The new Wallace & Gromit? It’s like a Robert De Niro thriller….with penguins, says creator Nick Park

WALLACE & Gromit master-mind Nick Park describes his new film as “Cape Fear with penguins” – and only created it so he could share a fun joke about artificial intelligence.

His much-loved animation movie series about the loveable Plasticine pair makes an eagerly awaited Christmas Day return on BBC One after a 16-year hiatus.

Sixth film Vengeance Most Fowl will include fun nods to 1991 psychological thriller Cape Fear, starring Robert De Niro, as well as the release from captivity of a former Wallace & Gromit penguin baddie now hell-bent on revenge.

But Nick, 66, reveals the inspiration for his festive comeback — featuring eccentric inventor Wallace’s latest creation, AI-generated robotic gnome Norbot — began with a two-word gag.

The whole film beganwith a joke...the AI robot was an excuse to have Wallace saying ‘AI, lad!’ to him

Creator Nick Parker

He explained: “I’ve got too many ideas, although the idea for this one came about accidentally.

“It often starts with a joke, a doodle or a sketch — and this time was no different. Creating an AI-generated robot was an excuse to have Wallace saying, ‘AI, lad!’ and we built the whole film around that.”

It is 35 years since his movie saga’s first instalment, 1989 short Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out, and Nick added of the latest film:

“It is also a kind of love letter to the fans and to the legacy of Wallace and Gromit.”

Viewers will see Wallace and Norbot become prime suspects for a crimewave and, while Wallace pleads his innocence, it is up to his loyal beagle Gromit to battle their dastardly penguin nemesis Feathers McGraw.

Eureka moment

Feathers, confined behind zoo bars for 30 years after Wallace and Gromit turned him over to police in the 1993 Oscar-winning short Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers, is now free and plotting to settle a score with the popular pair.

Nick revealed Feathers — another of his Plasticine figures, who disguises himself as a chicken by wearing a red rubber glove on his head — was brought back in a eureka moment as the film’s creative aces brainstormed for a new storyline.

He said: “It sounds crazy, but it was a lightning strike — there was Feathers McGraw on the shelf. We had a wonderfully motivated villain, someone who was put away by Wallace and Gromit. So it became like Cape Fear with penguins.”

“I could never find a good reason or context to bring Feathers back before.”

Nick added: “He’s been in the zoo plotting his revenge for years — that’s what made him such a good villain. There’s a real personal edge to it.

“You’ve got to love your villains, otherwise you can’t tell their story.

“Feathers is that silent, cold, sinister character. I guess it’s the art of minimalism and nuance, and achieving a lot by doing very little.

“You just believe in what he’s thinking, that he’s a totally alive, sinister, enigmatic, mysterious villain.

“Feathers is perfect for what we needed, he answers all the story problems. That’s what we’ve played on big-time with this film.”

Nick also tells how he wanted to bring to kids his own childhood experience of being thrilled watching TV shows such as Doctor Who while hiding nervously behind the sofa.

But he added: “Feathers is a fun villain. We never go to very dark places — it’s cartoon level. I used to love being scared as a child, watching Doctor Who while hiding behind the sofa, so this film is a bit scary but hopefully in a way that’s fun.”

No character has ever died in the Wallace & Gromit films.

Nick said: “We have thought about killing characters off but I try not to go there, so there’s always a chance of redemption.” And the genius movie-maker does not shy away from the issues of the day, including AI.

Nick said of his introduction of Norbot: “Wallace and Gromit are still quaintly old-fashioned, with the modern thread of up-to-date tech, but they won’t get totally up to date, ever.

“If it’s got any kind of serious message it’s really just a question of, ‘Is technology actually taking something away from our human experience or is it enhancing?’.”

Following a hugely successful promotional tour of the US, globally renowned Nick has returned home to Preston, Lancs, where he was born to a seamstress mum and architectural photographer dad.

He insists he has never forgotten his roots nor been seduced by the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.

Nick said: “I never thought playing with Plasticine would lead to going to Tinseltown.”

And he added of his animation characters: “I sometimes have to pinch myself when I hear people on TV reeling off their names, thinking, ‘I just thought of those as a stupid idea as a student, but now they’re like a household name and people quote them all the time’. The warmth for these characters is incredible.”

Nick will watch the Christmas Day special at home with his family in Preston, over a glass of wine and a hot mince pie with cream — like so many of us.

He said: “It’s very much part of my Christmas tradition. I’ll be with my wife and stepson, and we’ll be sitting down to watch it. After that, I’ll have a long lie down.”

He cannot wait to see on screen the results of an 18-month labour of love for him and a team that includes 35 animators.

He said: “People often say, ‘You must need a lot of patience for animation’ . . . which is true.

‘Sad loss of Peter’

“If we had a good week, we’d film about a minute of the film.

“I always think it’s more your loved ones and your friends that need the patience, because they kind of lose you for a while.”

He added of the sure-fire ratings sensation: “Watching when it’s going out live, you feel like you’re watching along with everyone else.

“It’s important, going back to the days when we all watched the same things on telly and talked about them. Wallace & Gromit appeals to such an age range. Grandparents and children can watch it together. I love the idea that it brings families together.”

But it will not be the only TV he will look out for this Christmas.
Nick said: “I’ll also be watching Gavin & Stacey, Doctor Who, and Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing — one of my favourite programmes, as I love the banter.”

Poignantly, the new film will also feature the new voice of cheese-loving Wallace, Ben Whitehead, as he replaces veteran actor Peter Sallis who died in 2017 aged 96.

Peter had played the role since Nick wrote to him while a student in 1983, and the star agreed to work on A Grand Day Out in return for a £50 charity donation. He went on to appear in all the other Wallace & Gromit films — The Wrong Trousers, 1995’s A Close Shave, 2005’s The Curse of The Were-Rabbit and 2008’s A Matter Of Loaf And Death, as well as video games and ads.

But when Peter’s eyesight began to make it hard to read his words, he sometimes asked Ben to step in.

Nick said: “We’ve been so blessed, since the sad loss of Peter, that the character can live on. It’s very much a tribute — and his were very big shoes to step into.

“We’ve known Ben for years — he started off playing a background villager in The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit, and we discovered he could do a fantastic mimic of Wallace.”

He added of filming the latest movie: “Ben is so attentive to the way Peter did everything, so it was the most eerie feeling, as he would start chatting in character, just the way Peter did.

“He’d studied him so much and has it down to a tee. I wonder if audiences will tell the difference.”

Nick also hopes fans will enjoy new creations including Norbot, voiced by Reece Shearsmith.

Nick also persuaded Peter Kay to reprise the part he played in Curse Of The Were-Rabbit, as PC Albert Mackintosh.

Laughing, Nick said of Peter’s screen character, “He’s been promoted, he’s Chief Inspector now,” and added: “Peter has been brilliant He’s a comic legend and to have him say yes is such an honour.”

The film also features cameos from Philomena Cunk comic Diane Morgan and Sir Lenny Henry, and Nick said: “At the end of the day I just want to entertain people, make people laugh and to feel they’ve had a really great time with the characters.”

So can we also expect another film after Vengeance Most Fowl? Well, Nick has no plans to call time.

He said: “If you’ve got that creative impulse you can’t just put your feet up.

“You want to keep trying new things, and Wallace and Gromit keep offering new opportunities so I’ve got no intention of retiring just yet.”

• Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is on Christmas Day at 6.10pm, BBC One