The creator of Aardman‘s Wallace & Gromit has said this is “certainly not the end” for everyone’s favorite stop-motion duo, as he pays tribute to the late Peter Sallis on the eve of their latest outing.
“It’s certainly not the end,” Nick Park told the BBC. “I think there’s plenty of bounce still in their bungee. We’ll carry on. There’s always ideas worth kicking about.”
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl director Merlin Crossingham, however, stressed: “Give us a minute though. They take a while to make.”
Vengeance Most Fowl launches on Christmas Day on the BBC and early next year on Netflix. In a nod to the dangers of AI, the feature will see Wallace and Gromit’s friendship put to the test by the former’s invention of a smart gnome called Norbot, who takes on a life of his own, wreaking havoc in the process. The movie sees the revival of arch-villain Feathers McGraw, who terrified kids in 1993’s The Wrong Trousers.
Vengeance Most Fowl is part of one of the buzziest UK TV Christmas Day lineups for years, which also features the finale of Gavin & Stacey. “Bring it on, Gavin & Stacey,” joked Crossingham.
Beloved by audiences for generations, Wallace & Gromit has not aired for nearly 20 years since 2005’s The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, which starred Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter.
Vengeance Most Fowl will be the first not to feature Sallis, who had voiced Wallace since 1989’s A Grand Day Out. He died aged 96 in 2017.
Park paid tribute to Sallis. “It has been quite emotional since we lost Peter, he was such an original, unique voice,” he added, crediting Sallis’ replacement Ben Whitehead for possessing a “fantastic Wallace impersonation.”
