DreamWorks Animation Unleashes Gromit at the Cannes Film Festival; Tri

DreamWorks Animation Unleashes Gromit at the Cannes Film Festival; Tribute to Aardman Included a Special 'Appearance' from the Canine Half of 'Wallace & Gromit'

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    CANNES, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 12, 2005--DreamWorks Animation SKG, which sent Will Smith, Angelina Jolie and Jack Black swimming with sharks at last year's Cannes Film Festival, returned to the beach for another classic publicity stunt. This year, the sky was the limit in support of DreamWorks' new clay-animated film from Aardman, "Wallace & Gromit - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit." The film is the first feature-length comedy featuring the beloved duo from Aardman's Academy Award(R)-winning shorts--the cheese-loving Wallace and his faithful canine companion Gromit. Gromit fans of all ages were out in force to greet their hero, who reached new heights in the form of a 30-foot high inflatable balloon that towered over the crowd on the Cannes Croissete.
    The high-flying publicity stunt took place on Thursday, May 12, 2005, at 9:30 a.m. at the Carlton Beach Cafe. Immediately following at 10:30 a.m. in the Palais at the Salle Bazin, the Cannes Film Festival's Artistic Delegate, Thierry Fremaux, introduced DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, who hosted a special tribute to Aardman. An official part of the festival, the tribute featured appearances by "Wallace & Gromit" creator and director Nick Park, and Aardman co-founders David Sproxton and Peter Lord.
    The presentation included clips from Aardman's award-winning short films, as well as their first collaboration with DreamWorks Animation, the comedy hit "Chicken Run." The audience was also treated to a preview of the upcoming films "Wallace & Gromit - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit," and "Flushed Away," the latter of which marks Aardman's first foray into computer animation. The tribute presentation closed with a question and answer session with all of the participants.
    The giant Gromit inflatable unveiled at the start of the day was created by Rob Harries, and his team at Air Artists, based in Suffolk, England. The world leader in custom made inflatable structures, Harries made his name over the last 20 years by creating inflatables for film, television, and events and concerts all over the world. Harries started work on Gromit with a specially designed four-inch high plastacene model, created by Aardman. From that, he sculpted a 1:10 scale (30-inch high) polystyrene Gromit, which he then took to Aardman's studios in Bristol for any final touches. Back in Suffolk, Harries' team created and painted the inflatable Gromit, which is made from fireproofed polyurethane-coated nylon fabric and stands over 30-feet (10 metres) high. It sits on its own two-foot high plinth, which contains the fan and also acts as the ballast for the balloon. The platform was built by an eight-man crew, who were responsible for getting Gromit ready for his "grand day out" in Cannes.
    Opening nationwide in the U.S. on October 7, 2005, "Wallace & Gromit - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" has our two enterprising chums cashing in with their new humane pest-control outfit, Anti-Pesto, to protect the town's Giant Vegetable Competition from hungry rabbits. Suddenly, a huge, mysterious, veg-ravaging "beast" begins terrorizing the neighborhood, attacking the town's prized plots at night and destroying everything in its path. Desperate to protect the competition, its hostess, Lady Tottington, commissions Anti-Pesto to catch the creature and save the day. Lying in wait, however, is Lady Tottington's snobby suitor, Victor Quartermaine, who'd rather shoot the beast and secure the position of local hero--not to mention Lady Tottington's hand in marriage. With the fate of the competition in the balance, Lady Tottington is eventually forced to allow Victor to hunt down the vegetable chomping marauder. Little does she know that Victor's real intent could have dire consequences for her...and our two heroes.
    Nick Park and Steve Box are directing the film, with Peter Lord, David Sproxton, Nick Park, Claire Jennings and Carla Shelley are producing. Peter Sallis, who has voiced the role of Wallace in all of the shorts, reprises his role in the feature film. Academy Award(R) nominee Helena Bonham-Carter ("The Wings of the Dove") and two-time Academy Award(R) nominee Ralph Fiennes ("The English Patient," "Schindler's List") are the voices of Lady Tottington and Victor, respectively.
    Slated for release in November 2006, "Flushed Away" is the story of Roddy, an upper-crust "society rat," who is rather rudely evicted from his Kensington flat when he is flushed down into Ratropolis, the bustling sewer world found under London's streets. There, he meets Rita, an enterprising scavenger who works the sewers in her faithful boat, the Jammy Dodger. The privileged Roddy finds himself an unlikely hero when he learns that Ratropolis is in danger from the world above.
    The computer-animated comedy stars the voices of Hugh Jackman (the "X-Men" franchise) and four-time Oscar(R) nominee Kate Winslet ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Iris," "Titanic," "Sense and Sensibility") as Roddy and Rita. The film is being directed by Sam Fell and David Bowers, and produced by Peter Lord, David Sproxton and Cecil Kramer.

    DreamWorks Animation SKG (NYSE-DWA) is devoted to producing high-quality family entertainment through the use of computer-generated (CG) animation. Utilizing world-class creative talent and state-of-the-art technological capabilities, the company is committed to making two computer-animated feature films a year that appeal to a broad movie-going audience.

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