Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Summary
The return of my favoriteWallace & Gromitvillain after more than 30 yr is more than enough to get me hype up for the approaching moving picture , butFeathers McGraw ’s comebackis also a sobering admonisher that a major small-arm of the franchise ’s formula can sadly never be fully replaced . Decades later , I still reckon Feathers among thebest Aardman villains of all time , as the penguin of few Word of God somehow manages to commingle comedy with drama all without cause a auditory sensation . He ’s one of the most iconic flesh in theWallace & Gromitseries , and his homecoming is long overdue .
Feathers has had several cameos in other Aardman projects since his last starring role . Debuting in 1993’sWallace & Gromit : The Wrong Trousers , he ’s popped up as lately as his brief show in 2023’sChicken Run : Dawn of the Nugget . Each clock time I espy him , there ’s a pang of nostalgia paired with me wondering why such a beloved character has never been decently recycle . That being said , Wallace & Gromitisn’t a franchise that ’s big on sequels , so plumage ' part in the upcomingWallace & Gromit : Vengeance Most Fowlsays a band about the scoundrel ’s huge popularity .
Aardman Animation has a fantastic array of stop over - movement moving-picture show on its resume , with several having earned gold position with critic and audiences alike .
Feathers McGraw’s Wallace & Gromit Comeback Helps Soften The Blow Of Peter Sallis' Absence
Vengeance Most Foul will be the first Wallace & Gromit feature without Peter Sallis as Wallace
Because only half of the titular duo speaks , Peter Sallis ' role as Wallace makes him synonymous with the intact franchise . Sallis sadly passed off in 2017 , with his last noteworthy credits as Wallis come in 2005’sTheCurse of the Were - Rabbitand in the 2010 video show , World of Invention . Sallis ' persona as Wallis dates back to 1989 , with the firstWallace & Gromitshort : A Grand Day Out . To me , he ’s the heart of the franchise , and while I desire moreWallace & Gromitstories , experiencing them without him in them will be a acerbic pill to swallow .
gratefully , Feathers ' rejoinder provides me with a much - needed sense of stableness . The understood adversary does n’t have the same restraints as Wallis in term of make a previous representative actor , as Feathers is cut from the same cloth as Gromit and has never address a watchword on sieve . As long as the skilled animators at Aardman are around , Feathers McGraw ’s inauspicious presence should be just as in effect as it was in 1993- or so I ’m hoping .
The silent antagonist does n’t have the same control as Wallis in terms of having a later voice worker , as Feathers is reduce from the same cloth as Gromit and has never spoken a word on CRT screen .
Custom Image by Daniel Bibby
Ben Whitehead will vocalise Wallace inVengeance Most Fowl . Whitehead has vocalize Wallace several times before , but only in video game and in the periodic commercial . When I first heard his feeling of Sallis ' work , I have to say that his take on the grapheme felt very inauthentic . However , over the yr , he has become much better , with his spoken language approach pattern and cadences feel more like Sallis . My theory is that Whitehead ’s long - stand tie with Aardman initially landed him the character , but his cause to improve his Wallace voice have win over me he ’s the correct man for the caper .
Wallace & Gromit Could Have Brought Back Feathers McGraw Much Sooner (But Didn’t)
Feathers hasn’t had a starring role since 1993
Despite get down in 1989 , I ’m still shocked that theWallace & Gromitfranchise has so few debut . That being said , Feathers McGraw debut in the second instalment , serving not only as the main adversary in 1993’sThe Wrong Trousers , but also as the first proper villain in the series overall . His many Aardman cameo aside , Feathers has never return in any meaningful mode . Although there have been several teases that pass me to believe he ’s been at bombastic again for some clock time . For instance,1995’sA Close Shave , has " Feathers was [ here ] " etched into the bulwark of Gromit ’s slammer cell .
presently , The Curse of the Were - Rabbitis the onlyWallace & Gromitmovie available to stream in the US . It can be find on Peacock .
Feathers McGraw ’s first visual aspect is , I would argue , perfect . Going back to a fictional character who was so effective upon his first economic consumption can be improbably high-risk . So , I empathize why Aardman has been so reluctant about reusing the nefarious penguin- or chicken , as he would have the public believe . I think part of his legend comes from the dateless theorizing about what he ’s been up to since his implied handout / escape that can be gleaned from his message inA Close Shave . So , bringing him back and confirming or denying any part of these hypotheses is still a huge risk .
My Excitement About Feathers' Return Proves To Me That Aardman Made The Right Call
Any misgivings I’d had about Feathers McGraw’s comeback evaporated when I saw the trailer
Aardman is a studio that ’s never short of ideas , and they ’ve proven time and again that they can adapt to almost any challenge . Evidence of this can be see in Aardman ’s quislingism withStar Wars : Visions- a team - up I never saw coming . As such , take in a sequel toThe Wrong Trousersafter so long is not something I expect , astheWallace & Gromitseries by and large seem to the futurerather than focusing on past successes .
Wallace & Gromit is one of the most darling alive franchises of all sentence , but the fresh movie hail a major change in the series ' approach .
If I ’d hear about the return of Feathers McGraw before the official vexer was released , I ’d have been concerned . However , I was ecstatic when I saw the magazine , so I ’m happy about Aardman ’s determination . The studio could easily have continue its trend of surging endlessly forrader and created a new scoundrel to controvert the franchise ’s titular duo , but its rare selection to permit its past head its futurity seems bright to me - peculiarly in the current era of nostalgia - conduct media . In short , it gratefully seems as though evenWallace & Gromitisn’t immune to the allurement of revisit past triumph .
Wallace & Gromit : Vengeance Most Fowlwill air on BBC One in the UK on December 25th , 2024 . Netflix will be distributing the flick globally in 2025 .
