An Aardman Studios short, Nick Parks 'The Wrong Trousers' (1992) is the second instalment in the Wallace and Gromit franchise--the sequel to 'A Grand Day Out' (1989) and the predecessor of 'A Close Shave' (1995). Given a budget of £650,000, 'The Wrong Trousers' received a unanimously positive reaction on Rotten Tomatoes--with a score of 9.1/10--as well as having won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film (1993).
Although 'The Wrong Trousers' explores a multitude of different movie genres, from Westerns (the train chase sequence) to Slap-stick Comedy (Gromit being hit in the face with Jam), the single genre that is shown to be the most recurring is Film Noir. Conventions from the Film Noir genre to be used in 'The Wrong Trousers' being; Gromit following the penguin down an abandoned alleyway, the penguin pulling out a gun as his weapon, low-level lighting minus a line of light over Gromits eyes as he's following the penguin and looking through the antagonists plan details, as well as Gromit representing the detective and the penguin being a classic archetype for a film noir villain--holding little backstory he is capable of deceiving the protagonist into helping him, a small and subtle change to his appearance fooling the characters (but not the spectator) into viewing him as a separate person.
Parks 'The Wrong Trousers' fits Todorovs five act structure perfectly, these specific points in the 30 minute run time pushing the narrative forward. Wallace having spent most of his money of Gromits birthday presents forces his hand on putting out an ad for a housemate, said housemate then taking Gromits room instead of the spare and playing loud music very late pushing Gromit to sleeping in the backyard. The penguin seeing Gromit using the 'techno trousers' motivates him to replace Gromit in the household so he can use them for his next heist--Gromit actually leaving providing him with that opportunity, Gromit being suspicious of the penguin after seeing the trousers malfunctioning leads him to snoop around his bedroom and discover the blueprints for the heist. And finally, the chase sequence that takes place on the model train set--in an environment Gromit is extremely familiar with--allows for Wallace and Gromit to capture the penguin and hand him into the police station, claiming the reward returns the characters to equilibrium as they once again live alone together in harmony.
Representation of the films British origins, although easily shown through; the ornamental wallpaper, Wensleydale cheese, cups of tea, daily newspaper and semi detached homes--each of these clear stereotypes people place on Great Britain. However, the relationship between Wallace and Gromit mimicking that of a British officer and his 'Batman'--the official term used in the British army being "soldier-servant", 'Batmen' would organise their superior officers uniform and personal equipment, act as a "runner" to convey orders from the officer to subordinates and even drive the officers vehicle under combat situations--emphasises the 'Britishness' feel of the entire short. Gromits actions of making Wallace's tea, preparing his breakfast, dressing him once he wakes up; all of this clearly defines him as Wallace's 'Batman', Gromit being a dog also coming into play as he is of a lower class to Wallace, Wallace holding an authority over Gromit as his owner.
