Hey, It's Almost Time for the Annie Awards!

Alright, by now you should know the drill, the Annie Awards are announced, I'm going to give my opinion on them, I'm gonna be wrong come awards night, nobody will actually care. To be fair, I do love sharing my predictions because I just have that gambling urge, and since I'm not putting any money on these predictions, I never technically lose. In all seriousness, this is my third year giving Annie Award predictions, and I enjoy doing this because, really for the same reason people enjoy making predictions about the Oscars or the Grammys or the Emmys or what-not, because we do genuinely love a lot of the things that are being nominated, and we have a deep love for cinema or music or animation, so we want to share that love in the ways we know and enjoy; through competition.

If you're new, my format for this is pretty easy to grasp, I introduce each category and give my thoughts on the nominees, which one I think will win, which one I'd like to see win, and which one I think is the least likely to get the award. I only cover the categories for features because, first off those are the ones I actually have opinions on, and secondly, if I did the other categories this blog would be a slog to read through. Of course, I also want to stress that I don't honestly care all that much, I've said it before and I'll say it again, awards don't typically mean that much. Last year, Across the Spider-Verse practically swept the ceremony, but Nimona is still the better movie, fight me. With that said, let's get to the good stuff.

BEST FEATURE

All in all, a fairly strong selection of nominees this year. I think the only nominee that I don't see winning is That Christmas, which to be fair I haven't seen. I also haven't seen Inside Out 2, but I think it has a decently strong case to walk away with this award, it has a better case than Kung Fu Panda 4 does anyway. I liked Kung Fu Panda 4, but let's be real, it's only winning this award as a fluke, especially compared to The Wild Robot. If I had to put money on any one movie winning this award, it would be The Wild Robot. Ultraman: Rising is also a decently strong one, but I just thought the movie was okay at best. If I had to really give them a ranking, Inside Out 2 would be in third place for most likely to win this award, Kung Fu Panda 4 would be fifth, That Christmas would be sixth, The Wild Robot would be first, Ultraman: Rising would be fourth, and that leaves second place to Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. It wouldn't be unprecedented, Curse of the Were-Rabbit won in 2005, it also won the Best Animated Feature Film at the 78th Academy Awards, won nine other Annie Awards, won the Best British Film award at the British Academy Film Awards, like it just won a whole lot of awards, like Wallace & Gromit absolutely collect at award shows, A Grand Day Out and A Matter of Loaf and Death were the only Wallace & Gromit short films to not win the Best Animated Short Film Oscar, and A Grand Day Out was still beaten by a different Nick Park short film. I'm just saying, The Wild Robot is the safe bet, Wallace & Gromit is the easy next pick.

 BEST FEATURE - INDEPENDENT

So, as usual I didn't actually see a whole lot of these movies. I saw Flow, and that was it. To be fair, it won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film, and it won a whole bunch of other awards, so I think it's a fairly safe bet that Flow will win. If I had to pick my next pick, I've heard good things about Memoirs of a Snail, so I think I'll go with that. I haven't seen, or even really heard of, the other nominees, but I'm sure they're all worthy of the award.

BEST FX - FEATURE

Let's see, Kung Fu Panda 4? Not likely to win this award. Moana 2, even less likely. Frankly, I think the Annie Awards are just giving lip service to Disney sometimes. The Wild Robot is very much likely to take home this award, and I can also see Ultraman: Rising walking away with it. Though, I'm actually going out on a limb and going to say that the safe bet is Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. Again, Wallace & Gromit just collect awards, but also when it comes to visual effects, Aardman usually gets a lot of good praise, so I'm going to pick Wallace & Gromit as my safe bet for this category.

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION - FEATURE

Again, I think Wallace & Gromit has a good chance with this one, again it's because of Aardman. However, I think I'm gonna give the safe bet to The Wild Robot, but frankly I thin it could go to either movie really. I'm kind of impressed Kung Fu Panda 4 is getting a lot of nominations too, it just feels like pitting The Great Khali against The Big Show, like you know which is the better movie of the two immediately. Actually, I think a more apt comparison would be Giant Gonzalez against The Big Show, but that's getting into wrestling history and you're not here for that. Also, Inside Out 2 and Moana 2 are also nominated, I'll give Inside Out 2 third place again.

BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION - LIVE ACTION

Every year I talk about this one for a throw-away that I'm only kind of half-serious about. Still would have loved to live in a universe where I can factually say "Annie Award winning movie Cocaine Bear", but I digress. I think I'll give the safe bet to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

BEST CHARACTER DESIGN - FEATURE

For once, Inside Out 2 is no longer the third most likely to win this award, it has graduated all the way up to second most likely to win this award. Yeah, I don't imagine that many movies are going to win against The Wild Robot, but to be fair, I don't think there really is a "Safe Bet" so to speak for this category, not because all the movies in this category are worthy of the award, but because this one really is down to a matter of taste. That Christmas is also nominated, shame I didn't check that one out. There is also Spellbound which... I can kind of see it walking away with this award, but it doesn't look like anything special. Finally, there is a movie called "Scarygirl" that is nominated and it looks... Well, this is for character design so maybe.

BEST DIRECTION - FEATURE

Chicken for Linda! is our first nominee and... yeah I haven't even heard of this movie, it won a couple of awards, only losing on three nominations, so that's impressive. I'll have to add this movie to my... growing list of movies to check out. Flow is also nominated, and I can see this one taking home the award, the direction of this movie was really good. That Christmas gets another nomination, was it really that good? Of course, I think The Wild Robot is going to be the safe bet, that and Wallace & Gromit as well. I'm not saying it's unlikely that Flow or even Chicken for Linda will get this award, but Chris Sanders and Nick Park are established names in the industry so it's going to be pretty big if they both lose to an Indie film, and frankly it would be kind of amazing.

BEST MUSIC - FEATURE

Hmm, I haven't seen that awful Lord of the Rings movie show up here yet, not complaining, just thought it was worth noting. There's always that one movie you think is going to get some nominations but is almost completely ignored (cough Wish cough). Anyway, we have another movie I haven't heard of here, Kensuke's Kingdom. Piece By Piece also gets its first nominee here, and... I dunno, this one kind of feels like cheating. That Christmas gets another nominee, there is also always that one movie that just gets a lot of nominations. Again, I think the safe pick is The Wild Robot, followed by Wallace & Gromit. I think this is the most thought I've ever put into this category so far.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN - FEATURE

Umm... Call me crazy, but I don't think there is really one "Safe Bet" here, I mean sure The Wild Robot is obvious, but it shares the bench with Inside Out 2, Ultraman: Rising and Wallace & Gromit, I think the only safe bet is that That Christmas won't be taking home the award.

BEST STORYBOARDING - FEAUTRE

Holy wow, Despicable Me 4 has a nominee? As does Saving Bikini Bottom? They must have really been desperate to fill this one. It says something when I genuinely think the safest bet here is That Christmas, because Moana 2 and Spellbound do not come off as Annie award winners to me, but I haven't seen either of them so what would I know? I just know that this award might be the least interesting to many viewers.

BEST VOICE ACTING - FEATURE

Mélinée Leclerc gets a nomination for her performance in Chicken for Linda, Maya Hawke gets a nod for Anxiety in Inside Out 2, The Wild Robot has two nominees this year, Lupita Nyong'o as Roz and Kit Connor as Brightbill, and Brian Tyree Henry has a nod for Megatron in Transformers One. Is this really the first nomination Transformers One has? Fascinating. Anyway, I think The Wild Robot is the safe bet again, but Inside Out 2 might be the next pick for me.

BEST WRITING - FEATURE

Wow, Flow got nominated for the category? That is hilarious, wouldn't it be absolutely funny is the movie with no dialogue got this award? And yes, I know that writing doesn't just mean dialogue, but it's heavily associated with dialogue at the very least. Other nominees include Inside Out 2, Kensuke's Kingdom and Memoirs of a Snail. I think I'll take a risk and suggest Memoirs of a Snail will win this award, but that is very much not the safe bet pick here.

BEST EDITORIAL - FEATURE

Oh this category, I never like predicting for this category. Let's see, we have Inside Out 2, Moana 2, The Wild Robot, Ultraman: Rising and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. Umm... The Wild Robot, maybe Wallace & Gromit, I don't want to come off as a fanboy championing a movie that has little chance, but like... Ultraman wasn't that good and I didn't watch Inside Out 2, and I have zero interest in anything Moana related, so I wouldn't have any opinions on that.

I think because 2024 was just kind of a "meh" year for animated cinema, the awards do kind of have to nominate the same handful of movies for each category this year. Like, I don't think Kung Fu Panda 4 was bad, but I don't think it will walk away with any awards this ceremony. Same with things like Ultraman, Moana 2, and seriously, how the Hell did Saving Bikini Bottom and Despicable Me 4 get a nomination? How did Transformers One only get one nomination? Okay, to be fair, Transformers One isn't exactly the kind of movie that award ceremonies would be lauding, but still, it could get thrown a bone for Storyboarding? The second worst SpongeBob movie and the most mediocre Illumination movie were more worthy of that award than Transformers One? Anyway, I don't expect The Wild Robot to be a total sweeper like Across the Spider-Verse was, but at the same time, I would not be surprised if it was.

Wallace & Gromit: Where Vengeance Succeeds and Were-Rabbit Fails

I have said it before, I am a huge fan of Wallace & Gromit. They were an instrumental part in shaping my love for animation. As a kid, you really enjoy the slapstick and goofy gags, but as an adult, you really do appreciate the cinematography and the writing, as well as the slapstick and goofy gags. So I, like many fans of the Claymation duo, was pretty excited to see that they were not only getting a new feature film, but there would also be a returning villain from the shorts. True, I did have some reservations, avoiding the trailers meant that I was not going to have an opinion on Ben Whitehead until I actually watched the movie, and, y'know there is always that bit of hesitation when a movie for an old I.P. is announced, like that voice in the back of your mind that keeps saying "They better not have messed this up, they better not have messed this up!" and it's always there at the back of your mind. So, with all that said, what did I think of the new Wallace & Gromit movie, "Vengeance Most Fowl"?

I think it's better than Curse of the Were-Rabbit to be honest. Curse of the Were-Rabbit was not bad, but it did have a few shortcomings that really kept me from fully loving it. While I don't fully love Vengeance either, I think with a few more watches I might grow to.

First thing I want to talk about is the movie on its own merits, because I do want to discuss why I think it's good on it's own before I compare it to the previous movie. Vengeance Most Fowl is almost like a love letter to Wallace & Gromit fans in places, lots of small references like Feathers McGraw clicking on the Moon for a Captcha asking about cheese, because the moon is canonically cheese in the Wallace & Gromit universe, or even the farmer from Shaun the Sheep cameoing, they're all really cute nods that aren't intrusive to newcomers. They are exactly as a nod to fans should be, something cute that fans will chuckle at without constantly winking to the audience. On top of that, I do think Ben Whitehead did a good job replacing the late Peter Sallis, I mean he did so in the Tell-Tale games, which I haven't played that much of, but I think he did a really good job in the movie. Plus, the cinematography of this movie, Feathers McGraw was the perfect antagonist to bring back because the camera and lighting work perfectly to make this adorable little penguin one of the most intimidating villains on screen, which is a joke in and of itself. Plus, I really like the diversity of the movie, they don't bring major attention to the fact that Wallace has an Indian neighbour, or that the new police character is also likely Indian or Arab, it just is a thing that is accepted, and that's great.

So, why do I think it's better than Curse of the Were-Rabbit? Well first off, my biggest problem with Were-Rabbit was that, when the third act rolled around, it wasn't as fun as the first two acts, and I believe that is largely because in act three, Wallace & Gromit became just Gromit. Gromit is a fantastic character, don't get me wrong, but a lot of the entertainment and comedy from Gromit comes from his interactions with other characters, and Gromit didn't really interact that much with others in most of Act Three of Were-Rabbit. Here, Gromit is very rarely far from a character to interact with, Wallace, Feathers, even the new Gnome Robot gets some good scenes with him. The scene where Gromit is spying on Feathers as he escapes the zoo, only for Feathers to look his way and wave him off, that was really good.

On the topic of Feathers, yeah, there is a reason he is one of most beloved characters in the Wallace & Gromit franchise, the immediate joke of such an adorable little penguin being treated as such an intimidating presence is, on its own incredibly hilarious. This movie really ups that joke with great camera work and character animation. Matt Groening, in A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman, called the introduction of Feather McGraw in The Wrong Trousers "Hitchcockian" even noting a specific scene that he has always wanted to ape from The Simpsons. Just imagine, all that admiration from a thirty-minute short film. I can see an argument being made that it's a lot more heavy handed now, where as there was a simple elegance to the introduction in The Wrong Trousers, but I think that it fits. Again, the joke is just so fantastic, there are genuine moments that I was laughing because of how well they played their cards in making this penguin an intimidating menace.

Speaking of the visuals, I kind of prefer the look of this movie to Were-Rabbit too. It looked fantastic, don't get me wrong, but there is just something about Vengeance's animation that vibes with me better. It genuinely felt like perfect middle ground between the original short films and feature length polish, I don't know how to explain it. I think the only nitpick I have with the animation is this very obviously CG explosion at the end of the climax, which looked rather out of place and uncanny. I get why they did it though, it was undoubtedly much easier, possibly cheaper, to do it in CG than to do it all in Claymation, but it just didn't mesh. Still, that is like, the one nitpick of this movie's visual look, the movie looks fantastic, polished and just as charming as the original short films.

I don't want this blog to come off as "Now that this movie is out, Curse of the Were-Rabbit is no longer worth watching" because that simply isn't true. Were-Rabbit is still a really good movie, it just had a few shortcomings that I think Vengeance Most Fowl managed to evade. Both movies are still really good, but if I had to pick which one was better, I would have to pick Vengeance Most Fowl. I feel like Were-Rabbit tried to be a lot bigger than it needed to, while this one was just as big as it needed to be. Still, I must recommend watching the original short films first, just to get a good feel of what Wallace & Gromit is. I still think A Grand Day Out and The Wrong Trousers are the peak of Wallace & Gromit, but I'll admit, this one comes pretty close.

Top 10 Single Role Wonder Voice Actors

So, I'm away from my computer for the time being, I can't really watch anything or write anything, so I've decided to touch up and old post I never published. I came up with this idea in late 2022, I didn't publish it for a couple reasons, but because I can't really write anything new, I decided to finally push this one out. I should be able to write new stuff next week.

In music, the term One Hit Wonder refers to, multiple things under the same umbrella, but mostly a band or artist who is only known for one song. That song could have been a major hit, it could have been a minor hit, it could have been one of many hits, but it is all completely overshadowed compared to one song. Think of songs like "Take on Me" or Alien Ant Farm's cover of "Smooth Criminal". The term has become a catch-all for most things in the entertainment world, directors, video game developers, and actors. I kinda wanted to do something similar, especially because voice actors can be linked to one role forever.

It tends not to be something you really think about, but then you remember, if someone brought up Clancy Brown, your immediate thought would most likely be Mr. Krabs on SpongeBob, unless your a fan of The Shawshank Redemption. There are many voice actors like Frank Welker, Tara Strong and Tim Curry who can really deliver unique voices and can disappear into their roles, and there are some voice actors like Patrick Warburton and Tom Kenny who are often recognizable, but have enough roles under their belt that you can recognize them beyond Family Guy or SpongeBob SquarePants. Some voice actors, aren't always that lucky.

I think my major rule for this list is that, while these actors can have other roles, they are mostly known for one role. Like, if I were to say "Tom Kenny", you could easily name SpongeBob, Spyro, Ice King and a bunch of other roles. If I were to say any of these voice actors, you would only really recognize them for their best known role. We are going to play a little fast and loose with the definition here, but in general all the rules will be adhered to. So, here are ten Single Role Wonders in Voice Acting.

#10. Jim Hanks as Sheriff Woody

A big part of being a one-hit wonder, or a single role wonder in this case, is having one major thing and not having anything else that massive, in music this often leads to chasing the success of the big hit, but you can't really do that in acting... unless you're major gig is literally providing the voice for your brother. When you're the brother of one of the most beloved and successful actors with a very recognizable voice, it must feel weird to be called in as his sound alike, right? Major props to Jim Hanks for stepping in, and whenever someone needs a Tom Hanks voice, he is always up there, though he is usually stepping in to do the voice for Sheriff Woody. Though he has stepped in for Tom on other occasions, like when The Polar Express got a video game, and he has quite a few live action credits to his name, in voice acting it's Woody, Woody, Woody, and apparently an episode of Milo Murphy's Law. Credit due, he never seems upset about it, like he can do a good impression of his brother and has made a good career out of it, but this is definitely one of those cases where I can sum up most of his career with one role.

#9. Alan Young as Scrooge McDuck

Something you should really consider when you talk about Single Role Wonders in acting, is their performances in other mediums. Some people might consider Mark Hamill a Single Role Wonder since his biggest role is Luke Skywalker, but when you consider his voice acting career, voicing the likes of The Joker, Fire lord Ozai, Skips on Regular Show and quite a few voices on Metalocalypse, you can't really consider him as such since none of those are minor roles. So, one could almost not consider Alan Young for this list either, since some people might now him as Farmer Wilbur on Mister Ed, but for most of you, you'll probably only know him as the voice of Scrooge McDuck. It really does do a massive disservice to the man's nearly eight decade long career, but that is another thing about one hit wonders, the big thing everyone knows you for can change, and though there are plenty of roles under Alan Young's belt, the one everyone will know him for is the money loving miser, old Uncle Scrooge.

#8. David Eccles as Krumm

Here is an odd one, David Eccles is a fairly obscure name in media, though according to his IMDb, he did a lot of sound editing for cartoons, and Metal Gear Solid, and did some composing work. As a voice actor, he has not done a lot, and even then he only appears in a couple episodes of what he is actually in, save for one show. You may not be able to tell what episodes of The Wild Thornberrys or Rugrats he's in, but when I tell you he is the voice of Krumm on Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, that's when you recognize his voice. I don't know why he didn't go into more voice acting, maybe he didn't like it as much as sound editing, maybe he didn't want to be type casted, then again he has largely disappeared from film entirely, according to his IMDb, his last job was in 2008 for a short film called "Kidnapping Terry". Whatever he's up to, I hope he's enjoying it.

#7. Thom Huge as Jon Arbuckle

There has got to be something said for voice actors who pretty much voice an entire cast of characters on one show. Hank Azaria and Harry Shearer have multiple well-loved voices on The Simpsons, but you can find them in other places. Thom Huge has never left Garfield, and despite voicing everyone from Binky the Clown to Roy Rooster on U.S. Acres, the one character who he is completely tied to will forever be the dorky loser owner of Garfield, Jon Arbuckle. It's always sad when a really good voice actor doesn't get to stretch out into other roles, but in this case it may be sadder. Thom left voice acting after Lorenzo Music died in 2001, and frankly, Lorenzo and Thom were like Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, you can't top them and they're an iconic pair. Whatever Thom is doing now, I'm sure he has no regrets about being part of one of the biggest pop culture franchises in the world.

#6. Colin O'Meara as Tintin

Lots of recognizable names on this list, so lets go with one more who is less recognizable, at least this name may not be so recognizable if you aren't a reader of my blog, because this is a name I've brought up before. For many of us in the English speaking world, Colin O'Meara was our Tintin, and his decidedly not at all Belgian voice was the voice of Tintin for many I would imagine. It's amusing because the show had quite a Canadian cast, but some of the actors on this show would be recognizable to most, like Wayne Robson who played Mike Hamar on The Red Green Show, or Maureen Forrester who was an Opera Singer. Colin O'Meara would probably not be too recognized beyond his role as Tintin, unless you're a massive fan of Cadillacs and Dinosaurs. His Wikipedia page, which is literally half a paragraph long, also claims he was in Sailor Moon, but citation is needed on that one.

#5. Dan Povenmire as Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz

You can't really consider voice actors for this list who debuted in shows from the 2000s, mostly because they still have plenty of time to really find more roles and get some more notoriety. It does however, kind of stop mattering when your big role is one of the most beloved villains in cartoon history, and when you revel in that iconic role you are kind of admitting that you're okay with being known for one single role. However, to be absolutely fair to Dan Povenmire, voice acting really isn't his major gig, as he was an animation director on both Family Guy and SpongeBob SquarePants, and he wrote The Campfire Song Song. When you look at Dan Povenmire's credits, it's very clear that voicing Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz is just kind of a bonus to his already outstanding career as an animator, director, writer and producer. Keep on keeping on, good sir.

#4. Arleen Sorkin as Harley Quinn

...Well this just got sad... I came up with this idea early in November of 2022, and I sat on it for a while after it was written because... well you'll see why, but in that time Arleen Sorkin also passed away. I want to make it clear, calling these actors "Single Role wonders" is not meant to be an insult, if anything it's kind of a celebration of how iconic their most well-known roles really are.

I can't really imagine having one major role would be that upsetting to voice actors. I don't think Tom Kenny is losing sleep over voicing Nickelodeon's most iconic character. I can imagine voicing the same character could get repetitive, but when you are also the inspiration to one of the most beloved Batman characters since the comics, I can't really imagine you'd be that mad. Arleen Sorkin was a big inspiration behind Batman villain Dr. Harleen Quinzel, otherwise known as Harley Quinn, and to suggest that the character isn't a pop culture icon would be untrue. People have argued about her portrayals as if she has always been a part of Batman, and for a lot of people, she was. Voicing the character as recently as 2011, it can only be fair to say that Arleen Sorkin gave the character a lot of the personality and mannerisms we associate with our favourite clown woman. Voicing a character that becomes bigger than anyone could really imagine is not something one should sneer at.

#3. Casey Kasem as Shaggy Rogers

Casey Kasem is easily one of the most recognizable names in radio, but when it comes to animation, some radio personalities have managed to be recognized as voice actors, such as June Foray who has many voice acting credits under her belt. However, there is one major role that Casey Kasem has under his belt, a role that everyone adores to this day, one Norville Rogers, otherwise known as Shaggy. Voicing the character since 1969 and up to 2010, Casey Kasem has been the voice of Shaggy Rogers for so long, even singing for a BBC Children in Need Medley by Peter Kay. It's hard to imagine anyone else taking over the role, though Scott Innes and Matthew Lillard have also become quite synonymous with the character. Casey Kasem also did Cliffjumper on the original Transformers series, but left during the third season, so he's got other roles, but to many he is, and always will be, Shaggy Rogers.

#2. Peter Sallis as Wallace

British television has an odd place in American Pop Culture. Considering that very little dubbing needs to take place to import these shows, it could be argued that England has had a big impact on American television. Lots of Americans will know names like Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, David Tennant, and oddly enough Peter Sallis. It really shouldn't be so surprising to think that the voice of our favourite cheese loving hair-brained inventor Wallace is one of the most iconic voices in animation, after all he's voiced the character in four shorts, a full short series, a theatrical movie, and a couple of video games. Any other role he's done, again, gets a little overshadowed by the fact that you can sum up his career as "he was the original voice of Wallace from Wallace & Gromit". It also doesn't hurt that Gromit himself has no voice, which gives Peter Sallis a large part of the spotlight in the shorts. Quite the cracking role, eh lads?

#1. Kevin Conroy as Batman

Oh... I'm going to get in some hot water for this one. Remember how I said I originally came up with this concept in early November of 2022, well one of the reasons I shelved it was because Kevin Conroy had passed away, and I didn't want to imply that his entire career revolved around a singular character. However, we need to be real here, he was the voice of The Batman in animation for so long because he was one of the best Batman actors. For many of us, the answer of who is the best live action Batman is tricky to answer since there have been some great ones, but there is only one answer for who the best animated Batman is, and that is Kevin Conroy. His effortless switching between the caped crusader and Bruce Wayne made him blend into the role so perfectly, that there really is no argument, for many animation fans, Kevin Conroy is Batman, and that is the role he will forever be remembered for.

Well that was... sad. Honourable Mentions!

1. Mel Blanc - I wanted to include him because he is mostly known for his role in the Looney Tunes cartoons, but he was also the voice of Barney Rubble on The Flintstones.

2. Carlo Bonomi - A voice actor you probably don't recognize, mostly because the character he voiced didn't really speak, more or less. However, the mumblings and Noots of Pingu will always be in our hearts.

3. Yeardley Smith - You don't really get to be a main cast member on The Simpsons and not have that role dominate your career, especially if that role is Lisa Simpson.

4. Alex Borstein - You may recognize her as the voice of Lois Griffin on Family Guy, but people seem to like her in The Bad Guys too, maybe it's a bit early to call this one.

5. Bill Farmer - Voicing a Disney character as iconic as Goofy might over-shadow other roles, but in this house, we respect Hop Pop.

6. Peter Cullen - He was on this list until the last minute, while Optimus Prime will forever be his most well-known role, he has some other roles that some may know him for, like Eeyore or Monterey Jack.

7. Dan Castellaneta - If Peter Cullen can qualify for this list, Homer Simpson can too, though some respect for Grandpa Phil too. 

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) - A Fun and Charming Mystery with an Iconic Duo

 

I love Wallace & Gromit. When I was a kid, my Dad had the first three shorts on VHS, actually we still have them. A Grand Day Out is my favourite of the three, the absurdity and imagination of it was probably one of the key sparks that ignited my love for animation, alongside SpongeBob, Disney and Eddsworld. So, in 2005, when I saw the TV Spots for the Wallace & Gromit movie, of course I was excited. I don't remember if we went to see this in theatres, we might have, but I don't remember. All I remember seeing from the movie at that time was the advert that had a montage of characters getting slammed into things after the narrator said "Smashing". That is a weird thing to remember. However, is this lack of memory because the movie wasn't that great, or because I was a wee lad in a time long ago that not many people in my life could remember?

(EDIT: My Dad has confirmed that yes, we have gone to see this movie in theatres. I was very young at the time so it is most likely that is the reason I did not remember if I did.)

Wallace & Gromit were a series of claymation shorts following a middle aged man named Wallace and his highly intelligent dog Gromit. Wallace works the odd job, but his passion mostly lies with inventing and tinkering with gadgets, and cheese. It's essentially the classic dynamic of the zany guy and the down to earth guy that has to bail him out of the trouble he's caused, think Daffy and Porky in the Duck Dodgers short or early Family Guy Peter and Brian, actually I wouldn't be shocked if Seth Macfarlane initially based Peter and Brian off of Wallace & Gromit. The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is not much different, it follows Wallace & Gromit as they work as a humane pest removal agency. After one successful job, Wallace gets the idea to attempt to rehabilitate the rabbits so they would dislike eating vegetables, which unfortunately works a bit too well, as after a lab mishap, Wallace ends up becoming a massive Rabbit monster which terrorizes the town just days before a vegetable fair. While the duo try to trap the beast, another man, a hunter named Victor Quartermaine, also tries to hunt the beast, and kill it. The plot is very much in the spirit of the classic shorts, I could see this plot working in a 30 minute short, or even as two shorts. It would take a lot of rewriting, but I could see it working. So, the question is, does this plot work as a feature? Honestly, yes and no.

I really liked the mystery of the movie, and how they kept throwing red herrings to misdirect you. As soon as the viewer can put the pieces together, they stop trying to hide the reveal and it becomes... something? There's some classic monster movie elements, and pretty fun climax, there's also a romantic subplot that features prominently in the movie. Not that the third act is bad, but it was here I mostly felt indifferent to the movie. I think it's because most of the third act is just Gromit, the villains and the townsfolk, and Gromit is a great character, but he doesn't really interact with anyone outside of Victor's dog for the most part. A lot of what makes Wallace & Gromit charming is Wallace & Gromit, so when it is Wallace & Gromit, it can be as fun and charming as the original shorts, but when it's not, it is still fun, but not as much. You might think the extra characters would add something, but they don't really. The original Wallace & Gromit shorts are actually quite barren and devoid of people, I mean, they were thirty-minute claymation shorts that probably had a small budget, so there really couldn't be that many other characters in the shorts. I don't know if the extra characters were an issue to write, but they don't actually contribute much, save for the Vicar, who hands down has a lot of the best scenes in the movie.

On the topic of "Issues", the production of the movie was a bit of a nightmare from what I have heard. In fact, DreamWorks kept trying to make the movie more "Americanized" and even tried to recast the late Peter Sallis as Wallace. Peter Sallis and Wallace are like Jim Henson and Kermit, Tom Kenny and SpongeBob, Clarence Nash as Donald Duck, not an irreplaceable role, but if you don't get the right actor, fans will notice. Thankfully, Aardman were adamant that Sallis played Wallace, and I think that was the right call. They did get some good talent as well, with Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter, the casting is solid and they all do good performances. I also want to give a shoutout to Julian Nott who did a very fine score for this movie. I even heard bits of the classic Wallace & Gromit theme during the climax music, that was a nice touch. Of course, production by Hans Zimmer is just icing on the cake.

Claymation, and most stop motion really, has a reputation for being uncanny, off-putting and even scary to many viewers. On the one hand, I get it, it can be weird to watch. However, if you can out aside any of those strange feelings, the animation of this movie is quite excellent. This was Aardman's second movie they did with DreamWorks, the first being Chicken Run, and it's clear they took advantage of the bigger budget, and fancier equipment. There are camera pans and shots that would never have worked on a budgeted short, but look fantastic in a movie. Good camera motion is always something that blows my mind in stop motion, because you have to move the puppets and the camera at the same time, and it has to look right. Plus, I actually really like seeing the textures on the puppets, I dunno, it just makes it feel more real, I can't explain it. I do think some of the characters have some weird designs, I am not a fan of characters with really big lips unless they're meant to be non-human, but as a whole, the visuals are quite nice.

As a Wallace & Gromit fan, I have my issues with the movie, but it is nice to see one of my favourite duos in animation get a big budget feature length adventure. If you're new to Wallace & Gromit, I'd recommend you check out the original shorts, those are A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave, plus A Matter of Loaf and Death, which came out in 2008. I'd save this movie for after you've seen the shorts. I think the attempt to make a "Bigger" Wallace & Gromit short was admirable, but when you take something as simple as Wallace & Gromit and make it bigger, somethings just won't always sit right. Still, it does retain a lot of the charm that made Wallace & Gromit work, maybe at the cost of the simplicity. As a fan, I had some fun with this movie, though I don't love it as much as the original shorts, if this movie is on, I wouldn't mind killing some time with it. If you like Stop-motion animation, British Animation or want to try something a bit different, I can safely say I recommend this movie.