Around the time that the Wallace and Gromit films started coming out, a cheese by the name of Wensleydale had been experiencing a worrying decrease in sales. The makers of the cheese thought they might have to cease production—but then Wallace proclaimed his love for Wensleydale and turned it all around.

Wensleydale doesn’t take a central role in the films—it’s mentioned in passing. In their shortA Close Shave, for example, Wallace invites a woman he has a crush on in for some cheese and crackers. When she admits she’s allergic to cheese and says she’ll pass, Wallace is taken aback. “Not even Wensleydale?” he asks. Needless to say, that was the end of that relationship.

The decision to mention Wensleydale as Wallace’s favorite cheese was fairly arbitrary. The makers of the films simply chose to use it because of the sound of the name, which would be interesting to animate coming from Wallace’s mouth. But the image of Wallace and his beloved Wensleydale ended up making quite the mark on viewers.


Wensleydale was originally named after the region in England in which it was made. The cheese has a distinct flavor due to the limestone-based pastures that the cows in this region graze on. In the ’90s,Wensleydale Creamery had to leave Wensleydale, which changed the character of the cheese and further hurt the already struggling brand (Wensleydale had been trying to get back on the map since milk rationing during WWII stunted the British cheese industry). Wallace and Gromit unintentionally revived the cheese’s reputation just in time. After the release of their 2005 feature film,Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Wensleydale sales had increased by 23%.