i am sososo excited... the new wallace & gromit movie is opening today! those of you might know that i am obsessed with their animated shorts (i have all the episodes on VHS, plus creature comforts [my heart goes out to the lion from brazil] and a bunch of brilliant aardman flicks), and i got all the little collectibles and stationery and calendars that i could get my hands on. i was a little disappointed with chicken run, aardman's first full-length film in 2000, only because i felt like the usually witty brit humor was completely dumbed down modified for an american family audience. the chicken hijinks were amusing, though i missed the depth and charm of the the original w&g episodes. there are a lot of subtleties in the shorts that make for intelligent watching, and not merely a passive entertaining experience. plus, i missed the screen presence of plasticine wensleydale cheese.


i'm glad gromit's knitting makes another cameo in the new film. the above image is from a close shave, though you can view the movie trailer and see him clicking his needles away in a moment of needed relief. there's one past episode i remember where he's stitching a 'dogbone' pattern in intarsia. it's absolutely genius.