A Grand Day Out

A Grand Day Out is a 1989 British stop-motion animated short film and the first installment in the Wallace & Gromit series. It was directed, animated and co-written by Nick Park at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield and Aardman Animations in Bristol. The film centres on good-natured yet eccentric inventor Wallace (voiced by Peter Sallis) and his intelligent but mute pet dog, Gromit, whom decide to build a rocket ship and make a trip to the moon in search of cheese.

Nick Park started creating A Grand Day Out in 1982 as a graduation project for the National Film & Television School. In 1985, Aardman took him on before he finished the piece, allowing him to work on it part-time while still being funded by the school. William Harbutt's company provided Park with Plasticine for the short. Nick Park wrote to Peter Sallis asking him to voice Wallace. Nick Park initially sought for Gromit to have a voice, but ultimately he decided to keep the character mute. Julian Nott scored the film.

A Grand Day Out debuted on 4 November 1989, at an animation festival at the Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol. It was first broadcast on Christmas Eve 1990 on Channel 4. The film received critical acclaim and was followed by 1993's The Wrong Trousers, 1995's A Close Shave, 2005's The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, 2008's A Matter of Loaf and Death, and 2024's Vengeance Most Fowl. It was a Best Animated Short Film nominee for the 63rd Academy Awards.