"A Matter of Loaf and Death" is another quality entry to the Wallace&Gromit franchise and we should be thankful to Nick Park that he added another chapter to their story, even if it was the first time that he lost at the Oscars (to Logorama). He won the BAFTA and Annie though, so it's not all bad awards-wise. When this one came out it had already been 13 years since the last Wallace&Gromit-short film. Of course, in-between was the full feature. Thankfully Peter Sallis, in his late 80s then, in his early 90s now, is reaching a Methusalem age and could once more lend his unique voice to Wallace.
This film is mostly about a series of murders and the victims are all bakers. Now the problem is Wallace and Gromit have opened a bakery not too long too and when Wallace falls in love with a feisty lady (and Gromit with her posh poodle), complications arise pretty quickly. It's the usual formula of the well-written main characters accidentally being sucked into the world of crime and the outcome is a good one. The animation is tops as well, although that's pretty much a given with Park and Aardman. I think this may be my second favorite from the series. Wrong Trousers is unreached, but it's about the same league quality-wise like Grand Day out and superior to Close Shave, which I'm not really a fan of.
"A Matter of Loaf and Death" was Nick Park's last directorial effort to this day, but he's still at an age where we can hopefully expect a couple more chapters to the story. He's easily one of the most defining animation artists of the last 25 years and this is another excellent example.
This film is mostly about a series of murders and the victims are all bakers. Now the problem is Wallace and Gromit have opened a bakery not too long too and when Wallace falls in love with a feisty lady (and Gromit with her posh poodle), complications arise pretty quickly. It's the usual formula of the well-written main characters accidentally being sucked into the world of crime and the outcome is a good one. The animation is tops as well, although that's pretty much a given with Park and Aardman. I think this may be my second favorite from the series. Wrong Trousers is unreached, but it's about the same league quality-wise like Grand Day out and superior to Close Shave, which I'm not really a fan of.
"A Matter of Loaf and Death" was Nick Park's last directorial effort to this day, but he's still at an age where we can hopefully expect a couple more chapters to the story. He's easily one of the most defining animation artists of the last 25 years and this is another excellent example.