Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (G, 2005)

Wallace and Gromit run a pest-riddance company, Anti-Pesto. Each night, they're alerted by the elaborate security system the townspeople have attached to their prized vegetable gardens, and go forth in their well-outfitted truck to capture (but never kill) the offending creatures -- typically rodents and rabbits. Wallace then deposits the animals in cages in his basement, where he keeps them supplied with carrots and lettuce. Wallace's desire to reprogram the bunnies so they won't desire veggies leads to an experiment that goes awry, and soon a giant were-rabbit is stomping through the town at night, ravaging the squashes and pumpkins, and threatening to shut down Tottington Hall's annual Giant Vegetable Competition. Wallace and Gromit are on the case.

By turns antic and lovely, WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT is a fitting big screen debut for the beloved claymation stars Wallace (voiced by Peter Sallis) and Gromit (the dog who does not talk, but whose face speaks proverbial and often plaintive volumes). At once a clever send-up of classic horror movies (of 1930s-'40s sort, including Wolfman and Frankenstein), an entertaining assembly of wordplay and visual gags, and even a bit of an insightful character study, the movie reportedly took five years to make, as Nick Park and Steve Box and a crew of hundreds posed each clay figure frame by frame.