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To: maceng2 who wrote (80)	10/15/2002 5:48:14 AM
From: maceng2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1417

(OT) Wallace and Gromit film premières news.bbc.co.uk Oscar-winning animated duo Wallace and Gromit have returned after a six-year absence in a series of short films - and BBC News Online has exclusive footage. Maker Aardman Animations has produced 10 one-minute movies featuring Wallace and his canny pet dog Gromit, entitled Cracking Contraptions. The films are launching on Tuesday with the world exclusive première of the first short, Soccamatic, on BBC News Online. The film is downloadable and free to view. In Soccamatic, a football-loving Wallace has to resort to machine trickery to score against Gromit - but his canine goalie also has a few tricks up his sleeve. "This is great news for Wallace and Gromit fans everywhere and a real coup for the BBC," said Lorraine Heggessey, BBC One controller. "The BBC has been the home of this loveable duo since they were created, and what makes their return truly unique is the exclusive première on BBC News Online." The other nine films each focus on a different invention that Wallace has built to help him around the home. His workshop will include the Autochef, the Tellyscope, the Bullyproof Vest and the Snoozatron. They will be viewable on the internet on a pay-per-view site from Wednesday, and will be shown across BBC One TV schedules later in the year. Sean the Sheep makes a guest appearance in Shopper 13 The pair's creator, Nick Park, is currently working on a script for the first full length Wallace and Gromit feature film with Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks studio, to be be released in two years. "We wanted to get Wallace and Gromit out there again because we missed them really," he said. "The short films were partly to train people up for doing the feature film. "I was nervous at first because no-one has animated them for a long time. But it's worked a treat. I've been very impressed." Park was inspired to make the new films from a set of photos commissioned by a US magazine, to help his animators get used to working again on Wallace and Gromit after the six-year gap. 'Perfect place' "Wallace and Gromit are like family to me," adds Park. "I couldn't be prouder of Cracking Contraptions, which provides new insights into the unique relationship of my characters. "And considering their love of advanced technology, BBC Online is the perfect place for this première." Fans of Wallace and Gromit have been languishing since the duo's last 30-minute TV outing in A Close Shave in 1995. The Wrong Trousers appeared earlier in 1993 and followed A Grand Day Out in 1989. Chicken Run, from 2000, was Aardman's first full-length feature, which Park made with his friend and colleague Peter Lord.