A Close Shave
| A Close Shave | |
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Original USA VHS artwork cover.
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| Directed by | Nick Park |
| Produced by |
Peter Lord David Sproxton |
| Written by | Nick Park Bob Baker |
| Starring |
Peter Sallis Anne Reid |
| Music by | Julian Nott |
| Cinematography | Dave Alex Riddett |
| Edited by | Helen Garrard |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by |
BBC (UK, TV) 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (US, VHS) DreamWorks Home Entertainment (US, DVD) |
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Release date
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Running time
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31 minutes (NTSC) 30 minutes (PAL) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £1.3 million |
A Close Shave is a 1995 stop motion animated short film directed by Nick Park at Aardman Animations in Bristol, featuring his characters Wallace and Gromit. It was his third half-hour short featuring the eccentric inventor Wallace and his quiet but intelligent dog Gromit, following 1989's A Grand Day Out, and 1993's The Wrong Trousers.
To celebrate the film's premiere on Christmas Eve 1995, BBC Two's Christmas presentation that year (broadcast from 17 to 22 December) featured Wallace and Gromit. The main ident featured the two (Wallace wears a red crown and Gromit wears a green crown) eating Christmas dinner, with a large blue 2 (the channel's logo) situated in the middle of the table, covered with flashing Christmas lights.
Several Christmas themed stings also involving Wallace, Gromit, and the 2 were shown between programmes. The animation of these idents appeared slightly different from other Wallace and Gromit shorts. Following in the footsteps of its predecessor The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in March 1996.
In the middle of the night, a small sheep escapes from a mysterious lorry (truck) and enters the house of Wallace and Gromit, who are currently running a window-cleaning business. The next morning, Wallace and Gromit fail to notice the sheep chewing at their food and furniture, as well as their new Porridge Gun, before they leave for work. While they clean the windows of a wool shop, Wallace meets and falls in love with Wendolene Ramsbottom, the shopkeeper. Wendolene mentions that she inherited the shop from her father who was also an inventor and owns a sinister dog named Preston, who runs a sheep-rustling scheme to supply the shop. After returning from work, they finally discover the little lost sheep, who has wrecked their furniture and decorations.
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Wikipedia