Wallace &Gromit from the animated films of the same name get a VR story. The British film company Aardman Animations is cooperating with the VR development studio Atlas V (Battlescar).
Elon Musk has so far been unable to implement his plans for rocket shuttles between cities. In the fantasy world of Wallace & Gromit, however, short trips by rocket are possible. Stupid only if the aircraft goes off course: this is exactly what happens to the popular duo in their first VR adventure, which will be released exclusively for Meta Quest 2 and probably Cambria in 2023.
In Wallace &Gromit: The Grand Getaway, the animated film stars embark on a not always voluntary Holiday trip through England. Players can walk through the comic world in VR and explore it. According to Aardman Animations, they have an active role in the story.
Wallace &Gromit is Coming Exclusively for Quest 2
Actually, the protagonists wanted to go on a trip to the beach and test their latest invention, the “car caddy”. Since Wallace messed up on the date, they suddenly have to be at the other end of the country within half an hour. Hence the decision for the trip by rocket. However, she gets off course early on, so the two jet off into unknown terrain.
Aardman Animations is developing the VR experience in collaboration with Meta and the Parisian virtual reality studio Atlas V. The latter made a name for itself with elaborate narrative experiences. These include Gloomy Eyes, Madrid Noir and the acclaimed snotty punk story Battlescar. Also involved are series creator Nick Park from Aardman Animations as well as the studios No Ghost from London and Albyon from Lyon.
For an authentic atmosphere, large parts of Aardman’s animated film crew are involved, including Wallace’s original English voice Ben Whitehead (successor to Peter Sallis). The story is based on the AR adventure The Big Fixup. In this one, the two heroes cleaned up their hometown of Bristol from top to bottom.
Eye to Eye with Wallace &Gromit
The Atlas V founder Antoine Cayrol and the founder Arnaud Colinart are happy to literally bring the characters closer to the fans: since players interact in virtual reality with the same scenery as in the cinematic templates, they are right in the middle of the true-to-scale comic world, which they otherwise only know from the flat screen.
