Peter Sallis makes Wallace’s unreliable judgement sound so genial that we remain pleased to hear his next idea. We rate that unforced enthusiasm highly: he gives the animators room to make the jokes without treating his character as one.
Fi1m perspective
In Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), Wallace can be plainly unreliable and still a pleasure to listen to. Peter Sallis lets the enthusiasm carry the voice, never asking us to admire how amusing he is being. There is no audible wink in it, and no attempt to put us above the character. That nasal, slightly mournful sound makes the eagerness funnier, and the performance stays affectionate where a more knowing reading could have made Wallace tiresome.
Sallis had spent decades in character parts across theatre, television and film before these animated films gave his voice such a good home. In Roy Clarke’s Last of the Summer Wine (1973–2010), he played Norman Clegg, the philosophical everyman, appearing in all 295 episodes. The understated timing suited that gentle ensemble comedy; he did not need to insist on being its centre. Wallace began with Nick Park’s A Grand Day Out (1989), while the television work continued, and Sallis voiced him through A Matter of Loaf and Death (2008).
Park and Steve Box’s The Curse of the Were-Rabbit makes the value of that approach especially clear. Sallis does not make Wallace knowing or fashionable, leaving Gromit’s silent reactions to show what loyalty to him costs. We laughed at Gromit’s forehead because its minute movements showed how hard he was working to remain patient with Wallace. That is the animators’ work, but Sallis supplies the voice they need to react to: genial enough for us to understand why the dog stays, even when the man’s judgement fails him. The performance works with the silent character rather than trying to compete with him.
The feature does stretch its plot to fill the running time, and a welcome voice cannot entirely settle that problem. Nor should we pretend that a film with such expressive animation belongs to the person at the microphone. Sallis deserves credit for leaving space for work as funny as his own. See it for him and the dog, with a little patience for the plot.
Biography
Peter Sallis (1921–2017) was an English actor. He was born in Twickenham, Middlesex, and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His long career included stage work, television and film supporting roles, and voice acting.
Sallis played Norman Clegg in the BBC sitcom Last of the Summer Wine from its first episode in 1973 until the series ended in 2010. He was the only cast member to appear in all 295 episodes. He was also the original voice of Wallace in the Wallace & Gromit stop-motion films, including A Grand Day Out (1989), The Wrong Trousers (1993), A Close Shave (1995), Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) and A Matter of Loaf and Death (2008).
He provided the voice of Rat in the Cosgrove Hall series The Wind in the Willows (1984–1990). Sallis was appointed OBE in 2007 for services to drama and received an Annie Award for his voice performance in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
