Film Review - Grand Day Out, A

So you're sitting around, talking with your dog about where to go on vacation. Then it hits you that you have no cheese in the house. Why not go somewhere there's cheese?

Thus begins the grand day out of our animated heros Wallace & Gromit. The creation of director Nick Park, this pair will set about to build a rocket in their basement, and travel to the moon, because everyone knows the moon is made out of cheese.

Wallace is an inventor. Gromit, the dog, is equal in genius to Wallace, but has a slightly more serious demeanor. Neither of them allows practical sense to get in the way of their plan. Getting to the moon is quite the adventure in itself. Wallace designs the ship; Gromit reads the book Electronics for Dogs. Together they build their rocket with a wallpapered interior, and built-in toaster.

The sequences on the moon are just as funny. The pair come upon a yellow cabinet-like creature which is dormant until Wallace puts 10p in a slot. This creature looks like a square R2-D2. It desperately wants to go to Earth for a skiing vacation, and nearly destroys the ship.

You really want to pay close attention to this film or you're going to miss a lot of the sight gags. Newspaper headlines can be hard to read on a TV set, but it's worth the eyestrain. One of the best reasons for buying this film is that you will see new jokes every time you watch it, the humor is layered that thick.

Whenever someone tells me a movie is a "family" film, I avoid it like a root canal. So I'm going to qualify the use of that term for A Grand Day Out. Kids will like this movie. It's funny and very innocent. An adult is going to like this movie. It's funny in a very clever way. A parent isn't going to groan when their child asks to see it again. It's going to be funny all over again. A Grand Day Out is that good!

No Suction!

Film Facts

Directed by Nick Park

Released in 1992

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Reviewed by Mongo