After three short, but successful, films over the last 16 years, clay-animation duo ‘Wallace and Gromit’ finally make their feature length debut this Friday in “The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.”

Expectations for the film are high after the pair’s last two films 1993’s “The Wrong Trousers” (featuring a diabolical penguin) and 1995’s “A Close Shave” (featuring a diabolical dog) both garnered Oscars for the shows creator Nick Park.

“Were-Rabbit” follows the adventures of Wallace (voiced by Peter Sallis), the affable but sometimes absent-minded inventor and his best friend Gromit, the silent canine forced to go along with his crazy ideas and clean up the messes that ensue.

“Were-Rabbit” is set in the small English town where Wallace and Gromit reside, which is only days away from celebrating its annual harvest festival and the accompanying “giant vegetable growing competition.” The townspeople have been hard at work growing vegetables for their beloved festival and have entrusted their produce to Anit-Pesto, the humane pest-control service run by Wallace and Gromit. The town has become overrun by rabbits, keeping the pair hard at work.

When a giant, vicious vegetable-killing rabbit begins appearing at night, ravaging whole neighborhoods, the festival’s patron, Lady Campanula Tottington (voiced by Helena Bohnam Carter), enlists the services of Anti-Pesto. Wallace and Lady Tottington quickly become smitten with each other, much to the chagrin of her suitor, the pompous but poor aristocrat Victor Quartermaine (voiced by Ralph Fiennes) who has hopes of marrying Tottington for her money.

The rabbit continues to torment the town, causing the local priest (voiced by Nicholas Smith) to proclaim that it must be the legendary “Were-Rabbit.”

When Anti-Pesto is unable to catch the “Were-Rabbit,” the townspeople are convinced the only solution is to let Quartermaine shoot it. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Quartermaine has a more nefarious desire to kill the beast.

The comparison of the “Were-Rabbit” to other legendary monsters allows the movie’s writers to include allusions to many of the great horror films, some of which may go over the heads of the films substantial young audience. The same applies for the many running puns and sexual innuendo that many creators of childrens films slip in in an attempt to keep parents entertained. Much of the humor also lies in the characters stereotypical English behavior and voices.

“Were-Rabbit” may seem like a kid’s film, but Wallace and Gromit have long entertained kids and adults alike. Kids will love all of Wallace’s wacky inventions, which he uses for everything from catching rabbits to getting dressed, and the hilarious facial expressions of Gromit as he patiently goes along with Wallace.

The real appeal of ‘Wallace and Gromit’ is the chemistry between the pair. They really are very close, as evidenced by the walls covered in portraits of the sweater-vested Wallace and his pal Gromit, and it is obvious throughout their films. The two often react to each other much like an old married couple.

In an industry nearly devoid of true animation and awash in computer generated graphics, ‘Wallace and Gromit’s’ world of clay-animation is a welcome site. The characters and their world are beautifully designed, thanks to the pairing of Aardman Animations (the British animation house responsible for producing ‘Wallace and Gromit’) and Dreamworks. The same pairing was also responsible for 2000’s “Chicken Run.”

A promised animated short featuring the penguins from “Madagascar” that was to be shown in conjunction with “Were-Rabbit” was, disappointedly, not screened.