Top 25 Outdoor Movie: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

With only a couple of movies left on the Top 25 Outdoor Movies of All Time, we’re excited to review Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

The film is the first feature-length animation from an award-winning shorts series by the acclaimed animator Nick Park. There are plenty of reasons Wallace and Gromit made our Top 25 list, so let’s get into them.

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit was directed by Nick Park, who also created the spectacular animation Chicken Run (another great pick for your next outdoor movie). It grew out of a beloved series of short Wallace & Gromit films.

The animation is remarkable for its use of claymation (also seen in Fantastic Mr. Fox), a laborious process in which almost every element is handmade or sculpted. It creates some amazing effects that stand in stark contrast to contemporary techniques that often over-rely on CGI.

The result is a fun and imaginative film that keeps kids laughing and entertained while truly amazing everyone of all ages.

The film follows Wallace, an inventor, and his highly intelligent yet silent dog, Gromit, as they run their “Anti-Pesto” business ahead of Tottington Hall’s annual Giant Vegetable Competition. Many of the townsfolk hire the duo to catch rabbits threatening their prized carrots and vegetables before judging begins. But Wallace and Gromit run into a handful of problems — not least where to keep all the rabbits they’re catching.

Wallace uses his inventive skills to build a Mind Manipulation-O-Matic machine to brainwash the rabbits into leaving the vegetables alone. But things go sideways as the machine produces some unwanted results, sending the film off on an adventurous and hilarious journey that will keep your entire community laughing all evening!

As with all the films on our Top 25 list, there are great opportunities for pre-show entertainment. Costume contests would work well, along with carrot-eating contests and a host of other fun activities! If your community has a lot of farmers, you might even hold your own Giant Vegetable Competition — who can show up with the largest vegetable, with the winner taking home an enviable prize from a local business?

Activities like these are a great way to engage your community in a real way, beyond simply showing a film. If anyone has shown Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit to their community, please post your images and stories in the comments section below! We’d love to see how your event went.