A Matter of
  Loaf and death    (2008)
  
   producers: Aardman Animations Ltd
   animation: stop-motion animation
      run time: 30 mins

 
   "Wallace and I are engaged to be married.
    Till death do us part!..."
 

    That insatiable inventor Wallace, and his dogged doggy pal Gromit have
    embarked on a brand new business adventure. They've converted their home
    in West Wallaby Street into a "dough to door" bakery, complete with a
    grinding windmill. And business is - er - blooming. But there's trouble in
    store. Someone's been bumping off their rival bakers around town, and
    no one can be sure where the killer will strike next...

    Wallace isn't scared, though. He's far too busy falling in love with
    his new paramour, Piella Bakewell. Piella is the former pin-up for the
    Bake O Lite bakery. She used to star in an array of famous advertisements
    and posters, together with a most memorable slogan:

    "Light as a feather, I'm the Bake O Lite Girl!"

    Only, she's not quite as light as she used to be. And underneath that
    puffed pink exterior there beats a piqued and wicked heart, bent on
    revenge. As usual, it's Gromit who uncovers the deadly truth. But will
    he be able to persuade his man master in time, or will Wallace wind
    up as the unlucky thirteenth victim on Piella's murderous list...?

    
    
    Here is yet another glorious stop-motion adventure from Nick Park and the
    multi-talented folks at Aardman Animation. Wallace and Gromit's West
    Wallaby Street world is once more created in glorious minutiae. No stone is
    left unturned in the hunt for authenticity. And once again, we have a crazy
    plot that's stuffed-to-busting with sly asides, homages and movie references
    galore. Better still, these are never allowed to over-run this masterful tale
    of suspense. As always, the film encourages repeat viewings and it
    delivers upon them, as Piella's dough-lightfully deadly plot plays
    out once more.

    Deliriously British to their plasticene core, Wallace and Gromit's ongoing
    adventures are Big Events on their home soil. The BBC rolled out the red
    carpet for the christmas premiere of this installment. The puppets took
    over the front cover of the "Radio Times" and starred in channel idents which
    played throughout the festive period. And the move paid off, because the
    film went on to top the Christmas ratings, beating the likes of "Eastenders"
    and the mischievious delights of "Doctor Who"...

 

    Top Bun!

    Right then. Let's take a closer look at all the film's homages and asides.
    There's a fair few of them to track down:

    » The film takes its title from Michael Powell's classic film, "A Matter
        of Life and Death". And Wallace and Gromit's Top Bun bakery service
        is a spoof on the title of the Tom Cruise film "Top Gun"...

        (Incidentally, the film was originally titled "Trouble 'at Mill", but this
        was considered too colloquial for the rest of the world...)

    » Baker Bob, who meets his demise in the film's opening, is obviously
        an homage to the film's co-writer Bob Baker. He also gets a nod in
       "A Close Shave" and "Curse of the Were-Rabbit"...

    » At the start of the film, Gromit is seen reading "The Daily Grind" newspaper
        which features Nick Park's beloved Preston North End football club in the
        headline "Wigan to meet Preston in Cup tie". Preston feature regularly
        in the Wallace and Gromit films and shorts (eg: Preston the cyberdog)....

    » Hit your pause button as Gromit loads the company van (1m51s in)
        and you'll you see the duo's old Wash 'n' Go motorbike and sidecar from
        A Close Shave, obscured by a tarpaulin in the background...

    » Oh, and does it need saying, that delivery vehicle is actually the duo's
        old Anti-Pesto van from Curse of the Were-Rabbit...?
        
    » The Bake O Lite Bakery is a take on that famous olde time material,
        Bakelite, "The material of a thousand uses!"

    » When the van zooms into the zoo for the first time (3m56s), you'll
        spy a "Missing" poster on the wall featuring that pilfering penguin
        Feathers McGraw, from "The Wrong Trousers"....

    » Yes, it's that scene from the film "Ghost"(7m19s)...

    » And Gromit has a Citizen Canine poster on his bedroom wall
        (7m25secs) - this being a spoof of "Citizen Kane", of course....

    » Gromit also appears to have a softspot for the small films of Oliver
        Postgate. That's because there's a Bagpuss soft toy amongst his
        binned belongings (7m41s). And seeing as we're being so precise,
        you'll also spy a copy of "The Beagle" comic - spoofing that classic
        comic weekly "The Eagle".

    » When Piella's pooch, Fluffles, hands Gromit's belongings back to him,
        we see his musical tastes include "Puppy Love" by Doggy Osmond
       (Donny Osmond), and an album by McFlea (McFly)...

    » Piella lives at 12a Pastry Rise - Pastry - Rise - Geddit?

    » Gromit builds his security scanner with the aid of a book
        titled "Electronic Surveillence For Dogs" (14m21s). It's
        written by B A Lert...

    » And finally, as the bomb-fueled climax plays out, Fluffles takes
        to a forklift, just like Sigourney Weaver in "Aliens"...

 

   a dozen deaths

    The twelve bakers previously bumped off by Piella are:

    Norbert Stodge          Quiche Richards
    Wayne Scales            Crusty Rolls
    Rich Teabiscuit           Herb Bruschetta
    Basil Dumplings           Shorty Shortcrust
    Phil O'Pastry              Brendan Butterpudding
    Bread Astair               Bob Baker

 

   Telling tails

    Oh! - Wait up! - Hold the presses! - It seems that our friends at Aardman
    Animation have made their first ever true blue slip up during the making
    of this film. The error in question occurrs 15m54s in to the story, and
    it's the scene where Gromit is ejected from Wallace's chair, after he's
    defiled his master's bowl of soup. Eagle-eyed viewers will see that
    Gromit has no tail! - That's right, he's tail-less, tail-free, sans wagging
    device... Well, you get the drift... Poor Gromit!

 

    Broadcast info

     The film premiered on BBC1 on December 25th 2008, at 8.30pm.
    and that first screening picked up 14.4m viewers, making it
    the top- rated tv show over the Christmas period...

 

    See also

    Curse of the Were-Rabbit
    A Grand Day Out 
    A Close Shave

 

    Loaf and Death on Blu-ray

     W&G: The Complete Collection [Blu-ray]
               Region 2 / all four W&G short films / BBC / November 2009


    Loaf and Death on DVD


     W&G: The Complete Collection
               Region 2 / all four W&G short films / BBC / November 2009

     A Matter of Loaf and Death
               Region 2 / just the film + extras / BBC / March 2009

      a film by Nick Park

      exec producers:
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      Bake o Lite singer:
      supervising animator:
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      asst animators:

      puppet prod designer:
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      visual effects sup:
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      prod manager:
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