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Aardman Animations' Wrong Trousers adapted to save leaky roof

Aardman Gromit in The Wrong TrousersAardman
The clip takes a scene from the film The Wrong Trousers and makes it into an appeal for help to replace the cinema's leaky roof

An adapted scene from Aardman Animations' film The Wrong Trousers is to be shown in a bid to save a cinema from closure.

A leaking roof has left The Curzon community cinema in Clevedon, North Somerset, seriously damaged.

Aardman founders David Sproxton and Peter Lord backed the making of a new version of a rainy scene from the Wallace and Gromit film.

The cinema hopes to raise £100,000 from the community by the end of 2019.

The film clip has a new voiceover recalling when Wallace and Gromit used to go to the Curzon cinema together before the leak began in the roof.

Curzon Cinema Water damage to the roof of the Curzon cinemaCurzon Cinema
The appeal will raise money for the restoration of the roof, stop water getting into other parts of the building

Gromit is seen in a rain cape and hat but as there is only one set of waterproofs and it's raining hard, he must go to the cinema alone.

Karen Edgington, fundraising campaign manager, said: "When Nick Park first saw it, he said "how funny!" and many of the Aardman team have said they've "chuckled" and "loved" seeing Gromit in a completely different context.

£500,000 needed

The scene will be shown in a trailer on the big screen before every film and be sent out online.

The charity which runs the cinema said rain water has been getting into the building, largely behind the scenes, for some time, causing damage.

The ornate tin panelling which runs throughout the building is rusting and deteriorating and a collection of some 500 rare cinematic artefacts is at risk.

In December water started to come into the main auditorium. So far the appeal for repairs has raised £26,500.

The full roof restoration will cost in excess of £500,000 and a bid has been submitted to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for £240,000. The team will find out if the bid has been successful in early September.

The cinema charity has accumulated £60,000 in reserves which have been allocated to the project and grant applications are in progress to charitable trusts.