“Wallace and Gromit,” the British cult stop-motion comedy franchise created by Nick Park of Aardman Animations, is set for a virtual reality transformation.
Aardman is partnering with Meta Quest and Paris-based signage Atlas V to create an interactive, narrative-led VR experience that will follow the new adventures of Wallace and Gromit.
The VR experience called “The Grand Getaway” will be centered around the holidays of Wallace and Gromit and will launch in 2023 at the Oculus Store for the Meta Quest. It will be available on Meta Quest 2, a new virtual reality headset that allows users to roam, explore, and hands-on.
The project is a co-production between Aardman and Atlas V, the award-winning device behind high-end VR experiences such as Spheres and Gloomy Eyes, jointly with No Ghost in London and Albyon in Lyon. It is funded by Meta Quest.
Finbar Hawkins and Bram Ttwheam co-direct for Aardman with support from Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham, Creative Director of Wallace & Gromit.
Ben Whitehead will voice Wallace again, as he did on previous “Wallace and Gromit” projects, following in the footsteps of the late Peter Salles.
“The Grand Getaway” is the next step in Wallace and Gromit’s adventures in immersive spaces, after “The Big Fix Up”, which combined the latest in mixed and augmented reality games into an epic real-time adventure.
“The entire studio is very excited about this project, which provides us with the perfect opportunity to do what we love – bringing together unforgettable characters and engaging storytelling with emerging technologies to deliver a fully immersive experience for audiences,” said Sean Clark, Aardman Managing Director.
“For loyal Wallace & Gromit fans, this will be a true wish-fulfilling zone – after watching the characters on screen for decades, they will now have a chance to step into their world and play an active role in this new story as Clark added.
Antoine Caerol and Arnaud Kolinart, producers and co-founders of Atlas V, said their company “aims to work with the famous IP, in order to make a greater impact on the audience and connect with more people.”
“It was difficult for all of us to come together to live up to the expectations and standards that this IP demands, but we are convinced that Wallace and Gromit fans and the virtual reality community will experience amazing immersive adventures by interacting with these two beloved characters.”
Meta Quest Producer Ryan Thomas said, “The idea of interacting and being in the same room with these lovable characters I grew up watching evokes a sense of nostalgia and we wonder we know Meta Quest 2 owners will enjoy.” Thomas added that it will be “a dazzling, intelligent and innovative immersive virtual reality experience.”
[ad_2]
