Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

The first feature-length film starring Aardman Animation's signature characters. In a country town obsessed with growing oversized vegetables, Wallace (voiced by Peter Sallis) and Gromit (silent) run Anti-Pesto, a humane pest-control service that catches rabbits rather than killing them. In fact, the bunnies are housed in the dynamic duo's basement, which becomes a problem, as they tend to multiply. Wallace attempts to brainwash them off vegetables, with disastrous results (see title). Co-writers and directors Nick Park and Steve Box are expert at creating fare that works on multiple levels. Were-Rabbit is replete with jokes that kill in the kiddie demographic; it's also loaded with puns and pop-culture references that tickle adults. The film refers, at various times, to Frankenstein, King Kong, Harry Potter, and countless horror and action movies, including, of course, the werewolf genre. As Park and Box must know, it's immense fun to sit in a theater filled with parents and children and to sense the mutual pleasure. Neither party has to sacrifice a thing for the other.