classicsoncall I'm in a bit of a quandary here. As I write this, seventy eight percent of IMDb viewers who rated this film short gave it an '8' score or better. Even more significant perhaps, is that not a single viewer who wrote a review of it on IMDb gave it less than an '8' score. My quandary is - I just didn't think it was that good. At twenty five years old, I guess it has withstood the test of time and the forty five thousand plus film watchers who gave it an evaluation, but I don't get the effusive praise. It's not the Claymation aspect of it either, in my day we had Rudolph and Gumby and they were OK. But what makes Wallace and Gromit so popular? Gromit's a dog so he gets a pass, but the character of Wallace is rather homely and uninspiring. In fact, even though he was a villain, Feathers McGraw was probably my favorite character in the story. So at the risk of offending big time Wallace and Gromit fans I'll simply state that I don't care for the characters and animation and leave it at that. They have their appeal so I can't knock that, but this old timer would rather take his dose of Warner Brothers, Disney or Hanna-Barbera any day.

gavin6942 Wallace (Peter Sallis) is used by a shady, criminal penguin in a robbery involving mechanical trousers.Nick Park has said this was his favorite of the Wallace and Gromit films, and I have to agree with him. Whether I have seen all of them or not is not clear to me, but of those I have, this one definitely stands out as the masterwork -- how do you top a villain played by a shady, snaky penguin? The animation is incredible, especially when we see the way the outside of the buildings are crafted. The clay of the main characters may be relatively simplistic, but this is not because the animators lack talent.

ackstasis There's no use prevaricating about the bush, 'Wallace & Gromit in The Wrong Trousers (1993)' is a whole heap of fun! Having not seen the film in years, I'd almost forgotten that it was so uproariously entertaining. It was 'Creature Comforts (1989)' that took home the Oscar in 1991, but Nick Park instead planned a sequel to 'A Grand Day Out with Wallace and Gromit (1989),' a short film that, in my estimation, showed far more promise. This next effort sees the pair with their feet firmly on terra firma, but in an adventure that is no less wacky than the last. Despite economic woes, Wallace has built a impressive contraption for Gromit's birthday – a pair of mechanical trousers. To offset his financial losses, Wallace opens up his home to lodgers, attracting the business of a creepy and silent penguin named Feathers McGraw. The sinister flightless avian soon sets about systematically severing the immortal bond between master and pet, in preparation for a devilishly cunning heist scheme.Nick Park's films are held in reverence by the animation community, and with good cause. Rarely before had the claymation medium been utilised to create such rich animated characters; even previous successes like 'Closed Mondays (1974)' couldn't evade the fact that they were produced using shifting masses of clay. 'The Wrong Trousers' boasts but three characters – only one of which can speak – and yet the relationship between the three is superbly authentic. Maybe it's the personal touch of recognising the animators' thumb-prints on every character, but somehow Park manages to capture every nuance of their behaviour, every tiny inflection of emotion. In half an hour, Gromit doesn't utter a single word, and yet he communicates his sadness, anger and excitement through an affectionate glance or downcast eye. Likewise, the sinister Feathers McGraw attains creepiness precisely through his silence. That he doesn't speak keeps his motives veiled in secrecy, and those beady, ominous eyes are probably enough to give young children nightmares.Of course, most people love 'The Wrong Trousers' for its humour, and there's plenty of it. That sparkling British humour is truly allowed to shine, and the gentle voice-acting of Peter Sallis has the sheer sincerity to carry the frequently-offbeat jokes. Whereas 'A Grand Day Out' was a homage of sorts to the science-fiction genre, probably more in line with Georges Méliès than anyone else, this effort is an affectionate satire of the British crime films of the 1950s and 1960s. The evil penguin has the eccentric malevolence of Alec Guinness in 'The Ladykillers (1955),' though without the fondness for articulate speech. The object of the villainous heist scheme resembles the titular jewel in 'The Pink Panther (1964).' With mock seriousness, amateur sleuth Gromit paces his way through the clichés of the genre, culminating in a hilarious madcap locomotive chase along miniature train-tracks, which our hero must lay down as he goes. This sort of impeccable entertainment deserves to run for far longer than thirty minutes.

b_havag Wallace and Gromit first came to my attention about ten years ago when I saw the film "A Grand Day Out" on TV. An excellent short which I gave a 9/10. "The Wrong Trousers" is even better.Wallace is an English inventor with a love for cheese, crackers and his cup of tea. Gromit is his dog, and the star of the shorts. He doesn't talk at all, but he doesn't have to, all is said through facial expressions and body language, and done perfectly so. Gromit is the work of a comedy genius.In this short Wallace is short of money, so he puts up a room in his house for rent. Soon after a penguin, yes a penguin, turns up at his door. Like Gromit, he doesn't talk at all. The penguin takes great interest in Wallaces new invention, a pair of remote controlled metallic trousers.I won't tell anymore, you'll have to see for yourself, but all the thirty minutes we are served very clever comedic details, you'll find more and more the each time you see it, generally a lot of craziness and especially "the train-scene" which will make you laugh your head of. A must see. 10/10