Behind The Scenes

At Joules, many of us can remember watching Wallace & Gromit at Christmas time. Rushing in from carol singing, visiting relatives or snowballs fights (or with less nostalgic glasses on, simply because our parents would use the TV to keep us calm on Christmas Eve) to sit in front of the television full of excitement.

For us, this iconic duo are as much a part of Christmas as holly and ivy. So it was with much excitement when, in the middle of wondering how we should celebrate our 30^th birthday (did we mention Joules is 30 this year?) we got a phone call from Aardman. Apparently, we share our birthday with everyone’s favourite cheese-lovers. Wallace & Gromit were established in 1989, the year Tom Joule set up his Joules clothing stand for the first time. To mark both our milestone birthdays, we’ve decided to spend Christmas together! Click here to see our cracking Christmas ad.

We worked with the incredible team at Aardman to create an original Christmas campaign guaranteed to put a smile on your face, where Wallace, in his true inventive style, brings Christmas to West Wallaby Street, all at ‘the click of a button’.

Loved the advert? Well, take a seat, put on your favourite slippers and crack open your finest truckle of cheese as we take you behind the plasti-scenes to discover how we brought a Cracking Christmas to life…

As you might have noticed, a selection of Joules best-sellers and brand new gifts were recreated in miniature by Aardman’s talented model makers to take pride of place in our advert. You should be able to spot the classic ‘Crown Joules’ boxer shorts on the fireplace and renowned wellington boots, sported in great style by Gromit himself.

Our Cracking Christmas Jumper, as worn by Wallace & Gromit in the ad, can be yours with sizes for all the family — including your four-legged friends too!

01. It took two weeks to make sure that the Wallace & Gromit puppets were looking camera ready and to create their Joules outfits.

02. The Aardman animators need a whole day to create 2-3 seconds of footage.

03. The entire advert took 15 days with one animator to shoot.

04. The finished advert is comprised of a whopping 679 frames of animation.

05. Gromit’s skirt in the advert is made from the exact material used in the real skirt available to buy from Joules.

06. The Christmas baubles on the tree are made from wooden beads, all of which were intricately painted by hand.

07. There are 55 spots on each of Gromit’s wellies and they also have the Joules trademark yellow stripe down the back – every detail was captured.

08. The wrapping paper used on the presents was created using an exact replica of the Joules Christmas print.

09. All of the Joules products in the animation are based on real products that you can get your hands on this Christmas.

10. One of the Christmas cards on Wallace’s fireplace is from Nick Park wishing Wallace & Gromit a merry Christmas!

Not only are we spending Christmas with Wallace & Gromit this year, but for the first time we’ll be spending it with our Friends of Joules too. Alongside our own collection of wow-worthy gifts, we’ve partnered with 100s of creative people and businesses to bring you 1000s more perfect presents. To get ready for Christmas at the click of a button, take a look at the Joules Christmas Gift Guide for sackfuls of gift ideas for the whole family.