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A Close Shave

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A Close Shave is a 1995 stop motion animated short film directed by Nick Park in the Wallace & Gromit series. It was his third short featuring the eccentric inventor and his quiet but smart dog.

This film was aired in the UK on Christmas Eve, 1995. It won the 1996 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

Plot[]

At 2:00am one morning, a small sheep escapes from a lorry (stopping at the traffic lights) before entering 62 West Wallaby Street, the house of Wallace and Gromit, who are running a window-cleaning business through the dog-flap and then Gromit had ran out of wool whilst knitting a rainbow garment. Later that morning, they fail to notice the sheep chewing on their furniture and their wires. This includes the wiring of their porridge gun, which causes it to malfunction and repeatedly shoot poor Wallace with porridge until Gromit shuts it off. Wallace also notices that his cheese and many of the snack boxes have been chewed on and asks Gromit if he's been peckish. They then get a call from Wendolene, whose windows need to be cleaned. While there, Wallace falls in love with Wendolene, while Preston, Wendolene's sinister dog, grows jealous of Gromit.

When they get home, they find the sheep, who had wrecked their house and is now covered in filth nibbling Gromit's dry bone and got stuck to the black treacle. To clean him up, Wallace puts the sheep into one of his inventions: the Knit-O-Matic. Gromit programs it to give a "Wash". The machine malfunctions and resets to "Light Shave" and gives the sheep a shear. Wallace names him "Shaun" (a pun on the word "shorn"). Meanwhile, Preston spies on the scene and steals the blueprints for Wallace's machine.

Later, while Wallace is talking with Wendolene, Preston's jealousy for Gromit grows, so he finally frames him for butchering sheep. Soon, he has Gromit sentenced to life in prison. Wallace, Shaun, and the other sheep save Gromit from prison before hiding out in a field. When Wendolene and Preston arrive to round up the sheep, Wendolene turns against Preston after seeing him growling at Shaun. She requests that Preston stop with the sheep thefts. Instead, he locks her and Shaun up with the intention of turning her, Shaun (and the other sheep) into dog meat. The two give chase on their motorbike, hoping to save Wendolene and clear Gromit's name.

However, just as it seems they have lost Preston (who was hiding in the lorry in an abandoned barn), he chases after them with the lorry trying to run them off the road. But when Preston is no match for them, Gromit (using the ladder) climbs to the top, grabs some telephone wires, and flips himself, along with Wallace, upside down in mid-air, causing them to land safely behind Preston's lorry.

During the chase, the sidecar Gromit rides in detaches and nosedives off the edge of a 2,000 foot cliff. Gromit saves himself by activating the sidecar's ability to transform into an aeroplane, and flies after Preston's lorry with Wallace in tow. Their attempts to stop Preston (Wallace loading the sheep onto the motorbike and Gromit using the porridge gun) fail when Wallace gets trapped and captured in the lorry as well. The captives are taken into Preston's factory, where they discover that Preston has built a giant replica of the Knit-O-Matic using the blueprints he stole from Wallace's basement. The captives are loaded onto the wash basin, with Shaun escaping, as Preston pulls out the nozzle to suck them into the machine.

As Wallace and Wendolene fight against the suction, Shaun reveals the factory's location to Gromit using neon advertisements. Gromit flies in and attacks Preston with the porridge gun. The distraction allows Shaun to suck Preston into the machine using the nozzle, which Gromit programs to give a "Close Shave". During the shearing, Wendolene reveals that Preston is actually a robotic dog who was built by her father, Mr. Ramsbottom, to serve the family. He breaks out of the machine as his fake fur and skin are ripped off, revealing his robotic form. The machine plops a sweater made of his fake fur onto him. He blunders around a bit and raises the platform everyone is on up to level with the conveyor belt of his "Mutton-O-Matic" mincing machine. Gromit swings over them on a rope, knocking Preston and himself onto the conveyor belt. Preston rips apart his sweater at this point and they both start running. Wallace tries to turn off the belt, but accidentally increases it speed. Then Wendolene begs him to do something, and as he accidentally loads everyone on, they are all running on the belt. As they all fight against the belt, Shaun swings over them on an anvil and knocks Preston into the machine, destroying him in the process. Soon, Preston's remains are turned into his own brand of dog food.

At the end of the film, Wendolene, while visiting Wallace, reveals that Preston was rebuilt with completely normal dog behaviour and a remote control. Wallace originally offers to let Wendolene into his home for his cheese, to which he discovers with much dismay that Wendolene cannot stand cheese since it causes her to break out in a rash. When he's very confused about Wendolene's allergic to cheese, Wallace happily decides to console himself with some cheese, only to find Shaun eating it. Gromit, who had been lifted of all charges of the sheep thefts, ignores both.

Cast[]

Quotes[]

  • Wendolene: Your dog's waiting.
  • Wallace: Aye, I'd better see to him. The bounce has gone from his bungee.
  • Wallace: Won't you come in? We were just about to have some cheese.
  • Wendolene: Oh no, not cheese. Sorry, it brings me out a rash. Can't stand the stuff.
  • Wallace: (gulp) Not even Wensleydale?

(last lines)

(last lines)

  • Wallace: What's wrong with Wensleydale? Talking of which, all the more for us... and not a sheep to worry us!

(lifts the cover tray to discover Shaun eating the cheese)

  • Wallace: Get off me cheese! Get off!!! Get o... Gromit? Gromit! Go for 'im! Oh!

(Shaun swallows and bleats, cut to credits)


(to Gromit after he escapes from the jail with the help of Wallace and the flock)

  • Wallace: I suppose you'll have to skip the country now. A fugitive, eh? You'll be hunted down... Like.. well, a dog.
  • Wendolene: I'm sorry about this.
  • Wallace: For what?
  • Wendolene: Nothing. Just stay away from me, from my shop, and my silly, silly windows.
  • Wendolene: He's malfunctioning.
  • Wallace: Mal-what?
  • Wendolene: Malfunctioning. Preston is a cyber-dog.
  • Wallace: Cyber-wha?
  • Wendolene: A robot! (Preston's robot arm punches through the machine and opens a door) Daddy created him for good but, he's turned out evil.
  • Wallace: Have you been peckish during the night? Only someone’s been at me cheese.
  • Wallace: Is this place yours?
  • Wendolene: Mm-hmm. My father left it to me. Along with his debts, and a few other things.
  • Wendolene: Oh, I want no more of this rustling. It wasn't so bad when it was just the wool, but... this is evil! Daddy didn't create you for this. You're supposed to protect me!

(Preston locks her away with Shaun in the back of the truck)

  • Wendolene: Let me out! You're not going to turn me into dog meat!


(the flock climb on top of Wallace in order to help Gromit escape from prison)

  • Wallace: (as they pull Gromit to safety) Oh, brilliant teamwork, lads!
  • Wallace: (he slips on a bar of soap lying on the pavement and all the sheep come crashing down, bleating) Oh!


(seeing Preston operate a replica of his Knit-O-Matic)

  • Wallace: Where'd you get that from? That's MY machine! I've got patent pending on that!

Credits[]

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

Behind the scenes[]

VHS/DVD releases[]

Trivia[]

  • The film was produced in widescreen (and presented as such at film festivals), but was cropped to 4:3 for its original TV, VHS, and DVD releases. Modern releases restore its original aspect ratio.
  • When Gromit's knitting ran out, the woolly garment throughout the film was rainbow colour using different colours of wool.
  • This is the first time in the franchise where Wallace's name is spoken out loud in dialogue.
  • When Wallace receives a call for window-cleaning service, his method of getting to his motorbike and out onto the road is very similar from the 60's show Thunderbirds. The same method used by Virgil Tracy to enter Thunderbird 2 and take off. This is confirmed by Nick Park in the commentary.
  • This film reveals that Wallace and Gromit's telephone number is 2143.
  • Steve Box only met Anne Reid after the film was finished, seeing her character through her in real life being surreal.[1]
  • This is the first Wallace & Gromit film where another human character appears, this case being Wendolene.
  • This is one of two Wallace & Gromit films not to feature the theme music during the opening sequence (the other being A Matter of Loaf and Death). However, it was heard when Wallace was getting out of bed.
  • Preston, the evil villain dog, is the name of the town where Nick Park was born. He was worried this would be seen negatively by them, but it wasn't.[2]
  • There is a large billboard with a painting of Baker Bob and the slogan, "Buy Bob's Buns", prior to his appearance in A Matter of Loaf and Death. The billboard was later put on auction by Country Studio Framing in 2017.
  • The film takes course over four days, from the morning of Tuesday the 14th on a unknown month (Wallace commenting that he eats porridge on Tuesdays) to the morning of Saturday the 18th (the calendar in Gromit's jail cell saying Friday the 17th on the night of the Knit-o-Matic incident).
    • It may also have been over the course of several months, as court cases take a while, as Wallace is seen with a dishevelled look and a beard starting to form, indicating some time has passed between Gromit being framed, and busting him out.
  • Shaun's ability to hide, escaping detection even from Gromit, later helps him in Shaun the Sheep.
  • The lorry that Preston drives is based on a Guy Motors Otter and Wallace’s Motorbike is a Triumph Tiger Cub with a sidecar.[3]
  • This was included on Learn English With Wallace and Gromit and had Stephen Tompkinson as the narrator. Peter Sallis and Anne Reid even recorded new Wallace and Wendolene dialogue for the entire film, respectively.
  • The title is taken from the British expression 'a close shave', which means that a person has very narrowly avoided a potentially disastrous situation and shares the same name of the episode from Thomas & Friends starring Duck the Great Western Engine in the UK and as retitled A Close Shave for Duck in the USA as part of Shining Time Station and Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales where he prevents a serious accident with some Troublesome Trucks as Foolish Freight Cars.
  • The majority of props from this short were lost in the Aardman Animations warehouse fire in 2005, very few surviving to this day.
    • One of Shaun's models from this short was sold by Heritage Auctions in 2018, later ending up being owned and preserved by YourProps user Hollywood history. Another Shaun model, the one when he emerges from the "Knit-O-Matic", is in possession of Aardman and displayed on their website.
    • One of Wallace's hands from this short was at some point up for sale on eBay.
    • A Wendolene armature, complete with an original head missing its eyes, alongside a Preston's Dog Food can and a sheep model (which seems to be from when either the sheep, Wallace and Wendolene are thrown into the machine or when the sheep are all unorganized on the motorcycle) were auctioned off by East Bristol Auctions.
    • A resin Wallace and Gromit in the sidecar used for promos and marketing during A Close Shave's release and other Aardman exhibits around that time is currently on display at the National Science and Media Museum Bradford.
    • The set from when Gromit was in prison was on display briefly at the Wallace and Gromit and Friends exhibition alongside various props from Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Cracking Contraptions.
  • Before A Matter of Loaf and Death, this may have been the darkest of the Wallace & Gromit films, as it deals with:
    • Death (the countless sheep that have gone missing/presumed dead).
    • Gromit being falsely arrested for the crime.
    • Preston falling into the Knit-O-Matic and believed to be killed at first.
    • Preston's robotic dog form trying to kill the others.
    • Wendolene almost being killed and turned into dog meat along with Wallace, Wendolene, Shaun and the sheep.

Goofs/errors[]

  • The picture on top shows Gromit missing his tail and toes on his back legs.
  • When Shaun is being washed in the basement, the Knit-O-Matic malfunctions and switches the setting from "Wash" to "Light Shave". After Wallace tells Gromit to do something, you can tell by the lights on the settings that the Knit-O-Matic is still programmed to "Wash". When we see Preston's point of view from where he is hiding a few seconds later, the Knit-O-Matic is once again programmed to "Light Shave".
  • Wallace loses his green vest from beneath his overalls when he lands on his motorbike.
  • When Gromit climbs up the ladder during the motorbike chase, he places the base in the sidecar. When he grabs the cables, Wallace grabs the base of the ladder as it rises; after they finish the spin, Wallace places the foot of the ladder in front of him.
  • For the split second you see the reverse side of the first door Gromit flies through, the circle to be cut out by his propeller is clearly visible.
  • After Wallace gives Wendolene balls of wool, the balls change positions between shots.
  • The porridge gun shoots at Wallace, and some of it lands on the wall. In the next shot, the porridge is gone.
  • While Gromit is flying his plane in the air above Preston's factory, the propeller is briefly stopped.
  • During the scene where he imprisons Gromit in the lorry and four times during the car chase, Preston is shown making evil smiles as the lorry closes on the motorbike or when he gets the advantage in the chase. How can he make smiles if he has no muscles underneath his fake skin to operate it with? It could be that he was built with robot levers underneath the skin to operate it with, but these are not seen when his fake skin is torn off and his robot form is revealed.
  • Preston's fake teeth are shown to be white like real teeth when he growls at Shaun. However, when his robot form is revealed, they become silver along with the rest of his body.
  • When Gromit falls in and saves Shaun from Preston, the anvil is able to pull both of them up, showing that the anvil weighs more than Gromit and Shaun combined. Later, Shaun swings in over the conveyor belt with the anvil and knocks Preston into the mincers. In order for Shaun to move as fast as Gromit (without the anvil) did, there has to be a great deal of force involved, and hitting Preston probably wasn't enough to stop Shaun's momentum, so Shaun should also fallen into the machine. The makers may have prevented Shaun from falling into the machine as he is a protagonist.
  • Wendolene refers to Shaun by his name in the chase sequence despite it being something Wallace only gave to him earlier in the film away from her presence.

References[]

  1. ↑ A Close Shave commentary.
  2. ↑ A Close Shave commentary.
  3. ↑ http://www.telepathy.co.uk/aardman/culture/faqs.html
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