Wallace and Gromit’s World of Invention is the first season of a science themed series aired by BBC television in 2010. The first season contains six, 30-minute episodes, and each is created in the classic stop motion animation you’ve come to expect from Aardman Studios. The series takes the beloved characters and throws them into a science filled world with a look into multiple fields, to include marine biology, robots, electric motors, flight, among many more topics.
My favorite segment was the “It Never Got Off The Drawing Board” portions. Wallace and Gromit take a look at scientific inventions that never quite made it into reality, such as artificial gills, Einstein’s fridge, and Brunel’s atmospheric railway.
It’s extremely fascinating to get a look into science and technology, but to me it’s even cooler to get a look into these scientist’s minds to see what they were trying to dream up.
I’ll end this by saying that although this series is about science, it’s not portrayed in a dry, monotone, classroom style. The humor you’ve come to expect from the world of Wallace and Gromit’s remains intact, blending perfectly with each guest and segment they present on the show.
The Video Quality of Wallace and Gromit Wolrd of Invention is definitely one of the finer points of this release. Attention to detail was brought to the transfer so there’s no question that it does look better then the dvd counterpart. I’m sure Nick Park the creator of Wallace and Gromit never imagined his claymation duo would ever look this good in blu-ray. Generally speaking, since the duo has seen quite a few blu-ray releases in the past. While Wallace and Gromit are known to use a pale palate of colors in regards to the claymation stop motion; it doesn’t take away from the fact that the video quality is still the least category to be concerned of when making purchasing decisions.
Wallace and Gromit’s World of Invention arrives to your speakers via a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Though the track is impressive technically, it doesn’t offer much in the way of lasting impressions. This release has nothing to offer in terms of dynamic range, however when nearly the entire audio track centers around dialogue and scientists talking, there’s really no need for an explosive special effect track, nor is there room for an energetic score. I was actually quite happy with the audio considering I knew what I was getting into before viewing the episodes.
Unfortunately for this release they were a little slim on the special features. What we’re given is a single feature titled “Your World of Invention Shorts.” It’s broken down into 6 DIY projects; Atmosphere Railway, Wind-Powered Sprinkler, Fin Ray Grabber, Air Rocket, Spy Camera, and Upside-Down-O-Scope.
I’ll wrap this review up by admitting that I consider myself to be a bit of a science geek, so this whole series fit perfectly into my viewing schedule. If you’re at all a fan of science, it’ll definitely find a place in yours too. Now if you’re not a fan of science, but still love Wallace and Gromit’s, then I’d still definitely recommend you purchase this release. However if you don’t like science, or Wallace and Gromit’s, then you should buy it anyway, just because not only is it great from a technical stand point, but it’s a great release from a dying form of art that needs to be supported.
