History Trivia / WallaceAndGromit

* Trivia/AGrandDayOut
* Trivia/TheWrongTrousers
* Trivia/ACloseShave
* Trivia/TheCurseOfTheWereRabbit
* Trivia/AMatterOfLoafAndDeath
* Trivia/WallaceAndGromitsGrandAdventures

** Prior to Frontier Developments acquiring the video game rights, Creator/TravellersTales had created a [[https://youtu.be/387sOqy6sxQ short animation]] to pitch a Wallace & Gromit game to Aardman. If TT founder John Burton is to be believed, it was this pitch that inspired Aardman to invest in CGI rendering machines, which then lead to such works as ''WesternAnimation/FlushedAway'' and ''WesternAnimation/ArthurChristmas''.

** Ben Whitehead increasingly began acting as the voice of Wallace towards the end of the 2000s, most notably in the ''Grand Adventures'' series, along with a number of TV adverts featuring the duo. Fortunately Whitehead's voicing is so near to Creator/PeterSallis that most people don't even notice the difference. The only exception was in "Fright Of The Bumblebee", the first game in the Grand Adventures series. As it was Whitehead's first time voicing Wallace, he sounds a little different than he usually does. Fortunately, he seems to have gotten much better as he continues to voice Wallace, especially following Sallis' death in 2017.

** According to Creator/NickPark, When the Wallace and Gromit shorts were first sold to America, there were suggestions to [[CulturalTranslation edit out the British voices in favor of redubbing it with American voice actors]], Nick Park disliked the idea and held out. When they did come to America, the British voices were kept.

* TheOtherDarrin: Ben Whitehead increasingly began acting as the voice of Wallace towards the end of the 2000s, most notably in the ''Grand Adventures'' series, along with a number of TV adverts featuring the duo. Fortunately Whitehead's voicing is so near to Creator/PeterSallis that most people don't even notice the difference. The only exception was in "Fright Of The Bumblebee", the first game in the Grand Adventures series. As it was Whitehead's first time voicing Wallace, he sounds a little different than he usually does. Fortunately, he seems to have gotten much better as he continues to voice Wallace, especially following Sallis' death in 2017.

* ActorInspiredElement: Wallace's banana-shaped mouth evolved from animating Peter Sallis' elongated vowels.

* TheOtherDarrin: Ben Whitehead increasingly began acting as the voice of Wallace towards the end of the 2000s, most notably in the ''Grand Adventures'' series, along with a number of TV adverts featuring the duo. Fortunately Whitehead's voicing is so near to Peter Sallis that most people don't even notice the difference. The only exception was in "Fright Of The Bumblebee", the first game in the Grand Adventures series. As it was Whitehead's first time voicing Wallace, he sounds a little different than he usually does. Fortunately, he seems to have gotten much better as he continues to voice Wallace, especially following Peter Sallis' death in 2017.

* TheRedStapler: In the early 1990s, the Wensleydale Creamery in the Yorkshire market town of Hawes was teetering on the edge of oblivion after being closed by Dairy Crest following the privatisation of the Milk Marketing Board (with production of traditional Wensleydale cheese being transferred to a creamery in Lancashire). A management buy-out saved the creamery, but their prospects looked grim ... until Wensleydale cheese received a ShoutOut by Wallace. Noticing the increased interest in their product, the creamery persuaded Aardman Animation to endorse a ''Wallace and Gromit''-branded cheese, which worked to rebuild Wensleydale into a thriving product worldwide.

** Gromit was going to originally be a cat, but nearly every design Park made looked more like a dog, so he just skipped the formalities. Park originally wanted to voice Gromit himself, but his voice was recorded by Peter Hawkins. The idea of Gromit speaking was scrapped when it became clear how expressive he could be just through small movements of the eyes, ears and brow, so no voices for Gromit were ever used.

* ChannelHop: Although Wallace and Gromit are closely associated with Creator/TheBBC, it's a little-remembered fact that "WesternAnimation/AGrandDayOut" actually premiered on Creator/Channel4, and the BBC later brought the rights to it when they commissioned "WesternAnimation/TheWrongTrousers".

* TheOtherDarrin: Ben Whitehead has been increasingly acting as the voice of Wallace, most notably in the ''Grand Adventures'' series, along with a number of TV adverts featuring the duo. Fortunately Whitehead's voicing is so near to Peter Sallis that most people don't even notice the difference. The only exception was in "Fright Of The Bumblebee", the first game in the Grand Adventures series. As it was Whitehead's first time voicing Wallace, he sounds a little different than he usually does. Fortunately, he seems to have gotten much better as he continues to voice Wallace, especially following Peter Sallis' death in 2017.

** Gromit was going to originally be a cat, but then changed to a talking dog. Park originally wanted to voice Gromit himself, but his voice was recorded by Peter Hawkins. The idea of Gromit speaking was scrapped when it became clear how expressive he could be just through small movements of the eyes, ears and brow, so no voices for Gromit were ever used.

* TheRedStapler: The last of the creameries manufacturing the centuries-old Wensleydale cheese were teetering on the edge of closure in the early '90s, until they received a chance mention in ''A Grand Day Out''. Noticing the increased interest, the creamery persuaded Aardman Animation to endorse a ''Wallace and Gromit''-branded cheese, which worked to rebuild Wensleydale into a thriving product worldwide.

* TheOtherDarrin: Ben Whitehead has been increasingly acting as the voice of Wallace, most notably in the ''Grand Adventures'' series, along with a number of TV adverts featuring the duo. Fortunately Whitehead's voicing is so near to Peter Sallis that most people don't even notice the difference. The only exception was in "Fright Of The Bumblebee", the first game in the Grand Adventures series. As it was Whitehead's first time voicing Wallace, he sounds a little different than he usually does. Fortunately, he seems to have gotten much better as he continues to voice Wallace.

** Gromit was going to originally be a cat, but then changed to a talking dog, whose voice was recorded by Peter Hawkins. The idea of Gromit speaking was scrapped when it became clear how expressive he could be just through small movements of the eyes, ears and brow, so no voices for Gromit were never used.

* ChannelHop: Although Wallace and Gromit are closely associated with Creator/TheBBC, it's a little-remembered fact that "WesternAnimation/AGrandDayOut" actually premiered on Creator/Channel4, and the BBC later brought the rights to it when they commissioned "WesternAnimation/WrongTrousers".

** Peter Hawkins originally intended to voice Gromit, but Park dropped the idea when he realised how Gromit's thoughts and feelings could be known through movement with some canine noises on rare occasions.

* ActorInspiredElement: Wallace's banana-shaped mouth evolved from animating Peter Sallis's elongated vowels.
* ChannelHop: Although Wallace and Gromit are closely associated with the BBC, it's a little-remembered fact that ''A Grand Day Out'' actually premiered on Channel 4, and the BBC later brought the rights to it when they commissioned ''The Wrong Trousers''.

* TheMerch: Shortly after the release of ''A Close Shave'', companies took note of how merchandisable the characters were, particularly Gromit and Shaun. Plush toys, backpacks, key chains, alarm clocks and figurines are just a small helping of products you can find with their likeness slapped on.

* WriteWhoYouKnow: Creator/NickPark has stated that Wallace is loosely based on his father, who also liked to tinker, with a little of his brother, an electrician, thrown in for good measure.

* AuthorExistenceFailure: Subverted. Peter Sallis retired from acting in 2010 due to his failing health, with Ben Whitehead succeeding him for various TV spots, but it was Sallis's eventual death in 2017 that ensured that he'd never voice Wallace again.

* ColbertBump: The series owes a lot of it's [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff popularity across the pond]] to Creator/NickPark accidentally leaving two puppets from ''WesternAnimation/ACloseShave'' in the back of a New York taxi cab during a press tour. The British press reported on it [[SeriousBusiness as if it were a national crisis]] and the American press reported on the British press reporting it as if it were a national crisis, in the process [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity introducing the duo to Americans]] and selling 2 million video cassettes of the first three films by year's end.

* ColbertBump: The series owes a lot of it's [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff popularity across the pond]] to Creator/NickPark accidentally leaving two puppets from ''WesternAnimation/ACloseShave'' in the back of a New York taxi cab during a press tour. The British press reported on it [[SeriousBusiness as if it were a national crisis]] and the American press reported on the British press reporting it as if it were a national crisis, in the process [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity introducing the duo Americans]] and selling 2 million video cassettes of the first three films by year's end.