Latest news with #AGrandDayOut
Scottish Sun
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
English seaside theme park reveals new upgrades on ‘first-of-its-kind' indoor ride
A 'WORLD-FIRST' ride in the UK has revealed some exciting new updates in time for summer. Blackpool Pleasure Beach's Wallace & Gromit's Thrill-O-Matic ride has five new additions following the new Netflix film Vengeance Most Fowl. 4 The UK's Wallace & Gromit ride is getting an upgrade Credit: Blackpool Pleasure Beach 4 Blackpool Pleasure Beach is home to The Big One rollercoaster Credit: Alamy The ride - the first Wallace & Gromit themed one in the world - is a four-minute Thrill-O-atic indoor ride. Guests board a giant slipper before travelling through scenes of the iconic films such as A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trouers and A Close Shave. A Matter of Loaf and Death and The Curse of the Were Rabbit also play a part in the ride. And new extras in time for the film include favourite characters added to the ride which includes Norbot and Feaths McGraw. New updates to the queue as well as exclusive merchandise have been added to the Wallace & Gromit shop as well. The park's CEO Amanda Thompson OBE said: "Wallace & Gromit are national treasures and have always been a firm favourite with visitors, but the success of their new film has certainly delivered a renewed excitement for the characters and their stories. "To be updating this wonderful ride truly reaffirms our commitment to attracting families back to the resort for what we hope will be A Grand Day Out.' The ride first opened in 2013 and is was the first of its kind when it opened. Creator Nick Park said at the time that the reason for the ride location was because he grew up in Preston which is near Blackpool. He added it felt like a "natural home for Wallace and Gromit". I was one of the first to try Blackpool Pleasure Beache's 'new' ride 4 The ride is the only one based on the films at a theme park Credit: Blackpool Pleasure Beach The ride, which cost £5.25million, was created by both the theme park and Aardman Animations, the team behind Wallace & Gromit. It replaced the Gold Mine Ride, which first opened in 1971 before closing in 2011. Other new additions to the theme park include the revamped Launch Pad back in May. Theme park expert Lee Bell went down to try it out - here is what he thought. And the park's River Caves ride is also being revamped, although little else is known about it. Next year, new ride Aviktas will open which is a "UK first" with heights of 138ft. The theme park was named one of the best family-owned theme parks earlier this year. And the park's Valhalla won Best Water Ride in Europe last year.
The Irish Sun
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
English seaside theme park reveals new upgrades on ‘first-of-its-kind' indoor ride
A 'WORLD-FIRST' ride in the UK has revealed some exciting new updates in time for summer. Blackpool Pleasure Beach's Wallace & Gromit's Thrill-O-Matic ride has five new additions following the new Netflix film Vengeance Most Fowl. 4 The UK's Wallace & Gromit ride is getting an upgrade Credit: Blackpool Pleasure Beach 4 Blackpool Pleasure Beach is home to The Big One rollercoaster Credit: Alamy The ride - the first Wallace & Gromit themed one in the world - is a four-minute Thrill-O-atic indoor ride. Guests board a giant slipper before travelling through scenes of the iconic films such as A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trouers and A Close Shave. A Matter of Loaf and Death and The Curse of the Were Rabbit also play a part in the ride. And new extras in time for the film include favourite characters added to the ride which includes Norbot and Feaths McGraw. Read more on theme parks New updates to the queue as well as exclusive merchandise have been added to the The park's CEO Amanda Thompson OBE said: "Wallace & Gromit are national treasures and have always been a firm favourite with visitors, but the success of their new film has certainly delivered a renewed excitement for the characters and their stories. "To be updating this wonderful ride truly reaffirms our commitment to attracting families back to the resort for what we hope will be A Grand Day Out.' The ride first opened in 2013 and is was the first of its kind when it opened. Most read in News Travel Creator Nick Park said at the time that the reason for the ride location was because he grew up in Preston which is near Blackpool. He added it felt like a "natural home for Wallace and Gromit". I was one of the first to try Blackpool Pleasure Beache's 'new' ride 4 The ride is the only one based on the films at a theme park Credit: Blackpool Pleasure Beach The ride, which cost £5.25million, was created by both the theme park and It replaced the Gold Mine Ride, which first opened in 1971 before closing in 2011. Other new additions to the theme park include the revamped Launch Pad back in May. Theme park expert Lee Bell went down to try it out - And the park's River Caves ride is also being revamped, although little else is known about it. Next year, new ride Aviktas will open which is a "UK first" with heights of 138ft. The theme park was named one of the And the park's Valhalla won 4 The park is also opening a new ride next year Credit: Alamy
The Independent
23-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Wallace and Gromit superfan started 1,000-plus memorabilia collection with a pen
A Wallace and Gromit superfan who has more than 1,000 items of memorabilia has said she is 'really pleased' the 'amazing' franchise has enjoyed success through Baftas and a Feathers McGraw tattoo trend. Mel Harrison, 43, said she has been 'absolutely blown away' by all things Aardman since she was a child, with her first memory of the animation studio's creation Wallace and Gromit being the short film A Grand Day Out. The first memorabilia item she purchased was a Wallace and Gromit pen when she was about 14 using money from doing the paper round and she has since gone on to collect more than 1,000 items, admitting she has lost track of how much she has spent on them. 'I have lots of ornaments, I've probably got about 50 different mugs, there's kids' playsets, bubble baths…' Ms Harrison, who lives in Wormegay, Norfolk, told the PA news agency. 'I've collected a few of the Gromit Unleashed figures, I have car mats, I found a Wallace and Gromit frisbee the other day. 'There's so much stuff, they seem to be able to put Wallace and Gromit on anything.' Her most prized possession is a signed poster from Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park, which she received as a gift for her 16th birthday. Ms Harrison initially bought items from high street shops before switching to online sites including Vinted, Amazon and eBay, and they are largely kept in the loft or a room in her home. Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl won in two categories at the Bafta Film Awards 2025 this month – animated film, and children's and family film. Ms Harrison said she was glad to see them receive the accolades. 'It wasn't surprising at all, I'm just really pleased that they got the credit they deserved,' she added. 'With the animation, it just blows me away how they do it all; it's just amazing and it's the humour – the humour is a big thing for me. 'You can watch the film 10 times or even 100 times and see something different every single time. 'I think they're loveable characters as well and how they can make a character like Gromit express so much without saying a word is just amazing.' Since the release of the latest Wallace and Gromit film at Christmas, there has been a growing trend for people to get tattoos of villainous penguin Feathers McGraw, and a statue of him has been erected in Preston, Lancashire. Ms Harrison, however, admitted she is not the biggest fan of the character. 'He's just quite an evil-looking figure, isn't he?' she said. 'I think it's his beady eyes that make him quite evil – I don't think he's one of my favourite characters to be honest.' Instead, the character she loves the most is Gromit and her spaniel, who died in November 2023, even shared the same name as Wallace's trusted best friend. On why she has an affinity for Gromit, she said: 'I think it's just the way he reacts to the things that Wallace does, I see a bit of me in him, like when he raises his eyebrows and I like that he shows so much emotion yet he doesn't talk. 'I always wanted a dog called Gromit and I finally got my spaniel, who I lost a year ago, and the expressions on him and Gromit matched. 'In Vengeance Most Fowl, Wallace said 'I can live without inventing, but I can't live without my best pal' and that line brought tears to my eyes as my Gromit was my world.' Her love of Wallace and Gromit has not gone unnoticed in her home town. 'We had a jubilee scarecrow competition in the village (in 2022) and I did papier-mache Gromit in the plane and then I had Wallace on top of the fence with a rocket attached to his back and since then, we've been known as the Wallace and Gromit house in the village,' she said. 'Then we had another festival at the time of the Olympics (in 2024) so I made Wallace and put him in Union Jack shorts to pay homage to movie The Wrong Trousers but with an Olympics spin, and then I had Feathers McGraw controlling him and Gromit was sitting there ready to beat up Feathers McGraw.' She added she would 'absolutely love to meet Nick Park for cheese and crackers some day'.
The Guardian
11-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Gravy cocktail, anyone? Wallace & Gromit's cheese-free dining venture is far from cracking
Ever since A Grand Day Out was released in 1989, we as a nation have grasped Wallace & Gromit to our collective heart like nothing else. We've watched them for decades, falling in love with their Rube Goldberg inventions, their nostalgic mid-century charm and their fingerprint-flecked faces. Wallace & Gromit is this country's specialist subject. Their lives are ingrained into ours, and as such there is nothing about them that we don't know. For instance, when you think of Wallace & Gromit, one foodstuff instantly springs to mind. A food that has propelled Wallace & Gromit narratives and inspired Wallace & Gromit catchphrases alike. Of course, I am referring to gravy. Try to think of what Wallace & Gromit would be like without gravy and their world simply falls apart. Remember when they built a rocket to visit the moon, only to discover it was made of gravy? Remember Wallace's face undulating into an expression of pure glee as he bit down hard on a slice of gravy and said 'Cracking gravy, Gromit?' Of course you do. We all do. Wait, hang on, what's that? I got it wrong? It's actually cheese that Wallace likes? Cheese and not gravy? And in fact gravy plays such a minuscule role in the world of Wallace & Gromit that it's nearly impossible to find any substantial information linking the two on the internet? Well, this is awkward. Not just for me, but for the operators of the new Wallace & Gromit-themed gravy restaurant. Yesterday a press release did the rounds announcing a floating gravy restaurant in Paddington, made by Bisto to announce its new partnership with Wallace & Gromit. Although it will only be open for two days next week, the restaurant will supply a full £15 gravy menu. Upon arrival, diners will be greeted with a gravy cocktail, which will be followed by a Bisto-infused roast with all the trimmings. Dessert will come served with a sweet gravy sauce, before diners are given the opportunity to have a meet and greet with Wallace, Gromit and Feathers McGraw, or at the very least three exhausted interns in heavy costumes. Which, you have to admit, is a weird way to spend a day. This doesn't sound like it's an event for kids – parents of young children will enthusiastically tell you what a nightmare it is to feed children in a restaurant that is by its very design unstable, surrounded by terrifying dead-eyed giant versions of characters they've only ever seen on television – which means this is a decidedly adults-only affair. And not just any adults either; this is for adults who like both Wallace & Gromit (but not enough to realise that gravy doesn't play a big role in the franchise) and also possess such freakish culinary bravery that they're willing to pour gravy all over their pudding. In other words, this is for about three people max. And, fine, if you squint and look at it from just the right angle, the partnership does make the smallest degree of sense, because the climax to the most recent Wallace & Gromit film, Vengeance Most Fowl, took place on a canal boat, and gravy is served in boats, and that's enough of a connection isn't it? But is this really the way to treat a national treasure? On one hand, Bisto must be paying a hell of a lot of money for the image rights of Wallace & Gromit, and if that money helps Aardman to make more Wallace & Gromit films, then that can only be a good thing. The joy of Wallace & Gromit is seeing how something so labour- and effort-intensive, and therefore expensive, can look so effortless. If an influx of gravy cash means that more labour and effort can be funnelled into the process, that's great. But on the other, shouldn't this be a cheese restaurant? And shouldn't it take place on a rocket? And shouldn't diners be pinged from their seats across the air into a giant pair of robotic trousers? Really, if you're going to bend to the might of product placement, it should be worth getting the details right. After all, as Wallace himself once said, cracking brand synergy Gromit.
