Wacky inventor Wallace, and his astute dog Gromit, are together again, in this- the complete blu-ray collection of their short films (minus THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT feature- which is owned by another studio).

WALLACE & GROMIT are nothing if not influential. Aardman animation paved the way for somewhat adult oriented cartoons we see today (with Brian from FAMILY GUY being particulalry indebted to Gromit). Heck, I think Pixar even owes the pair a debt is the precursor to their films, as while charming and family friendly, they never pander to the audience. They also aren't afraid to keep the segments somewhat dry, and distinctly English, with Wallace serving as a great send up of the stereotypical, unflappable, if somewhat hapless English jack of all trades, who never forgets the importance of a tea break and a good piece of cheese.

All four short films hold up very well, which is to be expected, as they're universally acknowledged as fantastic, with two of the films, THE WRONG TROUSERS, & A CLOSE SHAVE even winning Oscars. Of the four, my personal favorite is the first film, A GRAND DAY OUT, where a quest for cheese leads the pair to the moon. It's a pretty perfect little short, and is perhaps a little more abstract, and experimental than the ones that follow.

If you're even a casual fan of this dynamic duo, I heartily recommend picking this set up, with the numerous bonus features making it worth a double dip if you already own them in other forms.

Video: All of the films are presented in their original aspect ratios, in HD 1080p resolution, with A GRAND DAY OUT, and THE WRONG TROUSERS being presented in 1:33:1, and A CLOSE SHAVE, and A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH being presented in 1:78:1. All of the films look great, although the most recent, A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH probably looks the slickest, with colors popping off the screen.

Audio: The films are presented in 5.1 Dolby Digital PCM, 5.1 Dolby Digital, and 2.0 Dolby, which is the original sound mix for the first few films. They all sound impeccable.

Extras: This is where the set really shines, with each film getting a commentary track by Nick Park , and a retrospective featurette , with each segment running around thirty minutes.

Besides that, they also include a WALLACE & GROMIT'S GRAND ADVENTURE video game demo , an episode of spinoff SHAUN THE SHEEP , a scrapbook , and 10 Crackling Contraptions webisodes, which run just under thirty minutes when played back to back.

I think for any WALLCE & GROMIT fan, this is a no-brainer, with only the absence of THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT keeping this from being a definitive collection. All in all, a very solid package.