Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (1997)

If Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit was made in 1997.

Directed By: Nick Park

Plot
Tottington Hall's annual giant vegetable competition is approaching with the coveted Golden Carrot as its prize. Wallace and Gromit provide a humane pest control business, "Anti-Pesto", protecting the townspeople's vegetables. One evening after capturing rabbits found in Lady Tottington's garden, Wallace devises a plan to turn them against vegetables by using his latest invention, the "Mind Manipulation-O-Matic", to brainwash them. All goes well until Wallace accidentally kicks the machine's switch into "BLOW," and one rabbit gets stuck to Wallace's head, causing their minds to fuse before Gromit cuts the power. However, the transfer appears to have worked, as the rabbit shows no interest in vegetables. They name the rabbit Hutch and place him in a cage.

That night, a giant rabbit devours many of the town's vegetables. At a town meeting, the hunter Lord Victor Quartermaine offers to shoot the were-rabbit, but Lady Tottington persuades the townsfolk to continue with Anti-Pesto's services. After a failed attempt, Wallace suspects that Hutch may be the were-rabbit and has Gromit lock him in a high-security cage. Gromit learns soon after the Were-Rabbit is in fact Wallace. Victor, who seeks to woo Lady Tottington, corners Wallace in the forest, but Wallace transforms into the Were-Rabbit under the light of the full moon and flees. Gromit lures Wallace home to protect him. Victor obtains three "24-carrot" gold bullets from the Vicar to use against Wallace.

On the day of the vegetable competition, Gromit convinces Wallace that he is indeed the Were-Rabbit, and that he must fix the Mind-o-Matic to undo the curse. Lady Tottington, who has come to like Wallace, visits and tells him about Victor's plan. As the moon rises, Wallace begins to transform, and hastily forces Lady Tottington to leave. Victor arrives and attempts to shoot Wallace as the Were-Rabbit with the golden bullets. Gromit creates a distraction using a rabbit costume to allow Wallace to escape, and Victor gives chase to the competition. Gromit begins working with Hutch, who has developed Wallace-like traits including his appetite for cheese, and plans to use his giant marrow as bait to lure Wallace to safety.

Wallace, as the were-rabbit, creates chaos at the fair. Using up all his gold bullets, Victor takes the Golden Carrot trophy to use as ammunition. Wallace carries Lady Tottington atop Tottington Hall, where she discovers Wallace's connection to the were-rabbit. Victor gives chase, revealing that he only wants to impress Lady Tottington for her money. Victor's dog Philip engages Gromit in a dogfight in aeroplanes taken from a fairground attraction. Gromit sends Philip's plane to the ground, then steers his plane into Victor's line of fire as Victor fires at Wallace, causing the bullet to hit the plane instead. The damaged plane falls and Wallace jumps to grab Gromit, sacrificing himself to cushion their fall into a cheese tent.

Victor gloats about his victory, but Lady Tottington hits him with her giant carrot and he falls into the tent. To protect Wallace from the angry townspeople, Gromit quickly disguises Victor as the were-rabbit in the rabbit costume and the townspeople chase him away. Wallace transforms back to his human self and appears dead, but Gromit uses some Stinking Bishop cheese to revive him. Lady Tottington awards Gromit the Golden Carrot and converts the grounds of Tottington Hall into a habitat for Hutch and the other rabbits.

Cast

 * Peter Sallis as Wallace, a good-natured yet eccentric, absent-minded and accident-prone inventor with a great fondness for cheese, who runs Anti-Pesto with his dog and best friend, Gromit.
 * Gromit is Wallace's silent, brave and highly intelligent dog who cares deeply for his master, and saves him whenever something goes wrong.
 * Timothy Dalton as Lord Victor Quartermaine, a cruel upper class bounder and a prideful hunter who is courting Lady Tottington. He wears a toupee and despises Wallace and Gromit.
 * Philip is Victor's vicious but cowardly and dimwitted hunting dog who resembles a Bull Terrier. He is too cowardly to face the Were-Rabbit so he instead targets Gromit.
 * Embeth Davidtz as Lady Campanula Tottington, a wealthy aristocratic spinster with a keen interest in vegetable horticulture and 'fluffy' animals. For 517 years, the Tottington family has hosted an annual vegetable competition on their estate on the same night. Lady Tottington asks Wallace to call her "Totty" (which is a British term for attractive women) and develops a romantic interest in him. Her forename, Campanula, is the scientific name of a bellflower, and her surname is taken from the Lancashire village of Tottington.
 * Stephen Fry as Police Constable Albert Mackintosh, the local village policeman who judges the Giant Vegetable Contest, though he would prefer it if the "trouble-making" competition didn't happen.
 * Ronnie Barker as Reverend Clement Hedges, the foolish local vicar and the first resident to witness the Were-Rabbit.
 * Ian Holm and Maggie Smith as Mr. and Mrs. Mulch, vegetable contestants and clients of Wallace and Gromit's Anti-Pesto.
 * Michael Gough as Mr. Growbag, an elderly resident of Wallace and Gromit's neighbourhood and a founding member of the town's veg grower's council.
 * Geraldine McEwan as Miss Thripp, an Anti-Pesto customer.

Rating
Rated G.