NEWSrelease

News from the National Captioning Institute, Inc.

October 3, 2005

"Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" – Opening October 7 at Theaters Across the U.S. With Description at Participating Theaters Provided by NCI Described Media

Washington, DC – On October 7, 2005, “Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit” from DreamWorks Animation SKG opens in movie theaters throughout the United States. Many of these theaters will offer the option of audio description so people who are blind or have low vision will not miss any of the action. This is the first film described by the National Captioning Institute’s Described Media division for first-run release in movie theaters.

Although best known for providing closed captioning for television programming and home entertainment releases for more than 25 years, the National Captioning Institute (NCI) began providing audio description for television programs in 2002 as part of the nonprofit company’s commitment to making video programming accessible to all people. “We are very glad to have the opportunity to partner with DreamWorks Animation to extend NCI’s commitment to access to first-run theatrical releases,” stated Jack Gates, President and CEO, NCI Operations. “Through audio description, people who are blind or have low vision are able to go to movie theaters and fully enjoy films such as ‘Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit’.”

The cheese-loving Wallace and his ever faithful dog Gromit—the much-loved duo from Aardman's Oscar-winning clay-animated "Wallace and Gromit" shorts—star in this all new comedy adventure, marking their first full-length feature film. It's “vege-mania” in Wallace and Gromit's neighborhood, and these two enterprising chums are cashing in with their humane pest-control outfit "Anti-Pesto." With only days to go before the annual Giant Vegetable Competition, business is booming, but Wallace and Gromit are finding out that running a "humane" pest control outfit has its drawbacks as their West Wallaby Street home fills to the brim with captive rabbits. Suddenly, a huge, mysterious, vegetable-ravaging "beast" begins attacking the town's sacred vegetable plots at night and the competition hostess, Lady Tottington, commissions Anti-Pesto to catch it and save the day. More information is available at www.wandg.com.

Audio description provides access to film, television and prerecorded video programming for people who are blind or have low vision, an estimated audience of over 12 million Americans. This detailed process provides concise and vivid descriptions of a program’s visual elements enabling users of the service to "see" colors, costumes, settings, facial expressions, gestures and actions.

Description writers carefully select words that bring lasting images to life that not only enable those who are visually impaired to enjoy film, television or recorded programming, but also enhance the experience for all viewers. Selected descriptions are added during pauses in the dialogue within the program without disrupting the original soundtrack.

In movie theaters offering audio description, the descriptions are heard via a wireless headset provided by each the theater. For television, descriptions can be heard through the Secondary Audio Programming (SAP) or Multi-channel Television Sound (MTS) feature on the television or remote.

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National Captioning Institute
With offices in the Washington, DC metropolitan area (Vienna, VA); Burbank, CA; Dallas, TX; and London, England, the nonprofit National Captioning Institute is the global captioning leader, supplying the highest quality closed captioning, description, and related services for broadcast and cable television, home video and DVD, and government and corporate video programming.

DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation SKG (NYSE-DWA) is devoted to producing high-quality family entertainment through the use of computer-generated (CG) animation. Utilizing world-class creative talent and state-of-the-art technological capabilities, the company is committed to making two computer-animated feature films a year that appeal to a broad movie-going audience.

For More Information:

Contact: Jay Feinberg

703-917-7600 (V/TTY)

703-917-9853 (FAX)

jfeinberg@ncicap.org

 

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