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 area between 1 July and 8 September 2013. At the end of the art trail, the sculptures were auctioned to raise funds for Wallace & Gromit's Grand Appeal, the Bristol Children's Hospital Charity. The Grand Appeal pledged to raise £3.5 million for state-of-the-art equipment for Bristol Children's Hospital, including an intraoperative MRI scanner, family facilities and child-friendly artwork to help save the lives of sick children at the hospital. All funds raised by Gromit Unleashed contributed towards this.
The project follows the concept of the "Land in Sicht", the original Swiss project by artistic director Walter Knapp which inspired the subsequent worldwide exhibition "CowParade" and similar exhibitions in other cities, including Wow! Gorillas which took place in Bristol in 2011. To date Gromit Unleashed has raised over £5 million for Bristol Children's Hospital.
Background
Gromit
Gromit is a dog belonging to an eccentric inventor, Wallace, in a series of claymation films produced by Aardman Animations, based in Spike Island, Bristol. Three of the films in the Wallace and Gromit film series have won Academy Awards: The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave and .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 Bristol Royal Hospital for Children and St. Michael's Hospital. In collaboration with Aardman, it uses the characters Wallace and Gromit as mascots for the charity.Funds were raised through the sale of trail maps, merchandise, and Detect-o-Gromit, a smartphone app, aimed at helping users find the Gromit sculptures, costing 69p per download. On the first week, Detect-o-Gromit reached #1 on the Entertainment chart and #2 on the Paid chart on Apple's App Store.
Sculptures
Creation
In the months prior to the trail, 79 blank fibreglass statues measuring in height were distributed to designers and celebrities selected by Nick Park. Each recipient was free to design their statue as they wished, producing a vast array of designs. Some of the statues were publicly painted by their designers in the Galleries shopping centre.Each statue was then transported to an undisclosed warehouse in Bristol to be treated with a lacquer and erected onto a concrete plinth.
On 1 July 2013, the statues were distributed around Bristol and tourist attractions in the Greater Bristol area. One was also placed at London Paddington station, but was moved to the Gromit Unleashed HQ for the final week of the exhibition. Sculptures were decorated by a range of artists and celebrities, including Joanna Lumley, Sir Peter Blake, Trevor Baylis and Jools Holland. The Royal Mint and mosaic artist Stephanie Roberts created a special Royal Mint Gromit, decorated with coins. US Animation studio Pixar contributed Gromit Lightyear, based on their character Buzz Lightyear. The sculptures were auctioned in October to raise funds for Bristol Children's Hospital.
In addition a number of smaller Gromit sculptures were distributed to schools and community groups to decorate. Bristol tourism staff have estimated that Gromit Unleashed could bring as much as £58 million to the city during the two-month display, with many visitors expected from the United States and Japan, where Wallace and Gromit are popular. The local media reported on the use of a new word "Gromiting", being used on social media sites to describe the search for the sculptures.
Vandalism
Due to the openness of the outdoor sculptures in the trail, they were vulnerable to vandalism. In total, five sculptures were vandalised during the exhibition:- Poetry in Motion by Joanna Lumley was removed before the first day of the trail on 28 June, after vandals ripped off its tail. It was restored and replaced back on 17 July.
- Carosello by Giuliano Carapia was ripped from its plinth two days into the trail. It was restored and replaced back on 11 July, to applause from bystanders.
- Groscar by Chris Taylor had its ear ripped off on the night of 17 August. It was restored and replaced back on 28 August.
- Bark at Ee by Leigh Flurry and Patch by Emily Golden were also damaged during the trail.
Auction
The pre-auction estimate for the grand total was £1 million; this was exceeded after the 39th statue was sold. Every statue also exceeded the reserve price of £10,000. The Gromit which attracted the highest bid was Gromit Lightyear, designed by Disney Pixar and based on the Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear which sold for £65,000. The grand total raised from the sale of the sculptures was £2,357,000.
Bark at 'Ee was sold for £20,000 to David Clarke, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Law at Bristol University in November, 2013.
List of Gromit sculptures
| Name | Original Trail Location | Designer | Sale price |
| A Close Shave | Bristol Tourist Information Centre | £24,000 | |
| A Grand Day Out | Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone | £24,000 | |
| A Mandrill's Best Friend | Bristol Zoo | £18,000 | |
| aMazing Gromit | Cheddar Gorge, Somerset | £24,000 | |
| Antique Rose | The Mall at Cribbs Causeway | £30,000 | |
| Astro Dog | Millennium Square | Ignition DG Ltd | £21,000 |
| Bark at Ee | Queen Square | £20,000 | |
| Being Gromit Malkovich | SS Great Britain | £21,000 | |
| Blazing Saddles | DoubleTree by Hilton, Bristol City Centre | Carys Ink | £21,000 |
| Blossom | The Downs | £24,000 | |
| Bristol Bulldog | Bristol Airport | £26,000 | |
| Bumble Boogie | Colston Hall | £20,000 | |
| Bunty | St Mary Redcliffe | £31,000 | |
| Bushed | Royal West of England Academy | £24,000 | |
| Butterfly | Bristol Old Vic | £20,000 | |
| Canis Major | Hotel du Vin, Bristol | £26,000 | |
| Carosello | Spyglass, Welsh Back | £16,000 | |
| Collarfull | Castle Park | £22,000 | |
| Creature Comforts | Riverside Garden Centre, Clift House Road | Sneaky Raccoon | £19,000 |
| Dog Rose | Whiteladies Road | £20,000 | |
| Doodles | Cabot Circus | £34,000 | |
| Eldoradog | Westonbirt Arboretum, Gloucestershire | £28,000 | |
| Feathers | Gloucester Road | £25,000 | |
| Fiesta | Avon Gorge Hotel, Clifton | £28,000 | |
| Fish Tales | Blue Reef Aquarium | £20,000 | |
| Five a Day Dog | Henleaze Road, Henleaze | £22,000 | |
| Gizmo | Art of Gromit Unleashed Shop, Upper Maudlin Street | £32,000 | |
| Gnashional Gromit | Bristol Marriott City Centre hotel | £28,000 | |
| Golden Gromit | Victoria Rooms | £30,000 | |
| Grant's Gromit | Ashton Court | £36,000 | |
| The Green Gromit | The Mall at Cribbs Causeway | £26,000 | |
| Grom Voyage! | The Greatest Dog Show on Earth, Bristol | £20,000 | |
| Gromberry | The Pump House, Hotwells | £32,000 | |
| Gromit | London Paddington station | Aardman Animations | £35,000 |
| Gromit Lightyear | Showcase Cinema de Lux, Cabot Circus | Pixar | £65,000 |
| Gromit-o-Matic | Brunel Mile, Bristol | £26,000 | |
| Gromitasaurus | The Galleries | £24,000 | |
| The Grommalo | Bristol Central Library | £26,000 | |
| Groscar | Thunderbolt Square, Bristol | £28,000 | |
| Grosmos | Harvey Nichols, Cabot Circus | Cheba | £28,000 |
| Grrrrromit | Windmill Hill City Farm | Carys Ink | £26,000 |
| Harmony | The Beaufort Arms, Hawkesbury Upton | £23,000 | |
| Hero | Subway, Bristol city centre | £26,000 | |
| Hound Dog | Arnolfini | £28,000 | |
| Hullaballoon | Arnos Vale Cemetery | Monster Riot | £26,000 |
| Isambark Kingdog Brunel | Bristol Temple Meads railway station | £36,000 | |
| It's Kraken, Gromit! | The Downs, Bristol | Filthy Luker | £18,000 |
| Jack | Hargreaves Lansdown, Anchor Road | £36,000 | |
| The King | King Street | £25,000 | |
| Lancelot | Quakers Friars | £22,000 | |
| Lodekka | Lawrence Hill Roundabout | Ignition DG Ltd | £28,000 |
| Malago | Broadmead | £24,000 | |
| May Contain Nuts | Inside Bristol Temple Meads railway station | £30,000 | |
| National Treasure | M Shed | Royal Mint | £28,000 |
| NewFoundLand | The Matthew, Bristol Harbour | One Red Shoe | £30,000 |
| Newshound | Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery | £50,000 | |
| Nezahualcoyotl | Stanfords, Corn Street | £20,000 | |
| Oops a Daisy | Tyntesfield, Wraxall | £22,000 | |
| Paisley | North Street, Bedminster | £21,000 | |
| Patch | Clifton Hill | £36,000 | |
| Poetry in Motion | College Green | £35,000 | |
| Poochadelic | County Cricket Ground, Bristol | £25,000 | |
| Roger | Top to Bottom Ltd, Staple Hill | £29,000 | |
| Salty Sea Dog | The Cascade Steps, Bristol city centre | £32,000 | |
| The Secret Garden | Lye Cross Farm, Redhill, Somerset | £44,000 | |
| Sheepdog | The Mall Gardens, Clifton | £23,000 | |
| Ship Shape & Bristol Fashion | Sion Hill | £26,000 | |
| Sir Gromit of Bristol | St George's Bristol | £28,000 | |
| Snow Gromit | Junction 3 Library, Baptist Mills | £32,000 | |
| Stat's the Way to Do It, Lad | Aardman Animations | £29,000 | |
| Steam Dog | We The Curious | £26,000 | |
| Sugar Plum | Redgrave Theatre | £22,000 | |
| TutanGromit I | Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery | £24,000 | |
| Two Eds are Better than One | Woodlands Lane, Bradley Stoke | £23,000 | |
| Vincent van Gromit | Elton Road | £25,000 | |
| Watch Out Gromit! | M Shed | £50,000 | |
| What a Wind Up | Redcliffe Street | £25,000 | |
| Where's Wallace | Marriott Royal hotel, Bristol | £30,000 | |
| Why Dog? Why? | St Nicholas Market | £18,000 | |
| The Wild West | Cribbs Causeway Retail Park | £22,000 | |
| Zodiac | Arnolfini | Inkie | £24,000 |