Blackpool is the place to be this Wednesday when Wallace and Gromit, the stars of a Oscar-winning series by Aardman Animations, are set to attend the launch of the world’s first theme park ride based on their adventures in the films A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave. Creator, Nick Park, will be on hand to witness Pleasure Beach visitors as they try out the Thrill-O-Matic, the newest ‘jewel in the crown’ of the Blackpool amusement park. The Blackpool ride, which took three years of planning by Aardman and the amusement park staff, will take passengers, seated in a giant slipper, through key scenes from the films, including A Matter of Loaf and Death and The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
 

The cracking new £5.25 million ride puts the absent-minded, cheese loving inventor and his uberintelligent canine companion in good company fronting a campaign to encourage people to holiday at home in the UK. The Visit Britain campaign also includes Julie Walters, Judi Dench, Jamie Oliver, Stephen Fry and Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint. Over the next month, Wallace and Gromit will ‘travel’ around England in their trademark motorbike and sidecar on a road trip intended to highlight tourist attractions. Following Blackpool, the two will visit the National Space Centre in Leicester, reflecting Wallace’s interest in space travel, while other destinations are expected to emphasize the importance of the British cheese industry.

Wallace and Gromit’s ‘Great Adventure’ is part of the overall campaign designed to inspire Britons to schedule a ‘staycation’ this year.