Thursday, August 07, 2008

Lonely robot


I am watching Wallace And Gromit: A Grand Day Out, apparently for the first time, and I think I know what inspired Wall-E. That lonely moon robot is just ab fab.

Amazingly hard to find a good picture of, though. Does anybody know an image search which works better than Google's?
(I see Google is trying a system which awards people for labelling lots of images on the web. I wonder how that is going.)

BTW, I suddenly realized that (Wallace and Gromit creator) Nick Park is from these parts. Wallace keeps calling Gromit "lad", which normally means "boy", but is used in Lancashire for grown men too (and apparently anthropomorphic dogs). And in A Close Shave, the love interest Gwendolin has the last name of Ramsbottom, which apart from being funny is the name of a town not far from where I live. And her dog is named Preston, also a town close by, where Nick Park was born.

PPS: A Close Shave is just fantastic. Especially the last third, with the little airplane, the sheep balancing on the motorcycle, and the big shearing machine. I'm on the floor. (It took a little while, by the way, before I got the pun in Shaun The Sheep.)

9 comments:

Alex said...

I had the pleasure of meeting Peter Sallis once, in Holmefirth, not too far from your neck of the woods. He was on location for the filming of a "Last of the Summer Wine" Christmas special.

If you can get someone to take you up there you will find some beautiful scenery, a bit more rugged than around Notlob, but not adventurous like Snowdonia. You'll probably like the colours and textures provided by those mill towns.

Isn't Ramsbottom a bit more rural too? Preston is okay, but head up to Southport for the epitome of coastal spa towns.

I like the way they talk around Lancs, it's not quite Tyke, it ain't Manc and it ain't Pennine. Though Liverpool was also once Lancashire, Lanc ain't Scouse.

Have you seen "Shawn the Sheeps" spin off series yet?

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Yes, I bought it on iTunes a few weeks back, it's great. Was probably what started the Aardman personal revival for me.

I like Rex The Runt too, very abstract, very funny, very grown up.

Alex said...

I don't care for Angry Kid, it is funny, but not to my taste. Rex was pretty good.

I say it again "Not Without My Handbag".

Alex said...

BTW "No slogan since July 2008" SC (Silent chuckle)

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Thanks.

I'd have called it "No Name, No Slogan", but nobody would get the reference. (It's a song by Acid Horse, a Ministry spinoff.)

Anonymous said...

Haven't seen you mention 'The Wrong Trousers' - a Gothic (as in stranger disrupts the family) mystery story - another great Aardman adventure.
-Eric

Alex said...

Just love how Feathers appears on the landing as Wallace backs out of the newly decorated bedroom. Like the tape measure as an elevator. Love the way Gromit cuts the hole in the box. Fantastic show.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Yes, The Wrong Trousers' was the best claymation ever until 'A Close Shave'.

Anonymous said...

Think they slightly blew it with curse of the were rabbit, although it was still good.
Have you seen chicken run? Lots of good gags in it both visual & spoken, and references to classic war movies.