Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Wallace & Gromit's World of Invention Blu-ray Movie Review

The lovable pair take the "sigh" out of science.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 14, 2012

What happens in 1/24th of a second? Most of us never need to even consider something as arcane as that question, but it is integral to the science—yes, science—of stop motion animation. From pioneers like Willis O”Brien and Ray Harryhausen to modern day exponents like Nick Park and Henry Selick, fluid motion needs to be broken down to its component parts and then converted into the medium of film, where 24 frames per second has long been the magical formula filmmakers have utilized to fool the human eye that its seeing “moving pictures”. Henry Selick’s stop motion Coraline was filmed here in my hometown of Portland, and the film’s line producer is the stepfather of my youngest son’s best friend, so we got an up close and personal look at the incredible time and effort it takes to craft even the simplest sequence of a film cobbled together from minute changes in position. Think of it this way: if you need 24 frames per second, and a typical film runs at least 90 minutes, that means you require at a minimum 129,600 individual “snapshots” that together will blend together to form fluid motion.

Wallace and Gromit are two of the best known examples of stop motion animation, but their science-themed BBC television series Wallace and Gromit’s World of Invention doesn’t explore this particular facet of science—at least so far (the series’ first season was comprised of only six episodes and no second season has yet been announced). Instead Wallace, himself an inveterate inventor, acts as host for a number of interesting and oddball little snippets that look into a variety of scientific facts and gizmos. The Wallace and Gromit sequences of each episode act as introduction and then interstitials, while the bulk of each episode is more documentary oriented, completely live action and factual, though often with a sort of wry (not Wallace's rye toast) twist.

The series has some of the same cheekiness that Bill Nye the Science Guy used to display, and like Bill’s show, several segments are repeated on a weekly basis. Aside from the Wallace and Gromit sections, there are typically at least two brief profiles on various scientists or ideas, as well as the sometimes quite interesting recurring segment It Never Got Off the Drawing Board, about ideas that were perhaps ahead of their time. There’s also an Inventor of the Week bit and two segments that also regularly pop up, Contraption Countdown and Curiosity Corner. The main documentary in each episode is usually narrated by the thickly accented Ashley Jensen, whom television fans will recognize from her featured roles on Ugly Betty and Accidentally on Purpose. Jem Stansfield, Britain’s answer to Adam Savage and Jamie Heineman, is on hand doing duty in the Drawing Board sequences and adds a touch of humor that blends very well with the Wallace and Gromit elements.

Wallace and Gromit’s World of Invention almost plays like a slightly more subdued episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus at times, with things threatening to careen out of control and tangential relationships (at best) acting as segues between segments. But the segments themselves are often, well, inventive, with a number of really fun and unexpected items and people looked at. Some of this stuff looks like rejects from the drug addled inventor’s science fair (giant flying manta rays, for example), but other segments, like one about invisibility cloaks, have the feeling of being ripped from today’s headlines, or at least today’s pop cultural J.K. Rowling phenomenon.

Several of the people interviewed (in fact, probably most of the people interviewed) virtually define the word “eccentric”, but that plays into the whole slightly daffy world of Wallace and Gromit pretty perfectly. A perfect example is a Russian gentleman who talks about his lifelong obsession with developing his own mini-submarine, a bizarre contraption that looks kind of like a shark and which until fairly recently the gentleman propelled with pedal power. After he attempted a 40 mile round trip he finally decided motors might be the better option. The guy is oddly unselfconscious about being more or less “married” to his invention and talks about it as his one true love (and there is absolutely no evidence of a Mrs. Mad Scientist anywhere in the segment), but the segment also is unexpectedly fascinating when it talks about how the guy had to do all of his work in secret during the Brezhnev years, since who knows what freedom movement might have been spurred on by easy access to mini-submarines for the proletariat class. Strangely, the inventor ultimately did get caught by the KGB, but by then Gorbachev was in control and the police state wisely decided to send the man to shipbuilding school rather than send him to some frozen gulag. There are at least a couple of notable exceptions to this "eccentricity" rule, including a really sweet segment on an African youth whose self-built wind turbine has provided his village with electricity.

Science is too often seen as a dry subject that deals in generalities too amorphous to really have much relevance to everyday life. Now it must be admitted that many of the things looked at in Wallace and Gromit’s World of Invention may not exactly be household objects of today (or even tomorrow), but the show is infused with a sense of wonder, even of giddiness, that makes the central thesis that science can be fun palpable and visceral. There’s plenty of Wallace and Gromit foolishness here, even if the star pair is relegated to supporting roles, but what’s so spectacularly fascinating about this show is that Wallace actually turns out to be one of the least crazy inventors out there.

Wallace & Gromit's World of Invention Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. Source material is highly variable here, as the series uses stock and archival footage quite ubiquitously throughout each episode. A lot of the non-contemporary footage was obviously sourced from 16mm (and in a couple of cases what actually looks like 8mm), and so it's to be expected clarity is greatly reduced and grain is greatly increased. The Wallace and Gromit sections look suitably sharp, though they aren't quite as crisp as some of the Park theatrical outings. Contemporary documentary and interview segments actually fare best for the most part here, with excellent clarity and sharpness and appealing fine detail. Color is accurate and well saturated throughout these elements.

Wallace & Gromit's World of Invention Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Though Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention is granted a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mix, there's really not that much opportunity for the soundtrack to show off. This is almost uniformly a narrated piece, with occasional interview segments, neither of which offer much chance for mind blowing surround activity. The Wallace and Gromit sequences do in fact have some fun discrete channelization effects (listen for Kevin the elephant's trumpeting through the left channel in the first episode for a great example). Fidelity is just fine throughout the series, but dynamic range is somewhat constrained, as might be expected in a documentary focused series like this.

Wallace & Gromit's World of Invention Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Your World of Invention Shorts (HD; 38:02) is a fun set of six do it yourself construction experiments that tie in to various sequences of the main series. Hosted by Ricky Martin (no, not that one), these are fun but sometimes ridiculously complex construction exercises that will probably be a bit too difficult for younger adolescents (at least not without some copious parental help). But many of these are cool little devices and they all seem to work—at least they do here. The six segments are:

Atmosphere Railway
Wind-Powered Sprinkler
Fin Ray Grabber
Air Rocket
Spy Camera
Upside-Down-O-Scope

Martin's accent can be a bit hard to decipher at times, but there are optional subtitles available.

Wallace & Gromit's World of Invention Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Wallace and Gromit are as lovable as ever in Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention, but for those expecting a nonstop Wallace and Gromit fest in this series there's bound to be some disappointment. The Wallace and Gromit segments are unfailingly sweet and often quite funny, but the bulk of this series is really the little features on various contraptions, inventors and other scientifically themed information. Most of these sequences are odd, to say the least, which makes them perfect companions for the equally odd Wallace, but a surprising amount of fascinating information is also imparted throughout the series' six episodes. This is a fun and engaging series that should appeal equally to kids and adults, and if some of the subjects looked at here are, well, niche items, that's part of the allure. Recommended.