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''A Matter of Loaf and Death'' is a StopMotion animated BlackComedy short film featuring WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit, premiering on Christmas Day 2008 and the duo's fourth ShortFilm. The film is the duo's last to feature Creator/PeterSallis as Wallace before his retirement due to health problems, though it wasn't the last ''Wallace and Gromit'' work ''period'' to feature him. That distinction goes to the 2010 miniseries ''Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention''.

Wallace and Gromit run a bakery, and Wallace falls in love, though Gromit has his suspicions. Can you blame him?
----
!!This animated short subject provides examples of:
* AccidentalHandHold:
** When Wallace and Piella are feeding ducks, their hands meet in the bag of bread.
** Likewise for Gromit and Fluffles when she's giving him back his box of possessions.
* AccidentalPun: Trying to impress Piella, a former pin-up girl for the bakery industry, Wallace uses a very poor choice of words when he informs her that he is himself "in bread" (meaning ''in the bread business'').
* AlasPoorVillain: Wallace really has a thing for his "Bake-O-Lite" girl, and the torch he carries for her can't even be extinguished by [[spoiler: the fact that Piella has sunk to become a rage-filled serial killer FatBitch who tried to bump Wallace himself off and is constantly abusive to her dog]].
** Implied: [[spoiler:Even in light of all that transpired, seeing her owner die causes Fluffles to (briefly) leave.]]
* AmbiguousSituation: It isn't 100% clear if [[spoiler:Piella actually noticed Gromit hanging from her ceiling or not]].
* AmusingInjuries: When Wallace first sees Piella, he tosses another loaf of bread out of his window, only for it to miss the mailbox he was aiming for and it hits a passing old woman in the head, knocking her over a fence.
* ArtEvolution: This was the first, and so far only, W&G short to be photographed with digital cameras, and is the most crisp-looking one as a result.
* BadBedroomBadLife: Fluffles, despite living in a luxurious home, is forced to sleep in an old cardboard box with a tattered blanket.
* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: [[spoiler:Piella forces Fluffles to play a part in her scheme to murder bakers, she is intimidating and heavily implied to be abusive right from the start -- hitting her and making her sleep in a cardboard box -- and at one point almost gets her killed in an act to lure in Wallace. After a nasty smack from Piella for helping the two, Fluffles is the one to take her down.]]
* BatmanGambit: Having likely taken notice of or at least guessing at Fluffles and Gromit's own burgeoning relationship, Piella makes a point of saying she can't stay after dropping off her apology cake since "[[MultitaskedConversation Fluffles isn't feeling too well]]" while locking gazes with Gromit. [[spoiler:She correctly guesses that Gromit will sneak out to try and see if Fluffles is alright, allowing her to capture and trap him in her house and thus being too far away from Wallace and her bomb to save him. She only fails because she didn't think that Gromit and Fluffles would get loose and use her old "Bake-O-Lite" balloon to rush back to Wallace in time.]]
* BedsheetLadder: Part of a FunnyBackgroundEvent at the zoo.
* BeleagueredAssistant: Gromit, as per usual. Not only is he having to deal with Wallace's antics, he's also dealing with Wallace's infatuation with Piella [[spoiler:while simultaneously saving him from Piella's various murder attempts which Wallace is oblivious to until the end]].
* BigNo:
** Baker Bob, accompanied with an OhCrap in the opening scene, before being murdered.
** [[spoiler:Wallace when, after falling from the windmill and landing in his own bed, the bomb falls and lands right in front of him.]]
** [[spoiler:Wallace when Piella's balloon sinks into the crocodile enclosure at the zoo, right before Piella's KarmicDeath.]]
* BigOlUnibrow: Gromit never speaks, so this is the only way you know what he's feeling. It's really incredible, the emotion you can wring out of an artfully-squashed bit of plasticine...
* BiggerOnTheInside: Somehow, a full bakery factory with machines, chutes and cogs manages to fit into the dimensions of a small two-story house -- which still has room for a kitchen, dining room and bedrooms.
* BigYes: [[spoiler:Wallace after he falls out of his trousers from the windmill and lands on his bed, thinking he's escaped the bomb. Shortly afterwards, the second BigNo example follows.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler:Piella Bakewell]].
* BlackComedy: An unusual amount for the franchise. [[spoiler:Piella being eaten by crocodiles]] in particular stands out.
* BlackScreenOfDeath:
** Probably the most soul-wrenching part of the short. [[spoiler:Piella mercilessly slaps Fluffles, and we see it from the dog's perspective. The screen goes black and Fluffles yelps on impact.]]
** [[spoiler:Later inflicted onto Piella as payback. See ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine.]]
* BlackWidow: [[spoiler:Piella Bakewell.]]
* BlatantLies: After Gromit wakes Wallace up with a water balloon, Wallace says he was just coming. Seconds before, however, he had been [[TalkingInYourSleep talking in his sleep]].
* BludgeonedToDeath: The Cereal Killer murders Baker Bob in the opening by introducing his rolling pin to his skull.
* BombDisposal: Gromit needs to dispose of a bomb. First he tries RelocatingTheExplosion, but everywhere he turns there's a BusFullOfInnocents. Eventually, [[spoiler:he smothers the bomb in bread dough]].
* {{Bowdlerise}}: When aired on CBBC in 2022, the scene where Piella slaps Fluffes after she bit her was edited out.
* BrandX: The "Bake-O-Lite Balloon" was a genuine ad campaign for the ''Nimble'' loaf, which has since been incorporated into ''Hovis''.
* BreakTheCutie: Fluffles comes pre-broken, evident from the trembling.
* BrickJoke: The Get-U-Up system. Seen at the start to get Wallace out of bed, [[spoiler:and when Piella accidentally activates it during the climax, it deposits the bomb into Wallace's trousers.]]
* BunglingInventor: Wallace, as per usual.
* BurpOfFinality: [[spoiler:A deep, satisfied belch from the crocodile pit at the zoo, prior to the Bake-O-Lite balloon drifting skywards again sans seat or passenger, makes it clear that Piella was eaten by the crocodiles.]]
* CartoonBomb: Not only is it your classic cannonball-with-a-fuse, but it has "BOMB" written on it in large white letters. [[CaptainObvious Cue Wallace: "Oh, Gromit! It's a bomb!"]].
* CeilingCling: How [[spoiler:Gromit hides from Piella. All night, no less.]]
* ChekhovsBoomerang: The Bake-O-Lite balloon. Piella used to ride it as the Bake-O-Lite girl, then Gromit and Fluffles use it to get back to Wallace's house after escaping from Piella, [[spoiler:then Piella attempts to use it to escape and, as earlier said, it fails because she's too heavy.]]
* ChekhovsGun: The forklift with the oven mitts on it. Gromit uses it to get the bread out of the oven after waking Wallace up with a water balloon, [[spoiler:then Fluffles uses it ''Film/{{Aliens}}''-style against Piella in the climax as revenge for the abuse she's suffered at Piella's hands.]]
** [[spoiler:The crocodile at the zoo]] plays an important role in both the beginning and end of the story.
* CivilizedAnimal:
** Gromit is usually depicted as walking upright, and is capable of creating and operating complex machinery. Generally he's shown to be ''significantly'' more shrewd and sensible than his master. However, despite all of this, everyone treats him the same as you treat ''any'' dog.
** Fluffles is similarly capable, though she's generally shown on all fours for much of the film. [[spoiler:Notably, her moments of bipedalism happen either out of the sight of her abusive master, or at the film's end when she finally stands up to her and remains bipedal for the rest of the film.]]
* ContinuityNod:
** The baker murdered at the start can be seen on an ad for his bakery in ''WesternAnimation/ACloseShave''.
** When Piella crashes into the zoo, to the right of the gate is a poster saying "One Of Our Penguins Is Missing", complete with a picture of what looks like [[WesternAnimation/TheWrongTrousers Feathers McGraw]]. To the left of the gate is a ladder propped against the inside of the wall -- with a rope made of sheets hanging down the outside.
** Fluffes' poor living conditions include being made to sleep in a "[[PunnyName Meatabix]]" box [[WesternAnimation/TheWrongTrousers like the one Gromit hid in]] while spying on Feathers [=McGraw=] walking through town.
** One of the pictures of a younger Wallace with Gromit as a puppy from the opening sequence of ''WesternAnimation/TheCurseOfTheWereRabbit'' can be seen in Wallace's living room.
** Wallace's [[ItMakesSenseInContext dough-inflated-trousers]] heavily resemble [[WesternAnimation/TheWrongTrousers a pair he wore previously]].
* CryIntoChest: When [[spoiler:Piella meets her end in the crocodile pit]], Fluffles bawls into Gromit's chest.
* CuteMute: Fluffles, although she lets out more sounds than Gromit, like whimpering.
** Gromit, too.
* CymbalBangingMonkey: Piella hides one of these in Fluffles' bed in order to trick Gromit.
* DarkerAndEdgier: While Preston from ''A Close Shave'' and Victor from ''Curse Of The Were Rabbit'' are both said to have hunted animals in the past, the villain in this instalment is an outright SerialKiller who has already murdered at least twelve people before the story even begins, and the plot directly revolves around this killer setting their sights on Wallace. [[spoiler:Though not shown onscreen, her ultimate comeuppance is also far more brutal than her predecessors, with her being killed and eaten by crocodiles.]]
* DatingCatwoman: Although only because Wallace doesn't know that [[spoiler:Piella is the serial killer.]]
* DeathByRecognition: The opening scene is shot from the serial killer's point of view, and the confused target lets out a YouExclamation before he gets cudgeled on the head with a rolling pin and smothered in dough.
* DespairEventHorizon: Fluffles briefly enters it after [[spoiler:Piella's death]], as she feels completely lost and alone. She barely reacts when Wallace nearly runs her over in the next scene [[spoiler:although she was likely hanging out in their garden because she really wanted to be with them, especially Gromit whom had grown to adore her, but didn't know how to ask]].
* DestroyTheEvidence: [[spoiler:The morning after Gromit discovers Piella is the serial killer, he snatches the book of Piella's victims and rushes home with it to show Wallace, then hides the book behind his back when Piella announces she and Wallace are engaged. She then manages to sneak the book out of his hands without Wallace noticing and toss it in the fire.]]
* DeterminedDefeatist: [[spoiler:Piella]] ''really'' wants her baker's dozen. She is left furiously attempting to wrestle a customised forklift just to get at Wallace during the climax.
* DidNotGetTheGirl:
** [[spoiler:Piella turns out to be a serial killer, then dies.]]
** [[spoiler:Averted with Gromit, however.]]
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Piella throws Gromit into the balloon storeroom in her house alongside Fluffles, intending to leave them locked in while she kills Wallace. However, she didn't seem to realize that they could escape with the Bake-O-Lite balloon locked in there as well, which they subsequently do.
* DisneyVillainDeath: The fate of the serial killer, falling into a crocodile pen, where they get eaten alive.
* TheDogBitesBack: Literally in the case of Fluffles.
* DramaticThunder: Piella's house.
* DunkingTheBomb: Subverted, as in the ''Film/BatmanTheMovie'' moment that it's parodying. Gromit tries to throw a bomb into the water, only to see a group of cute little ducks. He ends up smothering it in bread dough instead.
* EasilyForgiven:
** Wallace chained Gromit up and made him do dishes for biting Piella [[spoiler: (which he didn't do; [[WoundedGazelleGambit she bit herself to frame him]])]]. We never see Wallace apologize for this to Gromit but he doesn't seem to hold the slightest hint of a grudge.
** Under the theory Wallace never found out [[spoiler: that Piella framed him]], it could also count as this from his perspective. Gromit is supposedly a vicious animal that attacked his girlfriend, but after scolding him once like a naughty child he treats him as his usual companion.
* EpiphanyTherapy: Fluffles.
* EurekaMoment: PlayedForLaughs. When Wallace discovers [[spoiler:the bomb hidden inside the cake]], he correctly deduces that [[spoiler:Piella is the SerialKiller]]. Something that Gromit, [[InternalReveal and the viewer]], had already discovered much earlier.
-->'''[[spoiler:Piella]]:''' [[SarcasmMode Well done, Wallace. Sharp as a brick.]]
* EvilLaugh: [[spoiler:Piella does one when she throws Gromit into the balloon storeroom with Fluffles.]]
* ExitPursuedByABear: [[spoiler:Piella is eaten by crocodiles]]
* FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: [[spoiler:Piella Bakewell suffers a KarmicDeath. She tries to fly away in her old Bake-O-Lite balloon, despite her growing too heavy to fly the balloon, which was the reason she was fired in the first place. Despite Wallace's warnings, she babbles "They can't just drop me, I'm as light as a feather! I'm the Bake-O-Lite girl" in a bout of delusion... [[JustDesserts right as she descends into the pit of hungry crocodiles]] at the zoo that she was rescued from earlier. Being immediately followed by [[HellIsThatNoise the sounds of Piella being eaten alive]], it's genuinely horrifying.]]
* FanDisservice: [[spoiler:After a bomb blows off the back of his trousers, we end up seeing Wallace's ''buttocks''.]]
* FatBitch: [[spoiler:Piella's true colours.]]
* FlatWhat: While not said, the sentiment is still there as the action of the climax grinds to a halt as [[spoiler:Fluffles, Piella and Gromit notice the bomb is lodged into Wallace's trousers]].
* FlintstoneTheming: The running gag of Gromit's canine-themed library is extended into comic books (''[[ComicStrip/DanDare Beagle]]''), movie posters (''[[Film/CitizenKane Citizen Canine]]''), and albums by Doggy Osmond[[note]]Donny Osmond[[/note]] ("Puppy Love", what else?) and [[Music/McFly McFlea]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** When the murderer sneaks up on Bob the Baker at the beginning, he at first turns around and lovingly says "Oh-ho, it's you!" A hint that his killer was anything but a stranger to him.
** When Piella is explaining to Wallace that the brakes on her bike failed, Gromit pointedly tests said brakes. And they still work.
** When Wallace asks if Piella is still "ballooning" (as in, riding the "Bake-O-Lite" balloon), she [[InnocentlyInsensitive briefly gets upset]].
** While it was ambiguous at first (with Fluffles' constant shaking and Piella prodding her with her foot), two things clearly define how their relationship really is: [[spoiler:Fluffles anxiously returning Gromit's items to him while keeping an eye out, and the ratty box and blanket that act as Fluffles' bed]].
%%* ForkliftFu: [[spoiler:Fluffles]] at the end, directly parodying ''Film/{{Aliens}}''.
* GoryDiscretionShot: When [[spoiler:Piella]] murders a baker at the beginning of the movie, the screen cuts to the dough with a thwack heard in the background before the baker's lifeless face falls into the dough.
** [[spoiler:Piella's death when she falls into the crocodile exhibit at the zoo]] isn't shown on screen, but we can hear them messily devouring [[spoiler:her,]] followed up by a hearty belch as the Bake-O-Lite Balloon flies away and a horrified Fluffles [[ICantLookGesture quickly turning away]] and [[spoiler:[[CryInToChest bawling into Gromit's chest]]]].
%%* GuiltRiddenAccomplice: [[spoiler:Fluffles.]]
* HatedItemMakeover: Gromit returns home from a delivery to discover Wallace's love interest Piella Bakewell has redecorated their house while he was away. Gromit is angry about the changes, especially after seeing his room getting the same treatment and his personal belongings thrown in the trash.
%%* HurricaneOfPuns: Mostly baking-related.
%%* HypercompetentSidekick: Gromit.
* ICantLookGesture: [[spoiler:Wallace and Fluffles look away during Piella's KarmicDeath. In Fluffles's case, she [[CryIntoChest buries her face in Gromit's chest]].]]
* IKnowYouKnowIKnow: After Gromit finds out about [[spoiler:her plan to kill Wallace, Piella pointedly makes sure she knows he knows]] without tipping off Wallace:
** When Gromit tries to show Wallace [[spoiler:the book of Piella's victims, and then tries hiding it behind his back when it turns out Piella is in the room, she scoops up Gromit into a hug before taking the book and subtly tosses it into the fireplace]].
** [[spoiler:She makes a point of staring Gromit dead in the eye as she bites her arm in order to incriminate him in Wallace's eyes.]]
** [[spoiler:Piella explains she can't stay for tea after dropping off the cake by saying (while making sure to lock eyes with Gromit) that "[[MultitaskedConversation Fluffles isn't feeling too well]]".]]
* ImpactSilhouette: Played with: Gromit leaves a dent, not a hole, in [[spoiler:Piella's metal paddle after she bats him away with it]].
** Played straight not too long after, [[spoiler:when Fluffles accidentally backhands Wallace with the forklift]].
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Gromit is practically a currant bun sniper.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: Wallace asks Piella whether she's "still ballooning", in reference to her old role as the Bake-O-Lite girl, which is doubly insensitive as both an unintentional crack about her weight, and the fact that [[spoiler:said weight problem was responsible for killing her career (she was too heavy for the balloon)]].
* IntellectualAnimal: Gromit and Fluffles, though they both make barely audible whining sounds at points.
* JustDesserts: [[spoiler:Piella winds up as a tasty snack for the crocodiles at the zoo.]]
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Piella. A woman driven to murder because of her eating is EatenAlive by the same crocodiles that she was saved from earlier.]]
* KickTheDog: A literal, yet surprisingly subtle example. Piella kicks Fluffles ''twice'' before her true nature is revealed, yet both times the action could be interpreted as her nudging the poodle to greet Wallace. Of course, Fluffles' [[BreakTheCutie downcast]] personality gives the game away to the audience, but not to [[TooDumbToLive Wallace]].
* KnightOfCerebus: [[spoiler: Zigzagged. Piella is rarely shown in a comedic light after she is revealed to be the killer, and her worst actions - particularly her unsettlingly realistic abuse of Fluffles - are played completely straight to show her as genuinely unhinged. However, she does endure a more humorous and cathartic HumiliationConga in the climax]].
* LittleMissBadass: Fluffles, the female poodle Gromit befriends. Wallace lampshades it:
-->'''Wallace:''' Great work lad- ''(sees Fluffles)'' ''lass''?
* LockingMacGyverInTheStoreCupboard: Locking Gromit in the balloon storeroom.
* LoudGulp: Gromit does one at the start when reading about Baker Bob's murder in the newspaper.
* MaskOfSanity: [[spoiler:Piella pretends to be a sane GirlyGirl in front of her baker victims in order to catch them off-guard and kill them. Wallace was her next target in this scheme.]]
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: [[spoiler:Did Piella's soul actually fly off towards the afterlife after dying, or was it just something that Wallace imagined/hallucinated]]?
* MetalDetectorCheckpoint: Gromit installs one of these (based on a design in "Electronic Surveillance for Dogs") to catch out Piella's murderous intentions toward Wallace. [[spoiler:The machine works but fails to convince Wallace.]]
** [[spoiler:When Piella drops off the bomb-laden cake, the metal detector goes off, but she pointedly pins the blame on the keys in her purse.]]
* MoodWhiplash: In no small part due to the darker nature of the antagonist, there is more BlackComedy and the serious moments stand out more than they might do otherwise.
* MultitaskedConversation: When dropping off the cake as her apology, Piella mentions that she can't stay, since "Fluffles isn't feeling too well". The thing is, when she said that, [[spoiler:[[IKnowYouKnowIKnow she locked eyes with Gromit out in the hall]]]].
* NeverMyFault: [[spoiler:Piella]] hates all bakers because [[spoiler:she gained too much weight from eating baked goods and lost her job (which required her to be light enough to fly a small hot air balloon) as a result]].
* NeverSmileAtACrocodile: Wallace and Gromit end up saving Piella and Fluffles from a crocodile pit at the zoo. [[spoiler:This is also how Piella meets her end, after her balloon sinks]].
* NiceGirl: To further contrast her with her master, Fluffles is very timid but kind. Gromit ends up falling in love with her when she returns his possessions (by picking them out of the trash no less) when Piella throws them away.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler:Piella leaves her purse behind at Wallace's house. Wallace sends Gromit to return it, which leads to Gromit uncovering the truth about Piella.]]
* NoMouth: Gromit, as is tradition. Also, Fluffles [[spoiler:except when she bites Piella]].
* NoOSHACompliance: Wallace's EpicLaunchSequence sees him sliding down the same chute the flour goes down, and he would have ended up in the mixing bowl if Gromit hadn't turned the chute at the right moment. In addition, his house-turned mill features a ''lot'' of exposed gears and wheels, without any barriers to keep people away. [[spoiler: Exploited by Piella in her first serious attempt to murder Wallace, where she tries to shove Wallace into said gears while he tries to retrieve her shoe.]]
* OhCrap: Gromit has a lot of them.
** [[spoiler:Three in a row in the same scene. Gromit when he realises Piella is the serial killer, then when he sees Wallace is to be her next victim, and then when he knocks over the dressmaker's dummies seconds later.]]
** Gromit again when he hears that Wallace and Piella are engaged. Accentuated with a VertigoEffect.
** [[spoiler:Gromit has ''another'' one a few scenes later. After removing knives and other kitchen implements from the house and locks them in the shed, Gromit hears that the cock-a-leekie soup Piella has prepared for Wallace is "her own special recipe". He reacts with horror and dashes back into the house, thinking the soup is poisoned (we don't find out if it is or not).]]
** Baker Bob in the opening scene before being murdered with his own rolling pin.
** Wallace has one at the beginning when he sees the tube he's sliding down is headed straight for the dough mixer. Luckily for him, Gromit redirects the tube so it leads out of harm's way.
** Wallace when he sees Piella's bike is heading straight for the zoo's crocodile exhibit.
** [[spoiler:Piella has one when she sees she's about to [[ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine get a backhand by the baker forklift]], which knocks her across the attic.]]
** Wallace [[spoiler:when the bomb ends up in his trousers.]]
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: While ''WesternAnimation/TheCurseOfTheWereRabbit'' was the first time he had even shown anger towards Gromit, this is the only installment in which Wallace is angry enough to outright ''punish'' him for (supposedly) hurting Piella.
* OopNorth: Notably, this was the installment that definitively established Wallace and Gromit as being from Lancashire.
* PalatePropping: While rescuing Piella from the crocodile pit at the zoo, Wallace props open a crocodile's mouth with a French baguette.
* ParentalBonus: "I've got a bomb in me pants!"
* {{Parody}}: Of serial killer movies.
* PromptingNudge: One of the first signs that the BigBad is evil is that their "nudge" to their dog was too hard.
* {{Pun}}: In [[BlackComedy darkly, bad taste]], the newspapers call the serial killer of bakers the "Cereal Killer".
* PunnyName:
*** Piella Bakewell.
** "Bake-O-Lite" is a pun on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakelite Bakelite]], an early type of plastic.
** Gromit reads a home security manual authored by B.A. Lert.
* RedShirt: Baker Bob is offed in his opening scene by being hit in the head with his own rolling pin.
* RemovableSteeringWheel: Wallace and Gromit's van has a steering wheel that can be removed, plugged into the passenger's dashboard and used there.
* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler:Piella definitely lost her marbles ever since her firing from her job and her weight gain. She only gets worse as the film goes on.]]
* SayMyName: [[spoiler:Wallace yells Gromit's name when Piella is about to clobber him with a wrench.]]
* SerendipitousSurvival: [[spoiler:Instead of returning Piella's purse to her directly, Wallace sends Gromit instead. He likely saved his own life by doing that, because Piella could easily have killed him and Gromit would have not found out until it was too late.]]
* ShrinkingViolet: Fluffles.
* ShoutOut:
** The bomb scene as a whole parodies a similar scene from ''Film/BatmanTheMovie''.
** The battle between [[spoiler:Fluffles and Piella]] parodies the climactic duel in ''Film/{{Aliens}}''.
** The death of Baker Bob is a parody of the death of one of the victims in the original ''Franchise/{{Friday the 13th}}'', right down to the "Oh, it's you!" recognition of the killer.
** The scene of Wallace and Piella at a potter's wheel is a parody of the scene from ''Film/Ghost1990''.
** As noted above, Piella's "Bake-O-Lite" commercial parodies the 1970s campaign for "Nimble" slimming bread.
** Baker Bob is named after the film's real-life co-writer... Bob '''Baker'''.
** Gromit has a stuffed toy that greatly resembles Series/{{Bagpuss}}.
* SilentPartner: As always, Gromit, who has exactly zero dialogue throughout the series, serves as Wallace's right-hand dog.
* SilentSnarker: Despite his silence, it's remarkable how expressive Gromit is considering he is always portrayed without a ''mouth'', leaving his ''eyebrows'' to convey all of his emotions.
%%* TheSociopath: [[spoiler:Piella Bakewell.]] (Zero-Context Example)
* SomethingElseAlsoRises: When Wallace and Piella touch, we're treated to a shot of bread rising.
* StartOfDarkness: Piella being forced to do all those promotional stunts with bakers and their confections, utterly destroyed her figure. Her treasured career follows soon after. [[spoiler:Now she lives only to exact vengeance on all bakers.]]
* StealthPun: Amidst all of the other awful, awful baking puns in this film, Piella's engagement ring is a baguette cut.
* StopMotion: As is standard for ''Wallace and Gromit'', the film was produced through claymation.
* StoutStrength: Piella is shown to be able to push back hard enough to severely strain a forklift engine.
* SympathyForTheDevil: Wallace and Fluffles still weep for [[spoiler:Piella's death]], despite her spending the entire climax trying to murder them in cold blood. Sadly, this is TruthInTelevision for abuse victims.
* TakeThat: Gromit is trying to dispose of a bomb. He goes to one window--there are cute little ducks in the pond underneath. He goes to another window--nuns collecting charity for kittens. He goes to a third--the Yorkshire border. He prepares to throw.
* TakeTheWheel: Wallace hands the wheel off to his dog while he makes a death-defying leap to save a bread heiress. And when Wallace says it, he means it [[RemovableSteeringWheel literally]]. Apparently that particular incarnation of the ever changing [[{{Thememobile}} Wallacemobile]] has a socket for the steering wheel on either side. Hopefully the pedals are replicated on both sides as well...
* TalkingInYourSleep: Wallace at the beginning, dreaming about eating cheese. He starts talking about something he'd like to wash it down with before being hit in the face with a red water balloon prepared by Gromit to wake him up.
* ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine: The first thing [[spoiler:Fluffles does in the baker mech is give Piella a hard return backhand for the one she suffered earlier.]]
* TemptingFate: After getting knocking out onto the windmill fan, Wallace tries to reassure Gromit that he's in control of the situation, [[spoiler:only to then notice Piella's bomb got caught on the blade across from him]].
* ThirteenIsUnlucky: In [[spoiler:Piella Bakewell's book of victims, Wallace is number 13, about to be murdered soon.]]
* TooDumbToLive:
** [[spoiler:For all of her hatred towards Bake-O-Lite ''and'' bakers in general over her losing her job, it really doesn't make sense why Piella'd still have the balloon in her house. Not to mention, not getting off of it once she realizes that it wouldn't hold her for long. Then again, from how she started singing the "Bake-O-Lite" theme song as she was going down, it seemed that [[SanitySlippage her failure to kill Wallace had broken her already-cracked mind once and for all]].]]
** [[spoiler:Despite being the smart one of the duo, Gromit gets this when he tries to show the photos that Piella had in a book without checking to see if she's with Wallace at the moment.]]
* ToTheBatpole: Our heroes suit up via a Heath Robinson-esque process, depicted in all its absurd detail.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Cheese, particularly Wensleydale, is Wallace's favorite, but he's also pretty enthusiastic about toast.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The Cartoon Network FLiCKS promo spoils the true villain.
* VehicularSabotage: [[InvokedTrope Deliberately invoked.]] Piella gets together with Wallace after riding a bicycle out of control down a hill. When the duo bring the bike to a halt and rescue her, Gromit is instantly suspicious because the brakes are working fine.
* VileVillainSaccharineShow: ''Wallace & Gromit'' is typically a more light-hearted franchise with villains that are typically LaughablyEvil (to some degree). Here, [[spoiler:Piella Bakewell, the serial killer, is played disturbingly seriously and she earns herself no comedic moments besides her own death.]]
* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Piella Bakewell apparently loses it after her plot to kill Wallace is foiled. She tries to fly away in the old Bake-O-Lite balloon, despite her growing too heavy to fly the balloon being the reason she was fired in the first place, babbling madly in defiance even as she descends into a pit of hungry crocodiles at the zoo, which is followed by the sound of Piella being eaten alive.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Piella:''' I will be back to get you Wallace! I WILL HAVE MY BAKER'S DOZEN!!\\
'''Wallace:''' But Piella! The balloon won't hold you!\\
'''Piella:''' (''babbling madly'') They can't just drop me! I'm as light as a feather!''(Starts flapping her arms like wings)'' I'm the Bake-o-Lite GIIIIRRLLLL!!!]]
* WhiteDwarfStarlet: Piella Bakewell. Wallace recognizes her as the spokeswoman for Bake-O-Lite Bread, but she was fired as the "Bake-O-Lite Girl" when she became too heavy to fly the balloon they used in advertising. [[spoiler:She did ''not'' take that well.]]
* WingedSoulFliesOffAtDeath: At the end, Wallace sees, or imagines [[spoiler:a thin Piella as she looked long ago]] do this.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: Piella pulls a quite unnerving one on Gromit, biting her own arm.
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