Plot summary: Our plasticine heroes, Wallace and his faithful dog Gromit, are battling bunnies that threaten to devour the villagers' treasured show vegetables. But in a failed attempt to brainwash the ravenous rabbits out of their love for veg, Wallace is transformed into a were-rabbit, and rampages through the gardens himself.
Science review: Wallace is a classic crackpot inventor, whose schemes recall the work of cartoonists Heath Robinson or Rube Goldberg. Most of his inventions have worked quite well; even in the famous episode of 'The Wrong Trousers', the mechanical pants work fine. It's just that they are being controlled by a criminal mastermind penguin.
But when Wallace hooks his warren-clearing vacuum cleaner (the BunVac 6000) to a mind-probe, he clearly oversteps the mark. "A bit of harmless brain alteration" leaves the hapless inventor as half-man, half-rabbit.
The film provides the ultimate stereotype of a mad inventor who comes unstuck when he messes with things best left alone. It's clear that Frankenstein can now only appear in comedy, because audiences are too sophisticated to believe in him in drama. The scenes in Wallace's basement lab are funny, in part because the audience recognizes the gross stereotype for what it is.
Award: Best mad scientist of the year.
Image: TM & © 2006 Aardman Animations Ltd. © 2006 DreamWorks Animation L.L.C. and DreamWorks L.L.C |
