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BOOK
The Art of Wallace & Gromit
The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Authors: Andy Lane and Paul Simpson
Titan Books
RRP £24.99, $35.00 (Hardback) £14.99, US $19.95 (paperback)
ISBN 1 84576 136 7 (hardback)
ISBN 1 84576 215 0 (paperback)
Available 23 September 2005


From Aardman and DreamWorks, the makers of
Chicken Run, comes The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, featuring that loveable duo Wallace and Gromit in their first full length feature film. The Art of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is the ultimate celebration of this instant classic. Take a vivid behind-the-scenes tour, as we follow the creative process from initial concept sketches to finished movie...

The Art of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is one hell of an impressive accompaniment to the first feature length Wallace & Gromit movie. With over 160 pages of high quality glossy pages, this has to be the ideal present for any serious Wallace & Gromit fan.

This collection covers everything you ever wanted to know about The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. My favourite section details the lavish sets built for the movie. There are some incredible photographs, especially of 'The Woods' set. In fact that's one of the noteworthy things about this book: every photograph is amazing. There are no slightly out of focus behind the scenes shots (mainly because there is no physical action to capture - as everything is animated one frame at a time).

Andy Lane and Paul Simpson do a fantastic job of making you feel like you've been behind the scenes on the movie. And along with all the production designs, and set shots, there are also numerous "Did You See?" panels that point out information that the casual viewer will probably be blissfully unaware of while watching the movie.

Sadly though this book rather stupidly reprints a collection of storyboard illustrations and one rather large picture that ruin the movie's surprise ending. Whoever signed off that inclusion should be severely reprimanded. While you could argue that very few people will buy this book without having already seen the movie, the fact that this book was available for almost two weeks before the film was released in the UK means that some people will have had the ending spoiled for them. It's not as though this is even worthy of inclusion - fine if it had been a particularly impressive special effect, or impressive set design... but no, it's just an unexpected twist.

Other than that rather big gaff, this is one of the most lavish and beautifully put together books on the market.

Nick Smithson

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£17.60 (Amazon.co.uk)
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£12.99 (Countrybookshop.co.uk)
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