The Wrong Trousers (1993)

Times are hard for "Wallace" and his engineering-minded dog "Gromit" so they take in a lodger. He's a penguin who settles in nicely over a bottle of red with "Wallace" but to whom "Gromit" takes an instant dislike. Indeed, their new guest knocks his nose so far out of joint that he packs his belongings and leaves. This is just what the penguin wanted - and soon he is adapting some old, remote-controlled, mechanised trousers in which to entrap poor "Wallace" so he can use him to carry out a daring heist. Luckily, "Gromit" didn't stray too far and when he hears his friend's distress calls he sets out to thwart whom we now know is the most wanted "Feathers McGraw". Inspired voice casting in Peter Sallis and some great detail in the stop-motion animation - especially some of the dog's facial expressions - work really well here to create a simple but quickly paced and engagingly scripted story that tugs on emotional heart-strings, makes us laugh and reminds us that polystyrene ceiling tiles were never a good idea. Hats off to Julian Nott too - that's a grand signature tune.