Nick Park’s third installment of his clay animation series starring Wallace, the cheese-loving and distracted inventor, and his canine companion, Gromit, will make its debut on video with strong support from licensees.

A Close Shave, winner of the 1995 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, follows the Academy Award-winning The Wrong Trousers and the Oscar-nominated A Grand Day Out.

Currently, A Close Shave is on a national theatrical tour throughout the U.S., providing additional consumer awareness for the series.

Bantam Doubleday Books and Fox Kids Network have joined CBS/Fox and BBC Video for a consumer tie-in with the release. Bantam Doubleday currently carries three books about Wallace and Gromit, including two adaptations from Park’s shorts and a postcard book with images from all three films.

Bantam Doubleday will highlight the video selections on the back of its book jackets while CBS/Fox will include an insert card featuring the books in the new video releases. A Wallace and Gromit postcard has been created for retailers to distribute to their mailing lists. Additional products available include T-shirts, hats, calendars, coffee mugs and other gift items.

Fox Kids will participate in the promotion, airing 30-second TV spots over a two-week period, beginning October 15. Consumers can win videos and books. A four-color, full-page ad will also run in the Fox Kids Club magazine, Totally Kids.

When A Close Shave was shown on British television, it earned a 41 percent share of the total viewing audience.