I'm right at the beginning of the dreaded lava. Couple of jumps; little drawbridge thing; robotic penguin - I'm I supposed to do that seemingly impossible jump to the platform on the top of the barrel with the round tap? Please help...

If this is the one I am thinking of, you have squished the first penguin and headed over to your left? There is a platform which you need to jump up to so that you can cross over to the other side after you have headed up the rocky steps and jumped the little gap. It can be done but it takes forever to get it just right. I found myself clinging to something that wasn't there in a glitch, that was annoying. Don't forget to shoot all the targets as well as they cause the boiler to blow. Make sure you look down all the ledges because I missed one here and ended up spending days looking for a tool I was missing. It needed some fancy shooting with the porridge gun.

Fantastic... thanks for your help... And now I'm onto the polar bears.. :-)

Good stuff! This is where I am up to, after being away for a few days. Can you keep track of what you do please because I seem to have hit another impasse here. I've freed the cub on the nearby shelf but can't think how to get the one down from the crane!

If you go over to the steps on the wall near the pedillo and turn around to look at the crane, you'll see a target to hit with the turnip gun. Hit it and you'll see it's a kind of ratchet - needs two or three more hits (from the tops of the ladder-towers is easiest) and hey presto! polar bear cub... Is there a third cub on the level? Wallace if refusing to budge for me even though I've rescued both... :-(

Thanks for that, got it now. There is a third cub, you have to go through the tunnel next to the crashed vehicle (opposite the boat.) There is a bit of an obstacle course there and a few levels to climb up. Make sure you take your porridge gun with you!

OH man, thank god I found this board for help in this game. The Jungle House and Beaver levels weren't too bad, but man I HATE this lava level. First was stuck EXACTLY where this thread started out asking. Now I am stuck getting Wallace across that damn lava river. Seems nothing I do will make him come over. Does he jump on the partitions that you release by shooting the targets out in the river??? I took the door across also but that didn't seem to lead anywhere, just to a fence which I can't get through. Hopefully people still read this board. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Yup, a pain in the butt, this bit. I spent ages working out the exact timing for this crossing - shooting the targets in the right order and getting the jump just right. When I got round there I found a door that I couldn't open because I was a tool missing. I ended up going back down the lift and hunting for another tool, which I found behind the place where you first cross over when you enter this new area.
When I was able to open the door down the corridor back near the lava flow, I was attacked by the spiky ball but found it more fun to listen to Wallace yell at it as it kept spiking him. There wasn't a great deal here, even if you go along the conveyor and behind. My total problem was being a tool short. What is your exact problem?

That jump - with the targets and things - if you shoot them all twice in rapid succession, it gives you a few more options when it comes to getting across...

More places to jump...

Thanks guys. I haven't played it all weekend but I will try it some more. I can get across that first lava river just fine, but I believe I need to get Wallace across also. I have enough tools, I just can't get Wallace across the river. I'll keep at it this week though. This level is frustrating that I need to put the game away for a few days and relax. LOL

To get Wallace across you need enough currency or tools (can't remember which) for Wallace to fix the machinery that is next to the door that is to the left before you cross the lava flow. He can then go around that way. Gromit can press a button from the other side of the door which you can get to when you have crossed the lava and doubled back on yourself.

Nice, thanks for the help guys. This game makes me feel so stupid sometimes, like in this case: I took a few days off from playing it since being stuck getting Wallace accross the lava river. I had gotten across myself, went through the door across and through that back hallway to the room with the chain link fence. WELL AS YOU ALL PROLLY KNOW THERE IS A SPOT WHERE THE FENCE IS PULLED AWAY ALL THE WAY TO THE RIGHT.... I NEVER EVEN NOTICED THAT!!! Felt so dumb when I saw that. You really do need to explore every nook and cranny of the areas of this game or else you easily miss stuff like that. So I'm a dummy, but want to thank you guys for prompt responses since it got me back into the game to try things. Onto the 3rd gorilla!!!