Gromit’s concern that Wallace is becoming too dependent on his inventions proves justified when Wallace invents a “smart gnome” that seems to develop an evil mind of its own. A film by Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham, featuring the voices of Ben Whitehead, Peter Kay, Lauren Patel, Reece Shearsmith, Diane Morgan, Adjoa Andoh, Muzz Khan, and Lenny Henry.

Many years ago, Feathers McGraw, a malevolent penguin, was apprehended by Wallace and Gromit after stealing the Blue Diamond from the city museum. Found guilty of attempted robbery, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in a high-security institution: the city zoo.

Feathers McGraw first appeared as the main antagonist in the Oscar-winning 1993 short film The Wrong Trousers. In The Wrong Trousers, Feathers McGraw moves in with Wallace and Gromit under the guise of a harmless pet but secretly plots to steal a valuable diamond from the local museum. His cunning nature and criminal activities set the stage for his role as one of the most iconic villains within the series.

In the present day, Wallace invents a smart garden gnome robot named “Norbot” to help Gromit tend to their garden. However, Gromit is far from impressed with Norbot, viewing it as a reckless machine that destroys his beloved garden by transforming it into an Italian Renaissance style landscape.

Wallace is a good-natured, eccentric inventor who has a particular fondness for cheese, especially Wensleydale. Wallace lives at 62 West Wallaby Street in Wigan, England, alongside his loyal dog and companion, Gromit.

To Gromit’s dismay, the neighbors are captivated by the transformed garden and ask whether Norbot is available for hire. This gives Wallace an idea: he could solve his financial troubles by offering Norbot’s gardening services to others.

Norbot quickly becomes popular, even earning a spot on Up North News. A news reporter visits Wallace’s home to interview him, praising him as smart-thinking local inventor.

Meanwhile, at the prison zoo, Feathers McGraw overhears Wallace’s interview playing on the television that his wardresses are watching. He immediately recognizes Wallace’s voice, and begins plotting his sinister revenge against the duo who put him behind bars.

Annoyed by Norbot’s loud recharging noise at night, Gromit takes the robot to Wallace’s basement. There, he plugs Norbot into a spare power socket on the computer before heading back to bed.

At the zoo, Feathers McGraw constructs makeshift scissor extension grabbers from items he has secretly stashed away when the wardresses weren’t looking. He then uses this tool to hack into Wallace’s computer through the wardresses’ computer terminal.

Once inside, Feathers McGraw accesses Norbot’s system administration, changes its core protocol from GOOD to EVIL, and reprograms the robot to serve him. With control of Norbot secured, Feathers McGraw begins his revenge plan by commanding the robot to build an army of mechanical gnomes.

Directed by Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham from a screenplay by Park and Mark Burton, “Wallace & Gromit: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL” is a heartwarming British stop-motion animated film that weaves intriguing detective elements into its story.

Though its plot twist falls a bit short of being convincing, the film succeeds through its engaging narrative and features a boat chase scene that combines both thrills and excitement. It all builds to a memorable finale that reminds us why we’ve come to cherish the Wallace & Gromit franchise.

Wallace & Gromit: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL premiered at AFI FEST on 27 October 2024. The film had a limited theatrical showing in the United Kingdom on 18 December. It was broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Christmas Day. Outside of the UK, it is scheduled to be streaming on Netflix on 3 January 2025.

Aardman duo on Wallace & Gromit, Oscars and ‘villainous’ character in new film
The idea for Vengeance Most Fowl goes back to before we were shooting The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Gnomes have always been a part of the Wallace & Gromit world, and so it wasn’t a big leap to think about what would happen if Wallace created a smart gnome to help Gromit in the garden.But we felt the idea was lacking for a while. Every time we looked at it, we felt it needed a more villainous element to it with an evil motivation. And there was Feathers McGraw staring at us with his beady eyes.

“Evil to the Core”: ‘Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl’s Directors Know Why You’re So Afraid of Penguin Feathers McGraw
Aardman is bringing back the dynamic duo to the big screen for the first time in 20 years, following their 2005 feature film, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Whereas that was a riff on Hammer’s monster brand of horror movies, their latest offering, Vengeance Most Fowl, combines modern sci-fi fears with James Bond action.

Fun facts from Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The crew totalled over 200, with over 40 units, 32 animators each producing up to 5 seconds of animation a week. In total, 432 lines of dialogue were recorded to create the film which took the directors 216 hours to select the final versions.Feathers McGraw’s eyes are black glass pin-heads – the puppet department had to go through 50 pots of pins to find enough that were exactly 2.77mm in diameter for the 11 identical Feathers puppets.

From hacked ‘smart gnomes’ to the revenge of Feathers McGraw: inside Wallace & Gromit’s joyous return
VENGEANCE MOST FOWL is their first television outing since 2008’s A Matter of Loaf and Death, and their first feature-length film since 2005’s Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Back then, director Nick Park said they’d never make another full length movie. It was too long. Too exhausting.

Cracking music, Gromit! One of the screen’s most iconic themes is back with a vengeance
There’s nothing ‘small screen’ about this brilliant little epic, though, as AARDMAN have thrown their heart and soul in to making VENGEANCE MOST FOWL as cinematic as possible. That goes for the music, too, which is composed by Top Gun: Maverick and Mission: Impossible composer Lorne Balfe and Wallace & Gromit’s original maestro, Julian Nott.