Search - Wallace & Gromit: The First Three Adventures (1990-1995) on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 1/7/2024...

A Grand Day Out - Really fun movie for the whole family!

A DVD disappointment for three great movies...

J. Lee | Canada | 09/21/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"First off, I'm a crazy Wallace & Gromit fan. I love all the films that Nick Park and Aardman have made for these characters. This DVD, however, does not do justice to the movies.

This is the third DVD release of the Wallace & Gromit films, and I can only assume that they did this now to tie into the approaching release of the new feature film. It doesn't seem like much effort has been put into the creation of this disc. The menus are very bland, the movie selection displays the films out of order (with A Close Shave in the middle) and there isn't a chapter selection option.

In terms of the films themselves, The Wrong Trousers has been altered, and that's what really bugs me. I think it has something to do with copyright laws, but several music tracks have been replaced with terrible-sounding substitutes. Gromit's birthday card plays a very non-birthday-card-sounding version of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" instead of "Happy Birthday To You". When the Penguin is listening to the radio, the songs "Happy Talk" and "How Much Is That Doggy In The Window" have been replaced with terrible, generic organ music that completely takes away the mood of the scenes. Consequently, the sound of Wallace humming "How Much Is That Doggy In The Window" the next morning has also been removed.

This bit may not bother most people, but for some reason all the soundtracks for the shorts are a semitone flat. I can only assume this is because the film was transferred at a slower rate.

The only really redeeming quality about this disc is the inclusion of all ten Cracking Contraption shorts, which have never been available on region 1 DVD before.

The bottom line: Get this DVD if you want the Cracking Contraption shorts. Otherwise, stick to your old VHS copies."

Great Entertainment.

tvtv3 | Sorento, IL United States | 03/28/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This video contains the collection of the first three "Wallace and Gromit" claymation cartoons. The shorts are around thirty minutes each and were directed by the brilliant Nick Park (the guy responsible for CHICKEN RUN). All three shorts were nominated for Academy Awards, and THE WRONG TROUSERS and A CLOSE SHAVE both won Oscars.A GRAND DAY OUT is the middle feature on the video, but was the first Wallace and Gromit short. The film introduces the characters of Wallace, a somewhat absent-minded inventor, and his faithful (and more reasonable) dog, Gromit. Wallace loves cheese, but one day finds that the house is completely empty of the food (look for the cool mice in the basement; maybe they ate it). Since it's a holiday, the two were looking to take a trip and Wallace decides they need to go where there is a lot of cheese. Everybody knows the moon is made of cheese so the duo builds a rocket to the moon for a grand day out.THE WRONG TROUSERS is by far the best of the three shorts. It's full of comedy, mystery, and suspense and has one of the best chase scenes in modern film history (there's nothing like a death defying race on a model train set). Though the stocks in Moon Cheese are soaring, Wallace and Gromit find themselves short on cash and are forced to take in a border. ...THE CLOSE SHAVE isn't quite as good as THE WRONG TROUSERS, but it's still an amazing piece of animation. Wallace and Gromit have a window washing business and one oftheir best customers turns out to be a lady who owns yarn and wool shop and lives with a viscious looking dog. Sheep are being stolen all over the countryside. One of the little lambs escapes to W & G's abode and they do what they can to find out where the lamb came. However, along the way Gromit is framed for sheepnapping and sent to jail. Without his friend, Wallace is a mess and not even the little lady at yarn shop can cheer him, because things aren't always what they seem.These cartoons are just awesome. The animation is amazing and the stories are great. A great way to spend thirty minutes or an hour and a half. Children enjoy these cartoons, but adults like them even more. Great family enterainment."

Great program - bad DVD

Wensleydale Fan | Raleigh, NC | 08/30/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"First of all, let me just say that the above rating in no way indicates how I feel about the "Wallace & Gromit" shorts, all of which are superb pieces of animation.

My rating applies only to this slipshod DVD release, obviously intended to capitalize on the upcoming W&G "Curse of the Were-Rabbit" feature, and lacking all of the wonderful extras of the previous BBC version.

Gone are the Nick Park commentaries, the behind-the-scenes featurettes or the cute scrapbooks or photo galleries. In fact the only "behind-the-scenes" material collected on this disc applies to programs OTHER than the main W&G films. A true disappointment.

So, my advice is ignore this release and do your best to track down the old version. It will be well-worth the money."