In Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Park takes his two most beloved characters and plops them down right in the middle of an old-school horror movie -- only this time, the monster feeds exclusively on vegetables, not flesh. Given Wallace and Gromit's humble roots (Park introduced the scatterbrained British inventor and his faithful dog in a series of three unforgettable short films), naturally I worried how they might hold up to being movie stars. Rest assured, the claymation pair are every bit as endearing in their first feature-length adventure.

How to describe Wallace and Gromit's appeal to those who haven't already enjoyed their early outings? The two thoroughly British characters have a curious chemistry cemented by their mutual love for cheese and crackers. While Wallace tinkers in the basement, inventing elaborate Heath Robinson-style contraptions designed to assist with perfectly ordinary household tasks, like getting out of bed or spreading jam on toast, Gromit follows behind and cleans up his master's messes.

You see, Gromit is far more than just Wallace's silent canine sidekick. He reads the newspaper at the breakfast table and knits to pass the time, and as far as roommates go, Gromit's role falls somewhere between obedient son and dutiful wife (which is why Wallace's love interests can never amount to anything more than a passing fancy). He never objects to Wallace's crazy schemes, but he can always be counted on to set things right again.

In the duo's first adventure, A Grand Day Out, Wallace's craving for cheese inspired him to build a rocket to the moon. But whose job was it to get them back to earth? You guessed it. And in The Wrong Trousers, when a sinister penguin steals Wallace's latest invention (a pair of robot pants designed so he can send Gromit on walks without having to bother exercising himself), who has to save the day? You get the picture.

This time around, Wallace's mess is both larger than usual and more absurd than ever as a device intended to rid the pesky neighborhood rabbits of their carrot cravings instead backfires and creates a ''were-rabbit'' with an insatiable appetite. With the beast running wild only days before Lady Tottington's annual vegetable competition, the movie playfully spoofs virtually every convention of classics like The Wolf Man and The Hound of the Baskervilles.

It's uncanny how Park and co-director Steve Box (the man responsible for animating the sinister penguin in The Wrong Trousers) can milk a laugh from something so simple as an eye blink. Park and Box are masters of their craft, and their comic timing is impeccable. Unlike rival Tim Burton (whose lovely yet hollow Corpse Bride might have worked better as a 30-minute short), they've picked a story that rightfully deserves its 85-minute running time, and though it never surpasses their Oscar-winning shorts, Curse of the Were-Rabbit is certainly a worthy companion.

[as featured in The Miami Herald]