Wallace & Gromit's Cracking Contraptions (1 Viewer)

[John_Berger]

Sounds like the script's not even finished yet, and the film is to be released in 2 years?

Yeowch. That does sound like a tight time schedule. Any idea how long it took them to finish "Chicken Run" from conception to completion? Maybe two years actually is reasonable; otherwise, we can probably expect it to be shorter than CR.

 

[Mark-W]

First of all, as for fears regarding Wallace and Gromit,
and Park's involvement: It seems pretty clear from the
audio commentary on A Close Shave that Nick
holds these characters as very near and dear to his heart,
and that he didn't "trust" anyone to animate them without
his close personal supervision for a quite a while.
(One animator, who pricipally animated Feathers, mentioned
how Nick hovered over him during the first scenes that he
animated that included Gromit.)
I suspect that anything that doesn't meet with Park's
seal of approval will never see the light of day, and
being that this kind of animation is s-l-o-w to get
made, no single animator could make more than a few
seconds of footage without Park seeing
the video "dailies."
If they used the new Cracking Contraptions shorts
to train new animators, then it sounds to me like they
increased the number of folks doing actual animation.
With Chicken Run being a financial success,
I am sure Dreamworks, SKG, probably helped cough up any
funds needed to get the Wallace and Gromit
vegetable film made as quickly as feeable without
sacrificing quality or taking damaging shortcuts.
Also, the commentary for A Close Shave
mentioned right off the bat, that they [Park and the
other commentators] had just come from a meeting where
they had worked on the story for the Wallace and Gromit
film.
Bottom line: I think Park is going to me much more
protective of Wallace and Gromit than I could ever hope
to be, and that I have no doubt the final product will
be exactly as he wishes it to be.
Also, some of you who are true, died-in-Shaun's-wool
fanatics might want to visit this site, and get
some really cool Wallace and Gromit collectible stautes:
Link Removed
(Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the Wallace
and Gromit items.)
I already have the "Wallace and Gromit" and "Gromit in
Raincoat," and they are wonderful! (I just ordered all
of the rest of the Wallace and Gromit statues, and Diego
is very nice to work with.)
Mark

 

[Mark-W]

Just as a follow-up,
when I asked about Cracking Contraptions
coming to a Region 1, NTSC DVD, I got no reply.
Because patience is a virtue I am in short supply of
(when it comes to Wallace and Gromit), I managed to score
a pre-order of the officially licensed UK DVD off of eBay.
And it looks like that seller is going to keep relisting
the auction and then order the appropriate number of units
from Aardman.
Gotta love international e-commerce (when it is legal)!
Mark

 

[Mark_Wilson]

Damn, I should do that. I've got 5 of them on the way to me right now.

 

[Mark-W]

Yes, Mark, I think you should!
I would rather give my $34.00 to another HTF'er
than some guy on eBay.
(I have already paid, so I am "out of the race" now,
but anyone else in this thread with a region free player
is probably interested.)

Mark

 

[James Reader]

Well the disc has shown up on the CDWOW website Here (if this doesn't work you need to search for it)
What's more its only £9.99 - wasn't this supposed to be a Aardman website exclusive. After ordering from their site I'm not happy it is available on another for a cheaper price.
I don't know if CDWOW ship to America or not (it repeats the not availble to customers in USA or Japan line - but I feel that they have just copied the blurb rather than intending to stick to it). Could this be the solution to those wanting the disc in R1-land?

 

[Sam Owens]

http://www1.cd-wow.net/index.php?affid=10963
The link above (Mastercard discount) allows the purchase of the R2/4 PAL disc for $12.95...
CD-Wow do ship to the US. I don't know how rigidly they'll enforce the 'no shipments to the US' line on this one.

 

[James Reader]

My Cracking Contraptions disc (direct from Aardman) came this morning. Won't be able to look at it until later but a couple of points:
1) It is actually released through Momentum. Momentum released the 'Aardman Classics' DVD in the UK - while the BBC released the 'Wallace and Gromit' disc, and Pathe released 'Chicken Run'
2) The disc has a runtime of 50 minutes, but I think this is just for the actual Cracking Contraptions shots. Full supplements listed are: Behind The Scenes Featurette including Interview with Nick Park, The Amazing World of Wallace and Gromit [is this on the R1 Wallace and Gromit disc?], New Wallace and Gromit Action Adventure Game Demo [presumably game footage only], Creature Comforts [this was available on the Aardman Classics DVD], Two of the Award Winning Heat Electric Commercials [all the Heat Electric commercials are available on the Aardman Classics DVD] and Cracking Contraptions Stills Gallery.
Slightly off-topic but it is worth noting that Aardman have been commissioned by ITV1 to produce a series of Creature Comfort animations to show on Children's TV. Perhaps this explains the presence of the original on this DVD.

 

[Sean Aaron]

Yes, the documentary is on the Wallace and Gromit DVD available in R1 which I brought over with me. I too noted with excitement that more Creature Comforts are forthcoming.

I'm still cheesed off that Rex the Runt isn't available in the UK on DVD -- it did air on the BBC, so is it they who have to do the release and are holding things up? I'm hoping for a sign before I order the R1 version...

 

[James Reader]

I'm still cheesed off that Rex the Runt isn't available in the UK on DVD -- it did air on the BBC, so is it they who have to do the release and are holding things up? I'm hoping for a sign before I order the R1 version...

Rex the Runt is available in the UK on VHS, and is released by Universal. Say no more... Universal UK strikes again!

 

[Sean Aaron]

Hmmm, what is the deal with Universal in the UK (possible subject for another thread?)? I notice that some titles released by Universal in the US like 12 Monkeys have an inferior set of extras over here...do they have any ties with the US company or is the strategy of the parent company just different in both markets?

 

[James Reader]

I don't want to get into a negative thread here, but I will say this about Universal Pictures UK:
1) They had no intention of ever even offering UK customers the chance of purchasing the original E.T. movie (hence the additional problems when Amblin obviously made them resulting in the 3 Disc set released yesterday almost nobody or no shop has heard of. If they offered the 3 disc version from the start (as in the US) none of the resulting debacle would be happening.
2) In a stupid cost cutting exercise they are not providing inlays for any of their titles. As they distribute Dreamworks this means that both A Beautiful Mind and Minority Report - both 2 disc sets with extensive supplements have no inlays! (Plus they are sold for a RRP of £25.99 which is about $38!)
3) Xena season 1 pressed in incorrect order. Universal UK wouldn't even acknowledge this was a problem "as the user can play the episodes in any order they wish" and refused to repress the set (although it was mysteriously fixed for the R4 release!)
4) Universal UK had a silly 3-5 week rental period, during which they release rental only discs with no supplements. What's the point? I'm not against rental in principle, but any UK rental is pointless when the R1 version is available for retail - it's just asking to loose sales, but 3-5 weeks? Why?
and
5) Rex the Runt released on VHS, but no sign of a DVD release to get the thread somewhat back to topic.

 

[Mark_Wilson]

Rex the Runt released on VHS, but no sign of a DVD release

Lets hope they fix the reversed sound channels on the DVD when you do get it.

Any word on Xena coming to R1?

 

[Peter Kim]

Would buy anything from Nick Park instantly once it hits R1 (hopefully someone from his camp is listening).

This stuff is pure genius and incredible delight.

 

[Mark-W]

Just as a follow-up, I got my Cracking Contraptions
DVD, and I am very pleased with it.
One thing that makes me very happy is the time Nick Park
spends time talking about how they are making sure that
Wallace and Gromit retain their "handmade" nature,
thumbprints and all.
There is a documentary on here that I have not seen
before, and I own both the Fox and WB releases of
the first W & G DVD.
Anyway, the animators talked about the care they take
to not make the figures "too perfect" otherwise,
"Why not just do it CGI?"
and it all made me very excited
about the forthcoming W & G film.
Also, as a cheese-lover, I have always been curious
about Wenslysdale cheese, especially since I have never
been able to find it at any local gourmet shops, and
on one documentary, they discuss how W & G saved the
Wensleydale factory.
Anyway, you can get ahold of Wallace and Gromit labeled
Wensydale cheese here:
www.wensleydale.co.uk
regards,
Mark

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Xena is available in R1, sort of. You can get the Xena trilogy from Hercules and the series finale a number of places. Seasons 1 and 2 are available as exclusives from The Official Xena / Hercules Store. They're overpriced, IMHO. No word on future seasons, Hercules or Young Hercules. There are rumors of upcoming special editions of the Xena sets with blooper reels, scripts and maybe other special features, but I haven't heard anything solid.

 

[Rob Gardiner]

Just a quick note on CRACKING CONTRAPTIONS availability in the US.
I got my copy at Seattle's Scarecrow Video. They have a website at www.scarecrow.com but the disc is not listed on the site as far as I can tell. You may be able to call them and have them ship it to you. Price is $24.95. The gentleman who sold it to me made sure to ask if I could play Region 2 PAL discs.

 

[Paul.Mc]

At Oanda's current Cash rate, that's the equivalent of £16 , for a disc that retails for £8.99 including 17.5% tax. I'm sure there's better out there. I'd love to own this on DVD but I personally wouldn't pay more than US$15 for it.

 

[DonRoeber]

Has anyone heard anything more about this DVD being released for R1 players?

 

[Todd Hostettler]

Has anyone heard anything more about this DVD being released for R1 players?

I can't believe how long those of us "in the colonies" have has to wait for this release.
I'd love to hear some good news on this.