Aardman, the award-winning UK studio, has partnered with SGA Productions to launch a brand new Wallace & Gromit live show for P&O Cruises’ newest ship, Arvia.
Wallace & Gromit’s ‘All Hands On Deck!’ sees Wallace & Gromit starting their new roles as Chief Ideas Officers on board Arvia, featuring the ‘Big Ideas Crew’ who invite the audience to put their thinking caps on to help fill Wallace & Gromit’s Big-Ideas-O-Meter. The Big Ideas Crew reveal themselves to be superfans of Wallace & Gromit, eager to impress the duo with their own inventions.
Through the power of song, dance, montage and laughter they fill the Big-Ideas-O-Meter just in time for Wallace & Gromit’s arrival on stage, and after the show the duo host a meet and greet with guests. In their starring roles on board, Wallace & Gromit have been dressed in their very own bespoke P&O Cruises officers’ uniform, alongside a variety of other costumes, including a walking Cruise-O-Matic invention, dancing cheese, techno trousers and also featuring a bespoke voice-over from Wallace (Ben Whitehead).
All Hands On Deck
Performed under the ship’s SkyDome, the show is uniquely positioned facing a swimming pool, a retractable glass dome roof above and a huge LED digital screen behind. This family performance is scheduled on sea days as one of the entertainment options on board and will be available on selected cruises. Arvia’s maiden sailing to the Mediterranean took place over Christmas 2022 before it travelled across the Atlantic to port in Barbados in the Caribbean for the winter season.
Aardman and P&O Cruises were keen to capture this unique collaboration within the creative identity, so developed and built a set of bespoke puppets, a PR still and a logo as part of the marketing delivery package.
The show was produced by SGA Productions who Aardman has worked with on many different projects, including Aardman Presents: A Grand Experience at Land’s End, Championsheeps Live, Shake It With Shaun and most recently the Farmathlon event package. The costumes were created by Costumes With Character, one of Aardman’s global character costume manufacture partners.
Attention to detail
“Aardman are always looking for exciting new and unique experiences to engage family audiences with our beloved characters and the P&O Cruises partnership and SGA Productions delivers this with exceptional success in the new show on its stunning ship Arvia,” says Ngaio Harding-Hill, head of attractions and live experiences at Aardman.
SGA’s creative director, Ellie Carter Ames, adds: ‘Wallace & Gromit films often feature the dynamic duo making some bold career choices. It made perfect sense for Wallace to don those officer whites.
“The attention to detail is incredible. As Wallace isn’t the Captain on Arvia, Wallace’s epaulettes feature purple and gold stripes. This puts him at the same rank as Chief Engineer. It’s those elements which make the live version feel totally Aardman.”
“Wallace’s crew are all singing and all dancing as the ‘Big Ideas Crew’. The music – produced with West End Composer Jak Poore – has been a complete joy to create. The show tunes have all the essence of Wallace & Gromit and all the sensation of a Bruno Mars show. It’s a winning combination with plenty of surprises, and I’m not just talking about dancing cheese.”
30th anniversary of The Wrong Trousers
P&O Cruises president, Paul Ludlow, says: ‘P&O Cruises’ partnership with Aardman has already brought so much fun and joy to the children who holiday with us each year. This new live show will provide the perfect moment for the entire family to sit back, relax and enjoy time together under the fantastic setting of Arvia’s SkyDome.’
The show coincides with Aardman’s 30th-anniversary celebrations of Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers, which includes the launch of a new Wallace & Gromit-themed escape room adventure called ‘A Grand Way Out’ at Locked In A Room, Bristol.
Also currently in production is an interactive, narrative-led, single-player VR experience for the Meta Quest all-in-one VR headset. ‘The Grand Getaway’ will enable users to walk around, explore and get hands-on (or paws-on) within the world of Wallace & Gromit and truly be a part of the pair’s adventures for the first time.
Earlier this month, Aardman also announced a collaboration with Skånes Djurpark, revealing a new Shaun the Sheep overnight experience at the Swedish park.
