Wallace and Gromit are national heroes in the U.K. The cheery, if absent-minded inventor/baker/pest control expert and his faithful Dostoyevsky-reading canine companion have starred in some of the most fun and inventive adventures in stop-motion ever committed to film. And now, British fans of the Plasticine pair will get the chance to wander around a life-size version of their 62 West Wallaby Street home, at the London Science Museum’s latest exhibition, Wallace & Gromit present A World of Cracking Ideas.

Drawing its inspiration from Wallace’s amusing inventions, the exhibit is designed to introduce kids (and kid-like adults) to the creative process around inventions and ideas. It’s the result of a partnership between Aardman Animation, the studios behind Wallace and Gromit, and Britain’s Intellectual Property Office, so in addition such Wallace-inspired inventions as the karaoke shower, it also includes somewhat heady information on intellectual property rights. The exhibit opens on March 28 and runs through November 1 (the link contains one of the most time-consuming games to cross my desktop since TextTwist).

In the spirit of inspiration, we decided to compile a list of a few facts about Britain’s favorite stop-motion adventurers. Here a few things you might not know about Wallace and Gromit:

1. Wallace and Gromit Save Dairy

Wallace’s influence over Britain is significant – at least when it comes to cheese. As a tastemaker, his preferences have been credited with saving several kinds of cheese of extinction. The makers of Wallace’s particular favorite, Wensleydale cheese, were struggling throughout the 1990s, but when Wallace and Gromit’s popularity skyrocketed, so did sales of the cheese. Wensleydale now offers a cheese in a Wallace and Gromit packaging, further cementing the relationship between the characters and the cheese. The Daily Mail reports that when Curse of the Were-Rabbit featured Stinking Bishop cheese, sales of the famously smelly cheese rose 500 percent.

2. The Truth about Cats and Dogs

Nick Park has said that neither character was exactly based on anyone he knew, although the ever-cheerful Wallace had often been compared to his father and the much put-upon Gromit compared to Park himself. Park has also said that Wallace and Gromit’s adventures are a bit of a pastiche, inspired by other films and genres, including Hitchcock and Laurel and Hardy films, as well as a real-life Lancashire, Britain 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s aesthetic. And one more thing: Gromit was originally going to be a cat.

3. Honing his skills with a Sledgehammer

One thing few people know is that when Park was a newcomer to Aardman Animation, he worked on Peter Gabriel’s memorable “Sledgehammer” video.

4. They’re Animated like Kong

All of the Wallace and Gromit movies use the same technique that brought King Kong to life in the 1933 film – stop-motion models made of Plasticine. Animators at Aardman Animations, however, use a special blend of the modeling clay nicknamed “Aard-mix” that’s slightly more resilient. Liquid and fur are the hardest to animate, say animators at Aardman.

5. The Queen Likes It!

The Queen and Prince Charles are fans of Wallace and Gromit, awarding creator Nick Park a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in 1997 for his contributions to the film industry. At a dinner celebrating the nomination, the Queen reportedly asked to be sat next to Park. And although Park is very honored by the CBE, he may be more proud of his gold Blue Peter badge, an award given out by the long-running British children’s show and an honor he actually shares with Queen Elizabeth II and JK Rowling.

6. Tail Wagging Takes a Very Long Time

Each character moves 12 times a second to achieve that life-like animation. Animator Merlin Crossingham, talking to the Daily Mail, explained, “If Gromit is wagging his tail enthusiastically for 30 seconds, that’s 360 movements. That’s why it can take us days to do a four-second shot.”

7.Oscar and Gromit

Wallace and Gromit were born in the ‘80s, conceived to star in Nick Park’s animated short, A Grand Day Out. Park started the film while in school at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, though it took nearly seven years to complete. When it was finally released in 1989, it won a Bafta (a British Oscar). In 1990, the film was also nominated for an Oscar, although the award would go to another of Park’s films, Creature Comforts. Wallace and Gromit’s next two adventures, The Wrong Trousers in 1993 and A Close Shave in 1995, both won Oscars.

8. Trouble at DreamWorks

Working with Plasticine models takes an incredibly long time to film – A Matter of Loaf and Death, a half-hour special featuring Wallace and Gromit in a bakery-based murder mystery that aired this past Christmas Day, took 18 months to complete. The special was also Nick Park’s first production since his five-film deal with DreamWorks broke down last year after only three films. Park said later that “culture clash” contributed to the collapse of the relationship: DreamWorks couldn’t help but try to Americanize the very British Wallace and Gromit, tarnishing some of the duo’s nostalgic charm.