I'm in a bit of a quandary here. As I write this, seventy eight percent of IMDb viewers who rated this film short gave it an '8' score or better. Even more significant perhaps, is that not a single viewer who wrote a review of it on IMDb gave it less than an '8' score. My quandary is - I just didn't think it was that good. At twenty five years old, I guess it has withstood the test of time and the forty five thousand plus film watchers who gave it an evaluation, but I don't get the effusive praise. It's not the Claymation aspect of it either, in my day we had Rudolph and Gumby and they were OK. But what makes Wallace and Gromit so popular? Gromit's a dog so he gets a pass, but the character of Wallace is rather homely and uninspiring. In fact, even though he was a villain, Feathers McGraw was probably my favorite character in the story. So at the risk of offending big time Wallace and Gromit fans I'll simply state that I don't care for the characters and animation and leave it at that. They have their appeal so I can't knock that, but this old timer would rather take his dose of Warner Brothers, Disney or Hanna-Barbera any day.

THE WRONG TROUSERS was a childhood favourite of mine and I'm pleased to say that it's one that continues to hold up in the modern day. I'm a big fan of Claymation and have been ever since I used to watch the adventures of Morph on the Tony Hart show back in the 1980s. Wallace and Gromit are fun too, although I think THE WRONG TROUSERS marked the peak of their career; nothing else they've been in has been as intense and funny as this.Everything about this 30-minute film is amazing. The pacing is incredibly fast, the film filled with action and constant funny humour. The heist plot is like that of an old Ealing Studios comedy and the character of Feathers McGraw somehow creepy and imposing despite being a Plasticine penguin. Gromit makes for a thoroughly lovable protagonist and the film is full of warmth and heart without ever crossing over into sickly sentiment. And it closes on THAT train chase, one of the finest chase scenes ever put on film, a 3-minute odyssey of sheer delight that never gets old. Bravo, Nick Park and team!

Wallace (Peter Sallis) is used by a shady, criminal penguin in a robbery involving mechanical trousers.Nick Park has said this was his favorite of the Wallace and Gromit films, and I have to agree with him. Whether I have seen all of them or not is not clear to me, but of those I have, this one definitely stands out as the masterwork -- how do you top a villain played by a shady, snaky penguin? The animation is incredible, especially when we see the way the outside of the buildings are crafted. The clay of the main characters may be relatively simplistic, but this is not because the animators lack talent.

Forget that you are watching an animation (not at all difficult with this masterpiece.) What would you like to see in a film? A great story? You got it. Action, suspense, emotion? You get that too. How about a liberal dose of comedy but also some pathos? No worries! First rate acting? Fear not, Gromit can 'act' the socks off half of Hollywood. This film never ceases, from the build up to the not one but *two* "set-piece" classic scenes and an array of sight-gags that simply delight. This is half an hour of pure genius, unlikely to be matched ever unless Mr. Park and his gang can do it. Awarding a perfect 10 is not always easy (for me) I tend to have niggling doubts but with this gem it was always a "no-brainer."