The multi-award-winning independent animation studio Aardman has announced plans for the 30th anniversary celebrations of Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers, to include exciting new Wallace & Gromit products and ranges from licensing partners.
Partners include jewellery company Licensed to Charm, paper engineers Paper Engine, and eco-conscious independent tea mixology company Bird & Blend Tea Co. There is also a partnership with Carrs Pasties.
Released in 1993, The Wrong Trousers was the first film starring the duo to win an Oscar. It introduced Feathers McGraw, a villainous penguin with ambitions to put Wallace’s inventions to criminal use.
Highlights of Wallace & Gromit’s 30th anniversary year include:
> The release of a limited edition The Wrong Trousers x Olympia Le Tan designer clutch bag featuring Wallace wearing his ‘Techno-Trousers’ alongside Gromit and Feathers McGraw.
> A partnership between Aardman and the Cartoon Museum in London, showcasing Wallace & Gromit artwork over the years, with a never-before-seen exhibition and public events.
> The launch of a new Wallace & Gromit-themed escape room adventure – ‘A Grand Way Out’ – at Locked In A Room, Bristol.
> 30 performances of The Wrong Trousers with live orchestral accompaniment, taking place across the UK to mark 30 years since the film’s release.
The 30th anniversary celebrations also coincide with the production of a brand-new Wallace & Gromit film – the first since 2008’s A Matter of Loaf and Death. The as-yet untitled adventure will premiere exclusively on Netflix around the world except in the UK, where it will debut first on the BBC before also coming to Netflix. It is set for release in 2024.
“It’s very exciting to have some brand-new Wallace & Gromit stories in the works as we celebrate the anniversary of such an important moment in the characters’ history,” comments Aardman’s Nick Park, the creator of Wallace & Gromit. “The Wrong Trousers was a special film for all of us at Aardman. It’s wonderful that it continues to find new fans today, and that we can bring those fans more adventures – and more inventions, more mishaps, and more problems for Gromit to solve.”
Also currently in production is an interactive, narrative-led, single player VR experience for the Meta Quest all-in-one VR headset called ‘The Grand Getaway’.
There will also be a celebration of Wallace & Gromit’s Wrong Trousers Day on Friday 30 June 2023, the annual fundraising event from Aardman’s charity partner The Grand Appeal, the dedicated charity for Bristol Children’s Hospital. People are encouraged to wear their wackiest legwear and donate for the right to look wrong.
In addition, the annual Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and Aardman ‘Wallace & Gromit’s Cracking Ideas’ competition will have the theme ‘make The Wrong Trousers right’. There will also be an expanded retail presence for Wallace & Gromit, particularly at HMV stores across the UK. Plus, there will be screenings across the UK of The Wrong Trousers, with the soundtrack performed live by the WFEL Fairey Band, along with model making workshops which will take place at family festivals across the UK.
Visit www.wallaceandgromit.com
