By Sadie Andrew, CNN<\/p>\n
(CNN) \u2014 Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park has revealed how the late Queen Elizabeth II backed his decision to keep Peter Sallis as the voice of Wallace when Hollywood executives suggested replacing the actor.<\/p>\n
Speaking to The Telegraph, Park recalled how US studio DreamWorks questioned whether Sallis, who was in his 80s at the time, would appeal to younger audiences ahead of the animated duo\u2019s big-screen debut in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005).<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, they probably would have replaced Peter Sallis actually, because they thought \u2018Oh, he\u2019s 80-something, how\u2019s this going to appeal to kids?\u2019\u201d Park said.<\/p>\n
The animator, who offered Sallis his last \u00a350 to voice Wallace in the first short film in 1989, explained how he discussed the situation with the late monarch after being seated next to her at a lunch celebrating her 80th birthday.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was a fan,\u201d Park told the newspaper. \u201cIt was like chatting with my mum.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recalling how he raised DreamWorks\u2019 suggestion that they reconsider Sallis for the role, Park said the Queen was firmly on his side.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember her saying, \u2018You ought to hang on to him!\u2019\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n
Since their debut in A Grand Day Out in 1989, Wallace and Gromit have starred in three further short films and two feature-length films \u2013 earning three Academy Awards \u2013 as well as two television series.<\/p>\n
Sallis continued voicing the cheese-loving inventor until 2010, when he retired due to ill health. Actor Ben Whitehead subsequently took over the role.<\/p>\n
Park also revealed that Hollywood executives had previously suggested changing another iconic element of the franchise: Wallace\u2019s car.<\/p>\n
The pair\u2019s trusty Austin A35 was apparently not cool enough for one executive, who proposed swapping it for a more American-style vehicle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember there was one comment from one exec saying, \u2018Wouldn\u2019t it be great if Wallace & Gromit\u2019s car was more like a cool American pickup truck?\u2019\u201d Park said.<\/p>\n
His response was unequivocal: \u201cNah! It\u2019s an Austin A35. It\u2019s cool because it\u2019s not cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Park\u2019s comments come as Gromit prepares for a major first after almost four decades of silently reacting to his owner\u2019s increasingly outlandish inventions.<\/p>\n
The beloved dog is finally getting a voice through a new memoir, Grand: The Autobiography of Gromit: As Told to Nick Park. Actor Martin Freeman, best known for The Hobbit and the British original of The Office, will narrate the audiobook.<\/p>\n
Speaking to The Telegraph, Park said Freeman had emerged as the clear favorite for the role.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more I thought about it, the more I realised Martin Freeman was the obvious choice, really,\u201d he said. \u201cI was genuinely thrilled and honored when he said yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The-CNN-Wire
\u2122 & \u00a9 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Sadie Andrew, CNN (CNN) \u2014 Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park has revealed how the late Queen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,47,50,49],"class_list":["post-502457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}