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Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures is a series of adventure games featuring Wallace & Gromit. The games were created by Telltale Games and released in the spring/summer of 2009 for the PC and Xbox Live Arcade, followed by a rerelease on Steam in 2020. The games are notable for successfully replicating the look and feel of the films, to the point of having fingerprints and other clay modeling details visible on the characters.

The Grand Adventures episodes are, in order:

  • Fright of the Bumblebees, in which Wallace's attempts to get into the honey business result in giant bees terrorizing the town.
  • The Last Resort, in which a rainy day prompts Wallace to construct a basement beach resort that becomes the site of a closed-circle thumping mystery.
  • Muzzled!, in which traveling philanthropist Monty Muzzle holds a fundraising fair to rebuild the local dog shelter... but Wallace and Gromit discover his intentions aren't exactly charitable.
  • The Bogey Man, in which Wallace tries to dodge a marriage proposal by joining the Prickly Thicket country club, and ends up in a game with much higher stakes than he bargained for.


These games provide examples of:

  • Accidental Proposal: In episode 3, Wallace accidentally proposes to Miss Flitt by picking up a lugnut that she mistakes for a wedding ring. Sorting this out takes up a good part of the plot of episode 4.
  • Bee Afraid: "Fright of the Bumblebees" is named as such for a reason.
  • Berserk Button:
    • Miss Flitt's dogs won't let anyone touch their chew toy. Duncan McBiscuit found this out the hard way.
    • Miss Flitt can't stand mushrooms.
    • Prudence Flitt despises golf.
  • Bizarre and Improbable Golf Game: "The Bogey Man" involves a golf game occurring through the middle of town because it was unknowingly built on top of the Golf Course. Out of both mercy and arrogance, Wallace's opponent changes the rules after the sixteenth hole so that that whoever is first to finish the last two holes in either order is the winner. Play goes through the sewers, through buildings, and at one point involves a ball-stealing squirrel. Success even involves using a legendary grip which sends the ball straight up and literally mailing the ball across town, respectively.
  • Book Ends: "The Last Resort" opens and closes with Gromit using a gas cylinder to propel himself across a water hazard to save Wallace.
  • Bungling Inventor: Wallace.
  • Butt-Monkey: The local grocer, Mr. Paneernote . No matter what kind of crazy plot Wallace and Gromit are caught up in, it always ends up inconveniencing him somehow. He lampshades this in the final episode.
    Paneer: [Constable] Dibbins is the sort who can make things happen for me. Wallace is more the sort who makes 'em happen TO me.
  • The Cake Is a Lie: Muzzle's gumball-counting game promises an unspecified prize to anyone who wins. Muzzle never expected anyone to win so he never actually had a prize prepared. When Mr Paneer wins, Muzzle tries to spin a yarn about the "prize" being the memories of the experience and victory.
  • Canon Foreigner: The series introduces a recurring cast that doesn't show up in the main Wallace and Gromit series. Among others: Mr. Paneer, grocery store merchant and cheese seller, Wallace's neighbor Ms. Flitt, and newspaper stand owner Mrs. Gabberly.
  • Chekhov's Boomerang: In "Muzzled!", the birdseed is used in three separate puzzles.
  • Chekhov's Gag: The joke book Mr. Paneer keeps on hand can be used several times while the player is puttering around Prickly Thicket golf club, and Duncan becomes Helpless with Laughter every time a joke is read. Gromit brings the book to Mr. Paneer during the final golf tournament, making Duncan laugh again so Gromit can swipe the measuring putter and use it and the map to find the last hole.
  • Continuity Nod: At least one item from a previous short is hidden in every episode. For example, in episode 1, the hatch from Wallace's rocket ship can be found in the cellar.
  • Cool Old Lady: With her kind disposition, witty tongue, and clever mind, Mrs. Gabberly fits the bill, especially when she manages to outdo Major Crum in the pie-eating contest.
  • Deep-Fried Whatever: "Muzzled!" features a deep-frying machine. It is only used once by Gromit, putting in a potato pie for a pie-judging contest.
  • Devil in Plain Sight: Ms. Flitt's dogs in "The Last Resort".
  • Dialogue Tree: Averted, which is unusual for a Telltale adventure game series. The closest the player ever comes is clicking on nearby objects to comment on them and advance the conversation that way... which, admittedly, can lead to its own puzzles. A good example of this is early on in Episode 2, in which Wallace walks in on a dispute between Major Crum and Constable Dibbins, and needs to choose who to side with... or comment on a billboard in the background, inspiring the Major and the Constable to work together.
  • Dramatic Irony: Both Gromit and the Player know who attacked Duncan McBiscuit from the start of the mystery, but because Gromit can't speak, he can't expose the attacker(s) himself, so he has to give hints to Wallace to help him figure it out.
  • Episodic Game
  • Falling into Jail: Two instances, at the ends of two separate episodes.
    • At the end of Episode 3, after a foiled aerial getaway too complicated to explain here, Monty Muzzle plummets from the air and crashes through the roof of the police station's jail cell.
    • The end of Episode 2 has a less gravitational variant, in which Poogie-Woo and Tinkie-Wee, the culprits who assaulted Duncan earlier in the episode, are washed down the drain in Wallace's basement... and pop out of the toilet of the same jail cell.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Monty Muzzle. In his first scene, he seems kind but has an off-putting air due to some of his words. This facade instantly crumbles though when you interact with him as Gromit at his funfair.
  • 15 Puzzle: The end of Episode 4 has a somewhat unconventional example: the "pieces" are eight people arranged in a 3x3 grid, and the goal is to move them in such a way that Wallace can reach the middle of the opposite side from where he starts. Further complicating the matter is that Wallace can't move into any space that's directly or diagonally adjacent to Duncan or Prudence Flitt, nor vice-versa.
  • Fooled by the Sound: In "The Last Resort", Wallace's stomach growls loudly from looking at boxes of Stilton, which Mr. Paneer, Felicity Flitt, and Duncan McBiscuit mistake for thunder.
  • Foreshadowing: Early on in Episode 1, Major Crum is raving on about an impending aerial attack. Of course it's just The Münchausen being The Münchausen... too bad he's more right than he knows.
  • Genius Ditz / Mad Scientist: Wallace's inventions range from malfunctioning Rube Goldberg-esque devices to clever and groundbreaking gadgets — which also have a tendency to malfunction.
  • Golden Snitch: In the golf game in "The Bogey Man", Wallace is rather absurdly behind (167 to 83, according to the scoreboard) by the sixteenth hole, so his opponent decides to humor him by offering to ignore the stroke count and declare Wallace the winner if he can complete the course first.
  • Gone Horribly Right:
    • Wallace's attempt to pump up some flowers with Muscle-Gro to make them grow more quickly also made them grow much larger. This in itself wasn't too bad, but it also wound up making giant bees that rampaged all over town.
    • The Prickly Thicket club hired local clockmaker Goodman Witlace and his dog Gimlet to hide the deed to the club's golf course to keep it safe from Duchess Flitt. They ended up hiding it so well that no one could find it for the next four hundred years.
  • Hammerspace: As befitting the trope, the games feature this, truly reaching a ridiculous point when Wallace uproots incredibly large flowers and somehow stuffs them into his pockets.
  • Hikikomori: Mr. Gabberly, who likes staying in his house, although unlike the traditional quiet version, he is willing to shout at people quite a bit. His hobby thus far seems to be raising birds.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: When Mr. Paneer wins the gumball-counting contest, Monty Muzzle reluctantly gives him and Gromit each a gumball. This backfires on Monty at the climax when Gromit uses his to gum up the propeller of Monty's hot air balloon, allowing him and Wallace to catch up, save Twitch, and get back the money.
  • Homemade Inventions: The series trademark, and the propellant for most of the plots.
  • Idea Bulb: Played with twice in "The Last Resort". As Wallace gets an idea in the first act, a few sparks in the plug behind him go off above his head. In the second act, it's a sun lamp.
  • Identical Grandson: The Prickly Thicket Country Club has portraits of people involved in the founding of the club centuries before: Rory McBiscuit, the Duchess Flitt, Goodman Witlace and Gimlet. They look remarkably similar to Duncan McBiscuit, Felicity Flitt, Wallace and Gromit, respectively. (Although Rory is explicitly Duncan's ancestor, the heritage of the others is unknown.)
  • Improvised Jet Pack: Gas cylinders are used in a few puzzles to propel a character when normal movement is impossible.
  • Innocently Insensitive: Major Crum is prone to being this, given his old age and (former) status as a military man. While his intentions are pure gold, his executions come off as more copper than anything else, often holding up progress or being brash towards others with the justification being his "major" status.
  • Insult Friendly Fire: Wallace begins saying negative things about the stray dogs in the house after they start damaging his ice-cream machine. Gromit gives him a look.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
    • Miss Felicity Flitt, despite sometimes being a diva and unnecessarily rude to our heroes, isn't a bad person by any means. A lot of the time she shows her best in the worst of times.
    • P.C. Dibbins is this in spades! Although his by-the-book way of operating can cause some headaches, he naturally is a morally sound officer of the law and simply wants the best for his town.
    • Duncan is a bit of a downplayed example. While he does rescue Wallace in The Last Resort, he still maintains a gruff persona that continues through the rest of the series.
  • Man in a Kilt: Duncan McBiscuit.
  • Minimalist Cast: The series runs off the main cast of Wallace, Gromit, Mr. Paneer, Ms. Flitt, Mr. and Mrs. Gabberly, P.C. Dibbins, Duncan McBiscuit, and Major Crum, with single-episode appearances from Monty Muzzle (in the third game) and Prudence Flitt (in the fourth). This is most notable in the fourth game, when Wallace is invited to join a golf club, which is made up of most of the existing male cast.
  • Miracle-Gro Monster: In "Fright of the Bumblebees", Wallace makes flowers grow to absurd proportions by a homemade fertilizer he creates out of the active ingredients of body-builder's weight gain formula, then the bees who who are fed pollen from the flowers grow to enormous size, with the queen ending up the size of his truck. One has to wonder if there were any side effects from eating the honey that the bees produced...
  • Mistaken for Profound: While Major Crum and Constable Dibbins are arguing, Wallace notices and reads aloud an advertisement for a two-flavored pie. The two mistake this as a proposal that they work together.
  • Mister Muffykins: Poodgie-Woo and Tinkie-Wee, two Cavalier King Charles Spaniel-lookalikes owned by Wallace's snobbish, histrionic neighbor Miss Flitt. These yappers behave when their owner is around, but otherwise they are vicious and uncontrollable.
  • Monster of the Week: Every episode the duo have to face a new threat.
  • Mr. Vice Guy: Mr. Paneer, despite sometimes being a bit touchy (given his status as Butt-Monkey, we can't blame him), is genuinely a pleasant person, often greeting Wallace & Gromit politely and helping them when he can.
  • The Münchausen: Major Crum (he claims to have been in both the Army and the RAF, which makes his stories a bit suspect)
  • New Job as the Plot Demands: In these games alone, Wallace has been a beekeeper, runner of an indoor holiday resort, ice-cream vendor and detective.
  • New Neighbours as the Plot Demands: Episode 2 introduces the brash suitor of Miss Flitt, Duncan McBiscuit.
  • No Mouth: Gromit, naturally.
  • Noodle Incident: During "Fright of the Bumblebees", Mrs. Gabberly mentions two more unexplained incidents she's lived through: hedgehog riots and a cheese famine.
  • Oh, No... Not Again!: When one of the strays faints, Muzzle bitterly complains about "another" dead dog and how he hadn't even had time to work this one.
  • Oop North: Specifically, Oop in Lancashire (though Wallace's accent is actually Yorkshire).
  • A Plot in Deed: Shortly after Wallace is inducted into the Prickly Thicket golf club, Constable Dibbins announces he's shutting the club down because it doesn't have a golf course, which is required by one of the bylaws. The club does have a golf course, but the deed to it has been rendered inaccessible due to a complex security system, prompting Wallace to take on the task of cracking the security and recovering the deed. The deed troubles don't end once the deed is found, though: it turns out that the golf course covers much of town, including Wallace's own home— forcing Wallace to run for chairman in order to gain the right to destroy the deed and save the town.
  • Rambling Old Man Monologue: Major Crum launches into stories about his background in the military during most of his appearances, at the slightest provocation.
  • Shout-Out:
  • Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Felicity Flitt has a thing for Wallace, even commenting on how she likes his kindness and selflessness, while rejecting the attentions of the Jerkass Duncan McBiscuit. Subverted; in the end she goes for Duncan, to Wallace's relief.
  • Silent Partner: Gromit, as per series tradition.
  • Sticky Fingers:
    • A squirrel that lives near the duo's house (called Mr. Nutter) has the tendency to steal from them.
    • Filcher, one of the stray dogs from Episode 3, has an obsession with stealing shiny things. Gromit needs to use this to his advantage to steal the key to their cell from Muzzle later on in the episode.
  • The Three Trials: Appears to varying extents throughout the series.
    • In "Fright of the Bumblebees", Wallace needs to find three ingredients for his growth formula. Then, Gromit has to subdue three groups of bees (in the house, out on the street, and downtown).
    • "The Last Resort" has three batches of these. First, to set up the indoor beach, Wallace needs three items (an umbrella, a bright light source for sun, and sand). Later, Wallace has to please three of his six guests (Constable Dibbins, Mrs. Gabberly, and Mr. Paneer). Lastly, to solve the mystery, Gromit needs to find three clues (motive, witness, and weapon).
    • In "Muzzled!", Gromit has to deal with three trouble-making dogs and solve the three problems they cause to get their ice cream truck back in order, after which he's tasked with finding the three missing pieces of a cryptic message calling for help.
    • "The Bogey Man" plays this trope the lightest, requiring Wallace to find three keys to unlock the deed's hiding place.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Cheese, particularly Wensleydale, is Wallace's favorite.
  • Unconventional Smoothie: In "Fright of the Bumblebees", Wallace makes plant growth formula by mixing a battery, a military ration bar, and a teabag in his blender. He doesn't even unwrap the ration bar first.
  • Unplanned Staycation: In "The Last Resort", Wallace and Gromit's planned vacation to Blackpool gets rained out, so Wallace tries to turn their flooded basement into an indoor beach. Wallace is then inspired to transform their house into an indoor beach resort for the rest of the community to have fun at.
  • Violent Glaswegian: Duncan McBiscuit.
  • The Voice: Mr. Gabberly, who hides in his room and can only be heard because of his open window. He and his wife make constant banter between themselves. It's telling that Mr. Gabberly's dialogue portrait is literally the aforementioned open window.
  • You Can't Get Ye Flask: Gromit is unable to tell you why your puzzle solutions won't work. Wallace isn't much better, especially in the last episode.
  • You Monster!: Once it's revealed that the Muzzler is run by trapping dogs inside, Felicity Flitt angrily calls Monty Muzzle a monster and asks where he is.

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