I grew up watching Wallace and Gromit on VHS over and over again. The Wrong Trousers, A Grand Day Out, A Close Shave - they were the holy grail in my house, my own personal Triforce, I guess you could say. A Grand Day Out was the main reason I believed the moon was made of cheese until the age of about 8, which led to a strange conversation at school with my teacher!
For those of you who have read my articles over the years, you'll know how much I also love Zelda, specifically Ocarina of Time. So to see two of my favourite series from my childhood fusing together in an epic tale of dairy and danger is, quite frankly, amazing. And it's all down to Tommy, aka UltraTom.
What started as a quick parody of The Legend of Zelda and Wallace and Gromit turned into Tommy spending seven months of his life creating a new Wallace and Gromit episode for the retro gaming community. The Legend of Cheese follows Wallace as the legendary hero of time, on a mission to save Princess Zelda from Calamity Cucco. Though his main goal, as you might imagine, is to find some cheese - old habits die hard, ey Wallace!
Little Easter eggs like collectibles from Ocarina of Time making an appearance and the inclusion of Epona in the episode fill it with so much depth too - it's a visual feast for the eyes!
I need you guys to understand how much I love this video before I carry on writing - I've watched it three times this morning alone, and I've spotted something new every single time I've watched. Tommy has managed to capture all of Wallace's mannerisms perfectly, integrating key elements of the original episodes like the flipping pond, Wallace's inventions, his trademark facial expressions, and so much more.
Then there's the nods to multiple Zelda games; the slingshot and eye switches from Ocarina of Time, pulling up treasure on the King of Red Lions in the Wind Waker, and gliding over mountains with the glider from Breath of the Wild.
It's a multi-game adventure that works perfectly, and seeing Wallace sleepwalking up the side of what looks like a mountain in Lanaryu while wearing The Wrong Trousers was pure comedy gold. Little Easter eggs like collectables from Ocarina of Time making an appearance in Wallace's fridge and the inclusion of Epona (complete with trademark Aardman teeth) in the episode fill it with so much depth too - it's a visual feast for the eyes!
I could talk about every segment of this episode, but I'll leave you to watch it so I don't spoil all of the surprises. What I will say, however, is that the exchange with Wallace, the Castle Town Guard, and Gromit Navi was cinematic brilliance. Every Zelda fan can relate to that experience, collecting enough rupees in that tiny room in order to buy potions or items, and perhaps out of all of the scenes in Tommy's episode, that one struck my nostalgia senses the most.
Tommy has created the entire episode in Blender, and he's worked incredibly hard and put a lot of time, effort, and passion into bringing this story to life. Take a look at the full episode below, and be sure to check out my interview with Tommy below to get more insight into how he created this amazing episode!
Interview With Tommy About Creating The Hero Of Cheese
Retro Dodo: What is it about Wallace and Gromit that inspires you to use them as the medium for your work? Do you have fond memories of watching Nick Park’s work as a child?
Tommy: My family didn’t have cable when I was a kid for a few years, so to entertain us, my mom would borrow films from the library. This included lots of stop motion like Gumby, Rankin/Bass, and Aardman films. I think the mixed media and Foley sound design of them fascinated me. Gumby was my real obsession as a kid, but as I grew up, The Wrong Trousers really stuck with me.
Retro Dodo: Tell me about the process of recreating the famous plasticine figures in Blender and how difficult that process is.
Tommy: I started learning Blender around 3 years ago and discovered a custom shader by Doublegum called ClayDoh. The shader actually made rendering out clay-like materials pretty simple which is a huge reason I gravitate towards cute stop motion type art. Modelling the characters was a lot harder. Zelda was fine because she barely moves and Gromit was a floating head with wings so that took no time at all, but Wallace was challenging because he moves a lot in the film, meaning I needed decent topology, weight painting, and a good rig. These 3 things are my least favorite aspects of making 3D animation, so I struggled. I took the most care in the mouth shapes (visemes), which was pretty fun and just involved sculpting different shape keys. Then, when animating, I could simply swap between these shape keys, very similar to actual stop motion. It was very hard and not something I have mastered, but very rewarding when it works.
Retro Dodo: Let’s talk Zelda. It’s obviously been one of your favourite series; I can tell that from the references you’ve made in the episode.
Tommy: I grew up watching my older brother play Ocarina of Time and was too scared to play myself. The moblins in the Sacred Forest Meadow terrified me. I played the game myself a few years later while my sister watched and my neighbor read the walkthrough guide and it remains my favorite game of all time. I thrifted an N64 in college and have probably beaten it around 4 or 5 times. I’m also a huge Koji Kondo fan and adore the music of that game. If I were to rank them, I would go Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, BOTW, Twilight Princess, Minish Cap, Majora's Mask, TOTK - But I love them all.
Retro Dodo: Tell me about your love of the series and what your earliest Zelda memory is. - How did you decide on the story for The Hero of Cheese?
Tommy: At first, I was just going to do a single scene of Wallace obtaining the cheese force or something. But then when I went to write dialogue for it, I slowly started adding more and more to it, and realized I wanted to do a more earnest parody that captures the British charm. I also like designing so making kitschy wallpapers and decorative plates seemed like a lot of fun. The easiest way to establish Wallace as an eccentric is the intro gadget scene from the movies, which is also great for incorporating Zelda tools into it in a seamless way. Then I realized adapting Epona would be funny and threw that in. For Calamity Cucco, I just wanted a good analogue for Feathers McGraw that could have that same iconic blank stare and menacing aura. The script didn’t take very long to write because I had been passively thinking about it for a while.
Retro Dodo: You’ve integrated Wallace’s world so well with Link’s, so much so that it felt like I was stepping right back into the 90s for 5 minutes. Was it difficult to keep Wallace’s character traits in such a new setting?
Tommy: I have to shout out the voice actor Scott Anthony (ScottygoesNerdy). I was having trouble finding the right voice and then I found his Wallace impressions on TikTok and asked him to be in it. He agreed, and I simply sent him a script and he sent back the audio. Just listening to the audio made me laugh out loud, and I knew there was something special about the project in that moment. So much of Wallace is in his delivery and Wallace-isms, which Scott perfectly captured. Because the intro is so similar to the original films, I was able to spend that time establishing Wallace's character so that in the second half, it still makes sense when he starts to behave a little more unhinged. It's also a parody, so I felt free enough to lean into the obsessive side of Wallace. To me, the funny part of Wallace (or Wall-Link) in Hyrule is that his heroism would be accidental to his one true goal - cheese.
Retro Dodo: Hero of Cheese has led me to Koopa Komforts too - tell me about the process of making this and how you storyboarded the narrative of the idea.
Tommy: I basically made that to learn how to make a short film. Creature Comforts felt perfect to parody because the characters don't move too much and I can keep it simple. I also thought it would be funny to do something like an anti-parody. I think people expect Nintendo characters to be exaggerated and video game-y so it’d be confusing when they end up being earnest and ordinary working-class people. I wrote up a few scenarios very quickly and then cast the roles online. The magic is entirely in the actor’s delivery, so I let them interpret the scripts and do what they do best. Shout out to Eric Mok, Chris Roust, and Chloe Parrington.
Retro Dodo: I’d like to talk about your retro gaming history. What was the first console you owned, what games inspired you the most, and what are you playing now?
My first console was a purple Game Boy Colour and Pokémon Red. Pokémon will always be a comfort series for me for that reason. Smash Bros Ultimate & Mario Party 2 are my two favorite games of all time. I would say indie games inspire me the most because I love seeing the singular vision someone has - Games like Hades, Shovel Knight, etc. I once tried programming a Paper Mario-style game, but quit after about a year of development. I also love Atlus Games for their graphic design, specifically. I’m currently playing Mina the Hollower, and it is so difficult but very fun.
Retro Dodo: What’s the next project you’re going to work on, and could we see you delving into a Wallace and Gromit computer game any time in the future?
Tommy: I’m not sure what I’ll work on next. I’ll likely take a break from Wallace and Gromit and focus on things other than animation for a little while. I started learning guitar and would like some time to immerse myself in that. I want to start developing an original series based on Laika-style animation, but that could be very far off in the future. In the meantime, I might do some more parodies or do little animated sketches to test out other art styles. I discovered many skills I can improve when making The Hero of Cheese and want to work on those too. We’ll just have to see!
