The Wrong Trousers

The Wrong Trousers is a 1993 British Stop-motion animated short film directed by Nick Park featuring his characters Wallace and Gromit, and was produced by Aardman Animations in association with Wallace and Gromit Ltd.

The Wrong Trousers first aired in the United States on 17 December 1993, and the United Kingdom on 26 December 1993 on BBC2 It was commercially successful, and won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film in 1994. It also inspired a charity fundraising day, known as "Wrong Trousers Day".

It is Gromit’s birthday and Wallace buys him a pair of ex-NASA Techno Trousers designed to take him out on walks, but the high price of them leaves Wallace in debt and decides to let out a bedroom in their house. The tenant is a penguin with a rubber glove on his head disguised as a chicken and Gromit is annoyed that he has been forced out of the house so that he can move in and is further annoyed when he plays loud music at night. On a rainy evening, Gromit decides that he has had enough and packs a few things and finds somewhere else to live while the penguin decides to alter the Techno Trousers for his own use. The following morning, Wallace unexpectedly wakes up in the Techno Trousers which starts to work on their own and goes on a wild rampage around town, unaware that the penguin is controlling them but Wallace thinks Gromit is behind it all. Meanwhile, Gromit spots a poster in a shop window and realises that the penguin is a wanted criminal named Feathers McGraw. While Wallace is sleeping after the day’s events, Gromit discovers Feathers’ evil plan to steal a valuable diamond from a museum and spies on him planning the heist. Gromit tries to stop him but it was too late as the plan is soon put into action when Feathers uses the Techno Trousers with Wallace still in them to commit the crime and puts a helmet on Wallace’s head containing a claw to grab the diamond. At the museum, Feathers looks like he has committed the perfect crime, however, a loose tile on the ceiling causes the claw to set off a loud alarm which finally wakes up Wallace and realises what he was involved in. Back home, Gromit threatens Feathers with a rolling pin and then Feathers gets out a pistol and locks Wallace and Gromit in an old cupboard. Gromit then hotwires the Techno Trousers to get them working again and then they break out of the cupboard and a wild train chase takes place around the house, hoping to catch Feathers. Wallace thinks they’re doomed but Gromit finds a box of spare tracks and places them down as the chase continues. Eventually, the Techno Trousers sends Feathers flying through the air and then gets captured in a milk bottle, Wallace is thrilled that they succeeded in catching him. The following day, Wallace and Gromit hand Feathers into the police station and gets thrown in jail while the diamond is safely returned to the museum. Wallace is happy that Gromit is back in his life and says that the reward money has paid off all their debts and vows not to have any more lodgers saying that they’re more trouble than they’re worth. Wallace celebrates with some cheese and crackers while the Techno Trousers get thrown in the bin which then walks off into the sunset with the bin still on top of it without Wallace and Gromit taking any notice of it.

Other websites

• The Wrong Trousers on IMDb
• The Wrong Trousers at Rotten Tomatoes