Gromit Unleashed 2 was a public arts trail in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

, England. The trail featured 67 giant sculptures designed by high-profile artists, designers, innovators and local talent. Sculptures are positioned in high footfall and iconic locations around Bristol and the surrounding area from 2 July to 2 September 2018. A sequel to

Gromit Unleashed Gromit Unleashed was a public charity art trail led by Wallace & Gromit's Grand Appeal and Aardman Animations, in which 80 giant artist-decorated fibreglass sculptures of Gromit were displayed on the streets of Bristol and the surrounding ar ...

in 2013, the trail featured statues of

Wallace Wallace may refer to: People * Clan Wallace in Scotland * Wallace (given name) * Wallace (surname) * Wallace (footballer, born 1986), full name Wallace Fernando Pereira, Brazilian football left-back * Wallace (footballer, born 1987), full name ...

on a life-size bench,

Gromit ''Wallace & Gromit'' is a British stop-motion comedy franchise created by Nick Park of Aardman Animations. The series consists of four short films and one feature-length film, and has spawned numerous spin-offs and TV adaptations. The serie ...

, and

Feathers McGraw This is a list of characters that appear in the British claymation series '' Wallace and Gromit'' and '' Shaun the Sheep'', created by Aardman Animations. Overview Main characters Wallace Wallace is a middle-aged man who lives at 62 West Wa ...

. The trail raised funds for the

Bristol Royal Hospital for Children Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, also known as the Bristol Children's Hospital, is a paediatric hospital in Bristol and the only paediatric major trauma centre in South West England. The hospital is part of the University Hospitals Bristol ...

and St. Michael's Hospital's Special Care Baby unit.

Background

Gromit

Gromit is a dog belonging to an eccentric inventor,

, in a series of

claymation Clay animation or claymation, sometimes plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine clay. Tr ...

films produced by

Aardman Animations Aardman Animations Limited (also known as Aardman Studios, simply Aardman or Aardman Animation and stylised as AARDMAN as of 2022) is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England. It is known for films made using stop-motion and clay ani ...

, based in

Spike Island, Bristol Spike Island is an inner city and harbour area of the English port city of Bristol, adjoining the city centre. It comprises the strip of land between the Floating Harbour to the north and the tidal New Cut of the River Avon to the south, fr ...

. Three of the films in the ''Wallace and Gromit'' film series have won Academy Awards: ''

The Wrong Trousers ''The Wrong Trousers'' is a 1993 British stop-motion animated short film co-written and directed by Nick Park, featuring his characters Wallace and Gromit, and was produced by Aardman Animations in association with Wallace and Gromit Ltd., BBC ...

'', ''

A Close Shave ''Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave'' is a 1995 British stop-motion animated short film co-written and directed by Nick Park and produced by Aardman Animations with Wallace and Gromit Ltd., BBC Bristol and BBC Children's International. It ...

'' and '' Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit''.

Wallace and Gromit's Grand Appeal

The aim of Gromit Unleashed was to fundraise for Wallace and Gromit's Grand Appeal. Founded in 1995, the charity raises funds for paediatric medical equipment at the

and St. Michael's Hospital. In collaboration with Aardman, it uses the characters Wallace and Gromit as mascots for the charity.

Previous trails

Gromit Unleashed 2 is a sequel to

that ran between 1 July and 8 September 2013 in Bristol, featuring 80 Gromit sculptures and raising £2.3 million for the Grand Appeal. The Shaun in the City trail featuring 120 sculptures of

Shaun the Sheep ''Shaun the Sheep'' is a British stop-motion television series and a spin-off of the '' Wallace and Gromit'' franchise. The title character is Shaun (previously featured as the sheep named "Shaun" in the 1995 short film '' A Close Shave'' and ...

were distributed between Bristol and London in 2015 and raised £1,087,900 for the charity. Following their respective successes in raising funds for the Grand Appeal, Gromit Unleashed 2 was announced in 2017.

List of sculptures

Gromit

Wallace

Feathers McGraw

Footnotes

'Trailblazer' interactive sculptures

References

2018 sculptures Painted statue public art Sculptures in England Arts in Bristol Wallace and Gromit Statues of fictional characters {{public-art-stub