Wallace and Gromit are back for a new adventure and reunite with many familiar faces with one notable absence – beloved actor Peter Sallis.
In Vengeance Most Fowl, the nation’s cherished inventor and his trusty canine sidekick find themselves grappling with a ‘smart gnome’ that’s developed a mind of its own. Meanwhile, their arch-nemesis from The Wrong Trousers, Feathers McGraw, is cooking up a revenge plot to thwart the duo.
This film, produced at Aardman Studios in Bristol, marks not only the first Wallace and Gromit feature in 16 years but also the first without Peter Sallis, the original voice of Wallace.
Ben Whitehead took over the role in the 2010s as Sallis’ health declined, making acting increasingly challenging, and has since voiced Wallace in various shorts, exhibitions, and features.
Peter Sallis was a distinguished TV actor, best known for playing Norman “Cleggy” Clegg in Last of the Summer Wine throughout its run. He also enjoyed success on stage, sharing the spotlight with esteemed actors like Judi Dench in Cabaret, as well as Sir Laurence Olivier and Orson Welles.
The Mirror reports how in 1983, Nick Park approached Sallis to be the voice of a clay character named Wallace, and Peter agreed in exchange for a £50 donation to his favourite charity. It took six years for the first Wallace and Gromit film, A Grand Day Out, to hit the screens.
Nick Park reminisced: “He was my first and only choice for Wallace. His silliness started the moment he greeted you at the door and didn’t stop when the mic was switched off. He had naturally funny bones and was a great storyteller.”
The film earned an Oscar nomination, and its sequels, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave, bagged the prestigious award in 1993 and 1995 respectively. Sallis lent his voice to Wallace in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit in 2005 and A Matter of Loaf and Death in 2008, along with other smaller Wallace and Gromit ventures.
Towards the end of his life, Sallis battled macular degeneration but continued working using a talking portable typewriter equipped with a specially illuminated scanner.
His swansong as Wallace was in 2010’s Wallace and Gromit’s World of Invention, after which he bowed out from acting due to deteriorating health.
At the 25th anniversary celebration of Leith School of Art in 2014, Park expressed concern about Sallis’ health: “He’s not too well. It’s a big question for us, whether to keep going. We have got an understudy who has stepped in sometimes, Ben Whitehead, a young actor in London.
“He actually started off doing the stuff Peter didn’t want to do, like video games, or if we needed a voice for an exhibition. He was doing some of the voices on The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and stood in for Peter sometimes.”
Peter Sallis passed away from natural causes at Denville Hall, a retirement home for actors, on June 2, 2017.
Ahead of the premiere of Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, creator Nick Park reminisced with the BBC about the challenges faced in producing a film without the late Peter Sallis’ voice. He shared: “It has been quite emotional (doing this production) since we lost Peter, he was such an original, unique voice.
“So it’s very hard for anyone to step into his shoes. But we have been blessed with a youngish actor whom we’ve known for many years who can do a fantastic Wallace impersonation.
“He’s stepped in very kindly, and is just great. It’s hard to tell them apart.”
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl airs at 6.10pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Christmas Day.