVD of the feature length movie at a later stage. By themselves they are just about worth trying to find - but at 3 minutes they'll be tricky. However spread over the Christmas schedule these were quite refreshing little treats.

... says Wallace to his faithfull dog Gromit in one of the 10 short clips 'Cracking Contraptions' contains. So the machines do the work: from going shopping to changing the channel and from building a snowman to making diner. It comes as no surprise these inventions aren't faultless...

Obviously, with a set-up like this, one likes the one story better than the other, and my favorite is the first one, with a robot doing shopping. Second favorite: the vacuum cleaner. The least bit in my opinion is the robot chef. But overall the stories are amusing and the clay animations incredible. They make up for a very fun 18 minutes or so, although it's not the level of geniality 'The Wrong Trousers' was in my opinion.

8/10.

This is a series of little sketches that feature Wallace testing out a series of new inventions. Naturally, they pretty much always go wrong in one way or another.

For what they are, they are amusing enough. Brief set up... silly nonsense... end. Not much more to it.

It is always nice to see Wallace and Gromit as they have actually got surprisingly few films given how long they have been around. But... due to the incredibly short length, these shorts just don't hold a candle to any of the longer projects.

Obviously, there is no time to build up any emotion... the jokes are swift... the background gags are minimal. Everything that you would expect from Wallace & Gromit is there... just significantly less than normal.