Aardman Animation releases more Wallace, Gromit, Shaun

We at Creative Loafing were delighted to discover that the title A Matter of Loaf and Death does not involve this company’s financial situation. Even better,the 30-minute short film marks the return of  Wallace and Gromit, one of the most charming and whimsical comedy teams of our time.

A Matter of Loaf and Death is Aardman Animation’s first stop-motion Wallace and Gromit venture since the English company’s feature-length Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. One gets an impression that Aardman found its collaboration with Dreamworks to be a mixed blessing. Compared to the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit short films (including the sublime The Wrong Trousers), Were-Rabbit seemed compromised and watered-down, despite having plenty of charming moments. Loaf and Death feels more authentically “Aardman,” but also seems informed by the studio’s hard feelings over its treatment in Hollywood.

Addle-minded inventor Wallace (voiced by Peter Sallis) and his commonsensical pooch Gromit have previously held such jobs as window cleaners and humane pest control officers. Loaf and Death finds the twosome working as bakers, having converted their home on West Wallaby Street to a bakery, complete with life-sized windmill. (The film originally had the oh-so-English title “Trouble at’ Mill.”) Wallace falls for Piella Bakewell (Sally Lindsey), decades ago the spokesmodel for a bread company, now a plus-sized former celebrity. But why does Piella’s poodle look so nervous? And why is a serial killer fatally battering the rest of the bakers in town?