It is no big secret whatsoever that the British claymation shorts featuring the terrific tandem of Wallace and Gromit are convincingly entertaining, notes our Frank. Creator Nick Park (best known in America for 2000's Chicken Run) deservedly received two Academy Awards for his engaging account pertaining to the playful exploits of a brilliant but loopy inventor and his sensible mute pooch.

Now, the celebrated dippy dog owner and his trusty tail-wagging buddy get the royal treatment by starring in their first feature length film entitled Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Park (who also wrote the screenplay) and co-director/writer Steve Box deliver what is a grandly infectious animated showcase that radiates with genuine wit and warmth.

Clearly, Curse is one of the best family-oriented fares to come down the pike in quite some time. Imaginative, riotous and inherently clever, audiences will fall for this pesky pair more so now that their heralded high jinks are extended on the big screen.

Surprisingly, there's a healthy segment of the movie population that weren't fortunate enough to be familiarized with Wallace and Gromit in their fabulously well-received shorts A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave. These brief-running entities introduced fans to a couple of lovable characters that effortlessly found universal appeal among kids and adults alike.

The cheese-loving Wallace (voiced by Peter Sallis) is the scatterbrained mind that has a gift for tinkering with an assortment of gadgets. However, it's the silent Gromit who's the capable canine with the common sense that bails out his nutty master/partner once one of his inventions goes awry.

The premise has Wallace and Gromit operating a humane pest control agency called Anti-Pesto. With the Giant Vegetable Festival right around the corner, our dandy duo are preparing diligently for the event. Their focus at hand: to keep away the menacing rabbits from ruining the veggie crops. Asking for Wallace's assistance regarding the upcoming competition is Lady Campanula Tottington (Helena Bonham Carter).

However, Lady Tottington's stiff upper-lipped suitor Victor Quartermaine (Ralph Fiennes) is not too thrilled with his elegant companion doing business with the clueless Wallace. However, when a frightfully giant rabbit gets hold of a majority of the prized vegetables, a reactionary Victor wants to eliminate the raging creature with harsh force. But Wallace and Gromit have other ideas to thwart the harried hare without the brutality that Victor has in store for the vegetation-seeking varmint.

Thankfully, Wallace & Gromit enthusiasts won't be disappointed by the giddy results of their high-flying antics. Curse is outlandishly fun and moviegoers will embrace the satirical material that includes a variety of sharp-minded puns, jokes, sight gags and innocuous ridiculing. The vocal cast absolutely shines as they flesh out these colourful characterizations with inspired vigour.

Sallis instils Wallace with that refreshing naiveté and curiosity that makes him click as a sympathetic hero in an unconventional sense. And Gromit is the expressive floppy-eared mastermind that truly meets the criteria of being man's best friend. Both Bonham Carter and Fiennes lend their superb input as a couple of high-class sacrificial lambs thrown in to stir up the wacky notion of different social classes interacting to serve a common cause.

Mostly, audiences will thoroughly appreciate the good-natured poke at horror flicks. Also, the action-packed goofiness that abounds will resonate automatically with Wallace and Gromit fanatics. Ruthlessly silly-minded but well crafted, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a seasonal treat to digest for the Halloween high-spiritedness. In fact, this animated gem is an immensely festive film that should be considered a treasured find for the whole entire calendar year.

Frank Ochieng

(c) Frank Ochieng 2005