Genre Family

A Grand Day Out (1989)

Item: A Grand Day Out
Rating: 3.0
Author: Ross McLaren

★★★ — A Grand Day Out (1989)

There's a particular pleasure in going back to the very beginning of something beloved, even when, maybe especially when, the cracks are showing. That's where I found myself rewatching A Grand Day Out, the short film that introduced Wallace and Gromit to the world. It's rough, it meanders, and by the standards of what came later it's unmistakably a first attempt. But there's something genuinely endearing about watching a genius find his feet.

The premise is pure Nick Park: Wallace, a cheerful, cheese-obsessed inventor, decides that the moon is the obvious holiday destination, on the grounds that everyone knows it's made of cheese. So he builds a rocket in his basement, bundles in the ever-patient Gromit, and off they go. That's it, really. And honestly, the premise alone carries a lot of goodwill. The absurdist logic is completely intact from the start, and the dynamic between the bumbling, oblivious Wallace and his long-suffering, infinitely more competent dog is already firmly established. Gromit doesn't say a word in the entire film, and yet you always know exactly what he's thinking. That's a remarkable bit of character work, student film or not.

But let's be honest about the limitations, because they're real. The animation, while charming in its own handmade way, is noticeably stiffer than anything Park would produce afterwards. Movements are jerky in places, sets feel sparse, and the whole thing has a slightly unfinished quality that makes sense once you know it took Park around six years to complete while he was still studying. You can feel the labour in it, which is admirable, but you can also feel the inexperience. Compared to the tight, almost clockwork plotting of The Wrong Trousers or the propulsive storytelling of A Close Shave, this one drifts. It's less a story than a loose collection of gags strung around a central idea, and while most of the gags land, there's nothing here with the precision of what followed.

The moon itself is a lovely little creation, all grey and cratered and oddly cosy, and the coin-operated robot that inhabits it is a quietly funny bit of invention. He's a melancholy figure, really, forever tidying and maintaining a place nobody visits, until these two Northerners turn up and start helping themselves to his landscape. There's a wistfulness to the character that sits nicely alongside the silliness.

What strikes me most, watching it now having seen everything that followed, including Vengeance Most Fowl just recently, is how much of the essential magic was already present. The warmth, the wit, the physicality of the comedy, the sense that Gromit is doing all the actual work while Wallace takes all the credit. None of that needed developing from scratch in later films. It arrived fully formed, just waiting for the production craft to catch up with it.

Three stars. A Grand Day Out is more significant for what it started than for what it achieves on its own terms. Think of it as a first draft from a genuine talent: scrappy, imperfect, occasionally brilliant, and impossible not to like. You watch it and you can already see the shape of something extraordinary waiting just around the corner.

Rating: ★★★ | Year: 1989 | Watched: 2026-03-16

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Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Stream: Amazon Prime Video · Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

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