Wallace and Gromit appear on the Google homepage to mark 20 years since the cartoon pair's first public appearance - at an animation festival in BristolPhotograph: Public DomainTV viewers got their first look at the plasticine duo just over a year later on Christmas Eve 1990, fact fans – when the BBC first broadcast A Grand Day Out. They went to the moon. In search of cheese, obviouslyPhotograph: Aardman/Channel 4A classic pose from 1993’s The Wrong Trousers. Wallace: cheerful, well-meaning, massively over confident. Gromit: sceptical, sharply intelligent, tragically lacking in vocabularyPhotograph: Aardman/BBCWallace and Gromit had a close shave with 1995's… A Close Shave. Sidecars are always funny. As are dogs wearing gogglesPhotograph: Aardman/BBC'Do you know your hand's on my ball?' 'You hum it and I'll…' Wallace and wool shop owner Wendolene Ramsbottom in a tender moment from A Close ShavePhotograph: Aardman/BBCI know it, you know it, and Gromit knows it. Alas, Wallace has no idea that when he presses the button on his remote control, disaster is going to ensue. Probably. Cracking Contraptions againPhotograph: Aardman/BBCTalk about a Cracking Contraption! Gromit gets in some goalkeeping practice while Wallace puts his feet upPhotograph: Aardman/BBCThe high-speed car chases are one of the joys of Wallace and Gromit. This one is from their big-screen adventure, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Just how do they do that? With difficulty. 'Anti-pesto!' FabulousPhotograph: DreamWorksGromit measures a marrow even bigger than him in the Curse of the Were-RabbitPhotograph: DreamWorksAw, look at the cute liccle bunny wunny! Except Wallace and Gromit's humane pest control outfit ends up with rather more rabbits than they can handle. This one ended up in a pie with his ears stretched into a pair of furry slippers. No, of course that didn't happenPhotograph: DreamWorksThe enthusiasm for animal contestants on Britain’s Got Talent just went a little bit too far. Alternatively, a scene from the Children's BBC series Shaun the Sheep. Shaun. Shorn. See?Photograph: Aardman/BBCMore Shaun the Sheep. They have such expressive eyes don’t they? BrilliantPhotograph: Aardman/BBCThis is what they performed in the Britain's Got Talent final, but fell foul of the authorities for uprooting that footpath sign. Being sheep, you thought they would have read the countryside codePhotograph: Aardman/BBCOh my God, a giant has pulled Wallace's head off! Well, if you want to make an award-winning animation, you have got to break a few handcrafted figurines. This is from the brand new instalment, a Matter of Loaf and Death, and the giant is Aardman head of animation Loyd Price. Her on the right is Piella Bakewell. What fun they must have coming up with the namesPhotograph: Graeme Robertson/GuardianHis head reinstated, thank goodness, Wallace has a giant brush – or something similar – stuck in his ear. Never let it be said these actors don't earn their cornPhotograph: Graeme Robertson/GuardianThe set of the new Wallace and Gromit film. Like Harry Hill, it's smaller than you think it isPhotograph: Graeme Robertson/GuardianThe name of Wallace and Gromit’s traditional baker – Top Bun! Of course it is. I don't know about you, but A Matter of Loaf and Death is going to be required viewing in my house. Even if, at the exact moment it starts, I have just opened a present that turns out to be a home cinema projectorPhotograph: Aardman/BBCDogs love putting their heads out of car windows, and Gromit is no exception in this scene from A Matter of Loaf and DeathPhotograph: Aardman/BBCWhat do you mean 'Is it vegan?' Wallace entertains Piella Bakewell to a bite of his favourite snack in A Matter of Loaf and DeathPhotograph: Aardman/BBC