Feathers McGraw is the silent, yet sinister, penguin that first appeared in the 1993 Wallace and Gromit short film The Wrong Trousers as the sole antagonist. He also makes an appearance in the 2003 video game, Wallace and Gromit in Project Zoo, also the sole antagonist. He is a notorious criminal mastermind and bird of many faces - long thought to be a chicken, McGraw was actually exposed as a penguin, when his plan to rob a museum of a precious blue diamond was foiled by Wallace and Gromit. He disguises himself as a chicken by wearing a red rubber glove on his head. This is apparently enough to fool Wallace, and possibly Gromit, as well as the local law enforcement (at one point in the film, Gromit spots a wanted poster for Feathers McGraw entitled, "Have You Seen This Chicken?").
The Wrong Trousers
Feathers McGraw was a lodger renting a room with Wallace when he had financial issues. Instead of taking the room on offer, McGraw moved into Gromit's room, forcing him to live in a doghouse. He then proceeds to irritate Gromit further by playing music loud late at night, hogging the bathroom, and monopolizing Wallace's time. Thinking Wallace has forgotten him, Gromit sadly leaves the house. Seeing Gromit gone, McGraw removed the controls on the techno trousers to control them, and arranged for Wallace to slide into them when he slid down to breakfast the next morning. McGraw then takes Wallace on a remote controlled 'walk' to test his new control of the trousers. While searching for a place to live, Gromit saw Wallace trapped in the techno trousers, and followed. He observed McGraw with the controls controlling him, and also saw a wanted poster resembling McGraw. Following him to the museum, Gromit watched him take measurements. He returned to the house to his old room and found blueprints to the museum's blue diamond exhibit. Feathers, disguising himself with a red rubber glove, outfitted the now sleeping Wallace a helmet with a claw and walked him to the museum, sending him through the air vent, inside to the diamond room, walking on the ceiling. There, using the electric claw to snatch the jewel, he tried to walk Wallace back out. Unfortunately a loose roof tile caused Wallace to sway off balance and set off the alarms. Mcgraw walked Wallace home, pulled out a revolver and forced him inside the wardrobe with Gromit. Gromit removed the wardrobe's floor pannel and rewired the trousers, allowing them to break free. The two tried to catch Feathers as he tried to evade them with their electric train set. After a long battle with the penguin and his gun, Wallace and Gromit managed to trap him in a milk bottle. They then returned the diamond, and turned McGraw over to the police. Feathers McGraw was sent and imprisoned in the zoo.
Wallace and Gromit in Project Zoo (Video Game - 2003)
Feathers also appears in the video game Wallace and Gromit in Project Zoo as the chief villain in which the imprisioned penguin attempts to take over the zoo in order to create a diamond mine. Feathers captures baby animals in order to force their parents to do his bidding. He uses remote controls to control many of his inventions - including his boiler, helicopter, toy penguins, and mining machine. In the final level, Feathers uses an invention called the exoskeleton which fire missiles and wields buzzsaws. In the game's conclusion, Feathers is defeated yet he still tries to make one last escape; however when he exits from his hideout to leave the zoo, the other zoo animals catch him and take him back to his cell.
Trivia
- Similarly to Gromit, McGraw doesn't express himself with spoken words. However, where Gromit's facial expressions and body language speak volumes, McGraw's face is always blank and impassive, giving no hint of what he is thinking or plotting.
Also see other Aardman villains.
- Were-Rabbit
- Cooker