It’s been thirty years since a villainous penguin, a pair of wrong trousers and the greatest railway chase of all time appeared on TV screens, and the Cartoon Museum is taking a look back at how it was made.
Opening with an introduction to the main characters and some early sketches, there’s also a section on the many other comics and cartoons that inspired the animator’s creative minds. And I know it’s only a rough sketch, but one early drawing appears to show Feathers McGraw frying what looks like shortbread biscuits.
Although there’s a lot from the making of the TV show here, undeniably the star has to be the train chase scene, and there are a number of sketches outlining how that came to be created and a video shows the comparison between sketches and the final animation.
I once slowed the footage down to frame by frame to try and work out how Gromit could keep laying railway tracks from a seemingly never emptying box of track segments.
There are some pages from the script here, and my sordid mind couldn’t help but notice that one of the famous lines from the show takes on a very risqué meaning when taken out of context: “Now let me out of these trousers this minute”.
There are a number of examples of models used in the filming, from the humourous historical relics that were made for the museum, to the climatic scene of Feathers in a milk bottle. Maybe someone who can read Hirogliphs can pay a visit and see if the writing on the Wallace Mummy actually says something interesting?
There’s one thing here that you can’t take a photo of – and yet it’s not exactly a rare item to see photos of – the Academy Award it won at the 1994 Oscars.
It’s a cracking exhibition Gromit.
The exhibition, Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers turns 30! is at the Cartoon Museum until 16th April 2024.
The exhibition is included in the cost of visiting the museum, which candidly makes it a bit expensive if you’ve been to the museum before as the permanent display doesn’t change that much. Would be nice if they offered an exhibition only ticket as well.
- Adults: £9.50
- Concession (over 60 y/o): £6
- Students: £4
- Universal Credit: £2
- Under-18s, ArtFund, London Pass, Members: Free
The museum price is expensive for what it is but the W&G exhibition is brilliant so would highly recommend it. If you get a days out guide 2 for 1 voucher with your rail ticket/London travel card then one person can get into the museum for free.