The way in which I came to watch this one was as follows: Wei wanted to do something on Saturday night and, having discussed with Kai, proposed Little Fish and Turtles Can Fly (worthy films both, no doubt, but unlikely to be very much fun). I, wanting something a bit more fun, had a look and noticed that the Nova was running advance screenings of this first Wallace & Gromit feature-length and quickly threw its hat into the ring; fortunately, it was found acceptable by the masses. (Though I'd definitely have gotten round to watching it in the end regardless, most likely on dvd.)
Turns out that we were amongst the first people in the world to see the film, as it's not being released till October in the UK and US (not sure about elsewhere) - huzzah! (Found that out by lobbing onto the imdb and being surprised to see that it hadn't yet been rated by the requisite 5 people for an overall rating to show up; for the record, I give it 8/10.) It was just what one would hope a full-length Wallace & Gromit would be - gentle and funny and cute (getting maximum 'cute' mileage out of the bunnies) and a wee bit cheeky (Lady Tottington with the vegetables, the 'wrestling nuns' magazine), and featuring plenty of inventions, strange English fixations, bad jokes, general tweeness, and cracking claymation action sequences in which Gromit stars. Wallace and Gromit well set-off by the OTT-ness of Lady Tottington (as voiced by Helena Bonham Carter) and Victor Quartermaine (Ralph Fiennes) and the usual cast of mildly eccentric English village types; sci-fi spoof elements also gleefully over the top (the scene where Victor and the vicar's conversation is ostentatiously punctuated by the storm, say). Needless to say, a minor pleasure, and assisted by my being in a receptive mood, but a nice way to spend a Saturday night.
The 'Madagascar penguins' short shown before was also v. good. "Blend! Blend!"
