User Reviews

Finally! After years of being pinned down creatively by the nasty corporates at Dreamworks, Nick Park is back at doing what he does best - and it's not a disappointment! A Matter of Loaf and Death runs a similar storyline to that of 'A Close Shave'... Wallace and Gromit are running their own business from home, Wallace meets and automatically falls in love with a lovely English lady, with a suspicious air about her, Gromit pursues the matter, the truth is exposed, big climax and finish! I will take a few points off here for minor unoriginality in the story department... plus the fact that Wallace is being portrayed as a bit of a player!! I will say that while this movie was a delight to watch (the animation has regained that wonderful 'hand touched' look and is by no means perfectly seamless in it's execution, which I found quite annoying in 'Curse of the Were-Rabbit', along with the ample 3D effects... grrr!!!), the storyline and pace of the film was far too quick for my liking. It seemed like the gags were all being forced and weren't just naturally occurring, a lot of it felt too planned (unlike in The Wrong Trousers or A Close Shave). The story was just flying along, and you didn't really have the time to stop and 'smell the roses' so to speak. A lot of it just seemed a tad too convenient, just for the sake of keeping the story going and moving to the next bit. Being an animator myself, I know a half an hour time slot is not a lot to work with, but I think possibly some things could have been cut, to bring the pace back down to a nice amble - and then build up to an exciting hectic finale. It worked perfectly in The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave.

However, having that off my chest, this movie does not disappoint. Wallace and Gromit are still as charming as they ever have been, the sets are absolutely stunningly English, and there is no hint of Hollywood in any of it! What a relief! Old school Wallace and Gromit are back, and let's hope they stick around!!!

Watching Wallace and Gromit has become a Christmas tradition so it is always good when a new story is added to their collection.

This outing finds the two of then running the Top Bun bakery, unfortunately there is a serial killer on the loose who is murdering bakers. As the duo are out delivering their bread they rescue Piella who's bicycle's brakes fail at the top of a steep hill that runs down to a pit full of crocodiles in the local zoo. It is love at first sight for Wallace who recognises her as the "Bake-O-Lite girl" who used to feature in bread adverts even though she has clearly put on as few pounds since then. Gromit is suspicious of her immediately and when he investigates he discovers evidence that she is the murderer. Being a dog he can't just tell Wallace what is going on so it is up to him to save the day... with some help from Piella's put-upon poodle Fluffles.

As with all of the Wallace and Gromit shorts the animation is top notch and Peter Sallis is perfect as the voice of Wallace. The story however wasn't as good as The Wrong Trousers or A Close Shave. Many of the gags were clearly aimed at adult viewers, with references to films like Ghost and Aliens which younger viewers won't have seen. That said it is still much better than most programmes on television today and is well worth watching.

This should not be compared to other Aardman productions because they are all different and have their own qualities. The reason these productions are so good it that Nick Parks has retained creative control - if he ever sells out to a big studio house then this - and the terrific creativity - will vanish.

Grommit has developed as a character and is very astute whilst Wallace is still a bit of a simpleton. Throughout everything Grommit looks out for Wallace and saves the day. Grommit's expressions are superb and convey more than if he ever spoke - a big studio run by dead-eyed accountants would never be able to see this.

15m people watched this on the BBC on Christmas day - it will go down in history as another great achievement for Aardman studios, well done Nick!

Even though it debuted on British television in 2008, Nick Park's newest installment in the (mis)adventures of his claymation pals Wallace and Gromit finally hit the States last year, just in time to be nominated for an Animated Short Oscar. I never had any interest in checking the work out, no matter how fun it appeared, but relented when Curse of the Were-Rabbit was released as a feature length film. Suffice it to say, my first foray into the world was not very good as the film fell flat for me and plodded along to its end. However, now having experienced A Matter of Loaf and Death, seeing how the material works in a condensed medium, I have to admit that the result was much better. By compacting all the humor in less than thirty minutes, the warm-hearted antics of naïve and imbecilic Wallace with stoically intelligent dog Gromit really do excel.

The premise is pretty stripped-down, concerning the duo in their new bakery, right in the midst of a serial killing spree of bakers. There have been twelve deaths thus far and no evidence in sight to find who is behind it all. To be honest, it doesn't take very long to discern who is the culprit, so the fun really becomes watching Wallace bumble through life and Gromit do his best to save him. Once the Bake-O-Lite singer enters the fray, the plot continues on at a quick pace, never feeling slow or unwelcome. An ex-commercial model for the brand, Piella just happens to be bicycling down the road our titular bakers are delivering bread on, door-to-door like newspapers. She loses control and speeds down a hill where Wallace puts caution to the wind to save her, eventually beginning a budding relationship that never quite seems right—especially after Gromit inspects the bike post-accident.

What really makes this work succeed, besides the endearing voicework from Peter Sallis as Wallace and Sally Lindsay as Piella, are the massive amounts of sight gags. Sure it is always entertaining to watch Gromit work in his silent, but very expressive way, however, I hadn't known how subversive the comedy really was. I don't think a lot of that mature subject matter traveled across the Atlantic when the feature film was released, probably needing to tone it down a little to make it palatable to a broader audience. Being that A Matter of Loaf and Death was created specially for English television viewers, Park and company was able to keep their subtle innuendoes intact. Even those seemingly simplistic instances of bread rising and oven temperatures increasing become so much more than sheer bakery visuals when inter-cut with the blossoming romantic courtship of Wallace and Piella. It isn't as though the references are too obvious for a younger audience, but they do make it a tad more fun for the adults watching. The inclusion of a Ghost homage definitely put a smile on my face too.

Completely deserving of a nomination—even though I believe it should have come last year, dealing with actual release dates rather than whenever Hollywood decides to allow us Americans to watch—Park seems to be back in the swing of things after the devastating fire that destroyed much of his clay constructed worlds at Aardman Studios. I would never suggest that he stay away from features and stick specifically to shorts, but I do believe something can be said on the subject. Perhaps Were-Rabbit just didn't have the depth to succeed, and maybe it originated as a short and later was wrongly expanded, I really don't know. Unless a plot is fleshed out that can handle the extra length, hopefully Wallace and Gromit will continue on with their adventures in small increments—staying relevant and always working their somewhat family-friendly magic.

"A Matter of Loaf and Death" is another quality entry to the Wallace&Gromit franchise and we should be thankful to Nick Park that he added another chapter to their story, even if it was the first time that he lost at the Oscars (to Logorama). He won the BAFTA and Annie though, so it's not all bad awards-wise. When this one came out it had already been 13 years since the last Wallace&Gromit-short film. Of course, in-between was the full feature. Thankfully Peter Sallis, in his late 80s then, in his early 90s now, is reaching a Methusalem age and could once more lend his unique voice to Wallace.

This film is mostly about a series of murders and the victims are all bakers. Now the problem is Wallace and Gromit have opened a bakery not too long too and when Wallace falls in love with a feisty lady (and Gromit with her posh poodle), complications arise pretty quickly. It's the usual formula of the well-written main characters accidentally being sucked into the world of crime and the outcome is a good one. The animation is tops as well, although that's pretty much a given with Park and Aardman. I think this may be my second favorite from the series. Wrong Trousers is unreached, but it's about the same league quality-wise like Grand Day out and superior to Close Shave, which I'm not really a fan of.

"A Matter of Loaf and Death" was Nick Park's last directorial effort to this day, but he's still at an age where we can hopefully expect a couple more chapters to the story. He's easily one of the most defining animation artists of the last 25 years and this is another excellent example.

This short was nominated for an Academy Award. There will be spoilers ahead:

Much will be familiar to you if you've seen many of the shorts and/or the feature starring Wallace and Gromit. Wallace is still Wallace and Gromit is called on once again to save the day.

Our heroes are now running a bakery, with Gromit doing most of the work and Wallace being, well, Wallace. A dozen bakers have been murdered by the time Wallace and Gromit enter the short and the killer is looking to make it a "baker's dozen" with Wallace the next in line.

The killer is obvious to the audience, Gromit, everyone but Wallace. Much of the short is devoted to Gromit trying to save Wallace and Wallace doing everything to make Gromit's task harder, albeit unwittingly (of course, much of what Wallace does is unwitting).

This time out, Gromit develops a love interest, someone worthy of him. That's an interesting subplot which unfolds over time. The ending of the short is great and perfect, although the sample of Gromit's musical tastes given to the audience leaves much to be desired.

This is available on DVD and is well worth watching. Most recommended.

Wallace & Gromit never fails to please.

Some other ridiculously lower-rating reviews just don't seem to 'get' these shorts are not to be taken seriously, they're just slices of harmless, easy-viewing fun.

With cute rip-offs of many Hollywood blockbusters and music (e.g. 'Citizen Canine', 'The Hound of Music', 'Alien', 'Poochini', 'Ghost', and not least the title twisted off from the great 1946 classic "A Matter Of Life And Death"... to name a few), this W&G short was a relaxing, humorous pleasure to watch.

Recommended.

This latest Wallace and Gromit short is sure different in some ways from the first short, A GRAND DAY OUT WITH WALLACE AND GROMIT. The first film used simpler technology--mostly because Nick Park had been working on much of the film on his own before he came to work for Aardman. The characters were clearly made of clay (with fingerprints on them) and the sets were much simpler. In contrast, in A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH, the characters look like they were computer generated (I don't think this is true, however) because they were much smoother and they appeared to be using soft poseable plastic dolls. Also, the backgrounds and additional characters are light-years ahead of the first film. All this is to be expected, as the company has grown and learned a lot over the years--as well as picking up several Oscars along the way for their great work.

Now this isn't saying that the new film is total perfection. While it is very cute and watchable, it does suffer from two things. Perhaps the earlier films were a bit funnier. In fact, I saw a couple of these older shorts again just a few days ago and I think the humor was a bit brighter and sillier. Another minor problem is that this film reminded me an awful lot of WALLACE AND GROMIT IN A CLOSE SHAVE. Both films featured Wallace falling in love and in both cases, the ladies ended up being very wicked, indeed! In fact, when I first started watching A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH, I automatically assumed that lady was the killer--just like the lady in this previous film was the sheep-napper. And, like in the other film, it's up to Gromit to save the day because Wallace is too big a doofus to realize what is happening...which, by the way, reminds me a lot of WALLACE AND GROMIT AND THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT.

So, as you can see, there isn't much new under the sun in this film. However, its handled so well and beautifully that you can still enjoy this rather derivative yet engaging film.

UPDATE--2/18/10 I just went to a show of the Oscar-nominated animated shorts. This film was one of the five. However, when compared to the other four films, this was my least favorite as it didn't innovate at all and other Wallace & Gromit films are better. This isn't to say it's a bad film or I hated it--I just can't see it deserving the Oscar. My prediction is that LOGORAMA will win, though my very favorite is the somewhat morbid THE OLD LADY AND THE REAPER. Stay tuned in March to see if I am correct.

Claymation always had an important spot in my heart since my childhood; either being on television - other Wallace and Gromit shorts; Chicken Run, etc... - or computer games - "Neverhood". So it was a pretty big deal, when a new short was made in 2008. Unfortunately, I haven't seen this episode since then, so it was interesting to find out how my feelings would change since then.

Needless to say, this story continues with the 'darkness' as the previous episodes. Here, the story circles around a serial murder mystery - while the titular heroes operate a baking company. Wallace quickly gets in the middle of the killing spree - naturally, being totally oblivious of it until the end, while it's up to Gromit to save his lad.

One of the biggest strength of the movie that it still kept the charm of the older episodes. The likability of the characters hasn't changed at all, and I watched it with the same childish grin as I used to watch the previous episodes. Since being newer, there "should be" a trend to put in more modern day references, but luckily, this one doesn't rely on cheap knock-offs from other movies or events; though, there are a still a few references as such, but it doesn't make these scenes as the main source of laughter and actually fit into the story. Furthermore the creators really stepped up their game, as their the expressions of the characters are still amazing to witness, especially with Gromit. The good old' British humour is still strong with this one, with more subtle jokes - and not the the "fall-on-your-butt" types of jokes, but that what we already got used to from Nick Park.

One small downside, I wish the story was darker. Besides the opening scene and the room with the mannequins - the latter being insanely effective and scary, though - I haven't had any chills down my spine during other scenes, like I felt almost the whole time during "The Wrong Trousers"; Thus, the villain isn't as memorable as Feathers McGraw; though, that's a high bar to jump over, but does bring some effectively uneasy moments, so doesn't become totally forgettable.

Other aspect I liked, was the romantic interest for Gromit. As an adult I could relate to it more, than to Wallace's "puppy love". It just becomes a stronger arch, because it's based on purely visuals, as the characters don't talk, the emotions being played through their expressions, and when we take abuse into the mix for the romantic interest, it's also more "human", more real and more sad. Naturally, it ends with a happy end for Gromit as well, but his story felt a little bit more mature and more tragic.

All in all, "A Matter of Loaf and Death" was a worthy possible final episode for Wallace and Gromit, especially after the passing of Peter Sallis. It does deliver each strengths of the series, though not on as high level as previous episodes; the brilliant "Wrong Trousers" will still be the best Wallace and Gromit short for me. However, the passion, the talent and the heart of the creators and voice cast - Peter Sallis still delivering his A-game - shine through it. It won't be as good as the previously mentioned short, still, this was a half- hour pure joy.