Editing A Close Shave

{{Short description|1995 animated short film}}
{{about|the animated film|the band|Close Shave|the saying|close call}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = A Close Shave
| image          = a-close-shave.jpg
| caption        = US edition VHS cover art
| director       = [[Nick Park]]
| producer       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Carla Shelley]]
* [[Michael Rose (film producer)|Michael Rose]]
}}
| writer         = {{Plainlist|
* [[Bob Baker (scriptwriter)|Bob Baker]]
* Nick Park
}}
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Peter Sallis]]
* [[Anne Reid]]
}}
| music          = [[Julian Nott]]
| cinematography = [[Dave Alex Riddett]]
| editing        = Helen Garrard
| studio         = {{Plainlist|
* [[Aardman Animations]]
* [[Nick Park|Wallace and Gromit Ltd.]]
* [[BBC Bristol]]
* [[BBC Worldwide|BBC Children's International]]
}}
| distributor    = [[BBC Worldwide]]
| released       = {{Film date|df=yes|1995|12|24}}
| runtime        = 30 minutes<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Close Shave |url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/a-close-shave-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmzcwnzu |publisher=[[British Board of Film Classification]]}}</ref>
| country        = United Kingdom
| budget         = £1.3&nbsp;million<ref>{{Cite web |title=Production History – A Close Shave |url=http://www.telepathy.co.uk/aardman/showcase/info/i_close02.html |access-date=24 September 2012 |website=Telepathy}}</ref>
}}
'''''A Close Shave''''' is a 1995 British [[clay animation|stop-motion animated]] short film produced by [[Aardman Animations]]. Directed by [[Nick Park]] and written by Park and [[Bob Baker (scriptwriter)|Bob Baker]], it is the fourth installment in the ''[[Wallace & Gromit]]'' series, following ''[[A Grand Day Out]]'' (1989) and ''[[The Wrong Trousers]]'' (1993). In the film, Wallace ([[Peter Sallis]]) and Gromit foil a [[sheep rustling]] operation operated by a sinister dog, Preston. [[Anne Reid]] also lends her voice to the film as Wendoline Ramsbottom.

''A Close Shave'' was acclaimed and won the [[Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film]] at the [[68th Academy Awards]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=25 March 1996 |title=The 68th Academy Awards (1996) Nominees and Winners |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1996 |access-date=24 September 2012 |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences}}</ref> A spin-off television series based on the Shaun character, ''[[Shaun the Sheep]]'', premiered in 2007.

== Plot ==<!--DO NOT EXPAND THIS PLOT SUMMARY. this is a short film and does not require a long summary. See [[WP:FILMPLOT]]-->
Wallace and his dog, Gromit, operate a window cleaning business. Wallace falls for the wool shopkeeper Wendolene Ramsbottom. Her sinister dog, Preston, rustles sheep to supply the shop. After a lost sheep wanders into the house, Wallace places him in his Knit-o-Matic, which shears sheep and knits the wool into jumpers. Wallace names the sheep [[Shaun the Sheep|Shaun]].

Preston steals the Knit-o-Matic blueprints. When Gromit investigates, Preston captures him and frames him for the sheep rustling. Gromit is arrested and imprisoned, while Wallace's house is inundated with sheep. Wallace and the sheep save Gromit and hide out in the fields. Wendolene and Preston arrive in the lorry to round up the sheep. When Wendolene demands Preston stop the rustling, he locks her in the lorry with the sheep and drives away, intent on turning them into dog food.

Wallace and Gromit give chase on their motorcycle. When Gromit's sidecar detaches, he activates its aeroplane mode and resumes the chase from the air.  Wallace becomes trapped in the lorry and he, Wendolene, and the sheep are transported to Preston's dog food factory, where Preston has built an enormous Knit-o-Matic. The captives are loaded into the wash basin, but Shaun escapes. Shaun activates neon signs to reveal the factory's location to Gromit, who attacks Preston. Shaun sucks Preston into the Knit-o-Matic, removing his fur. Wendolene reveals that Preston is a robot created by her deceased inventor father, and his behaviour is a result of him malfunctioning.

When the Knit-o-Matic dresses Preston in a sweater made of his fur, he inadvertently hits the controls, and the group become poised to fall into the mincing machine. Shaun pushes Preston into the machine, crushing him. Gromit is exonerated and Wallace rebuilds Preston as a harmless remote-controlled dog. Afterwards, Wallace is saddened when Wendolene leaves and tells him that she is allergic to cheese. When he tries to cheer himself up with some cheese, he finds that Shaun has eaten it all.<!--DO NOT EXPAND THIS PLOT SUMMARY. This is a short film and does not require a long summary. See [[WP:FILMPLOT]]-->

== Production ==
[[Peter Lord]], the co-founder of Aardman, had Park simplify the script to keep the film to 30 minutes. Lord said it once contained "the best scene we ever had to cut", a love scene based on ''[[Brief Encounter]]'' between Wallace and Wendolene set in [[Crewe railway station]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite news |last=Shoard |first=Catherine |date=2023-08-21 |title=Say cheese! Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers at 30 – in pictures |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/gallery/2023/aug/21/wallace-and-gromit-the-wrong-trousers-30-exhibition-cartoon-museum |access-date=2025-01-08 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> A spin-off television series based on the Shaun character, ''[[Shaun the Sheep]]'', premiered in 2007.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Banks-Smith |first=Nancy |date=2007-03-06 |title=Last night's TV |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/tvandradioblog/2007/mar/06/lastnightstv7 |access-date=2025-01-15 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

==Cast==
* [[Peter Sallis]] as Wallace
* [[Anne Reid]] as Wendolene Ramsbottom

==Reception==
{{expand section|date=September 2021}}
On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], ''A Close Shave'' has a perfect score of [[List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes|100%]] based on 19 reviews, with an average rating of 8.6/10.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Close Shave |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wallace_and_gromit_in_a_close_shave |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150228014648/http://www.rottentomatoes.com:80/m/wallace_and_gromit_in_a_close_shave |archive-date=28 February 2015 |access-date=3 February 2023 |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20121010004718/http://www.wallaceandgromit.com:80/films/acloseshave/}}
* {{IMDb title|0112691}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes}}
{{Shaun the Sheep}}
{{Wallaceandgromit}}
{{Nick Park}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for ''A Close Shave''
|list =
{{AcademyAwardBestAnimatedShortFilm 1981–2000}}
{{BAFTA Award for Best Short Animation}}
{{Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Animated Film}}
}}
{{Aardman Animations}}
{{portal bar|Animation|United Kingdom|Film|Television|BBC|1990s}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Close Shave, A}}
[[Category:1990s British films]]
[[Category:1990s children's fantasy films]]
[[Category:1990s comedy thriller films]]
[[Category:1995 crime comedy films]]
[[Category:1990s stop-motion animated films]]
[[Category:1995 animated short films]]
[[Category:1995 children's films]]
[[Category:1995 television films]]
[[Category:Aardman Animations short films]]
[[Category:Animated films about robots]]
[[Category:Animated films about dogs]]
[[Category:Animated films about sheep]]
[[Category:Best Animated Short Academy Award winners]]
[[Category:BBC Two original programming]]
[[Category:British animated comedy films]]
[[Category:British animated short films]]
[[Category:British comedy thriller films]]
[[Category:British crime comedy films]]
[[Category:Claymation films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Nick Park]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Bob Baker (scriptwriter)]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Nick Park]]
[[Category:Shaun the Sheep]]
[[Category:Stop-motion animated short films]]
[[Category:Wallace and Gromit films]]
[[Category:British thriller short films]]