The movie Flushed Away is a visual treat for animation fans. The movie which was released on November 3 in the US market is a product of the British animation company Aardman and Dreamworks. Aardman was responsible for the hugely successful ‘Wallace and Gromit‘ series while Dreamworks’ list of creations is well known among movie fans.
The collaboration between these two giants has produced an engaging flick which includes plenty of dry British wit and well rounded characters.
The plot centers around a rat’s home coming journey after he gets flushed down a toilet. Roddy St James (voice provided by Hugh Jackman) is an upper class rat and a pet in a well to do London family. When everyone at home goes on holiday leaving Roddy alone in the house, Sid (Shane Ritchie), a belching sewer rat makes its way up through the drains into the house in order to watch the World Cup finals. When Sid attempts to get a free run of the house Roddy tries to send him back to the Underground, but gets himself flushed down by the street smart Sid into a subterranean city of rats. Roddy’s primary concern now becomes - how does he get back into his gilded cage above, to safety and his ‘upper class’ albeit lonely existence? As he walks around the city dazed by the activity of all the rats, frogs and slugs around him, he makes aquaintance with Rita (Kate Winslet) a spirited young rat who ownes a boat. He strikes a deal with her that if she is able to deliver him back to his home, he would pay back with jewels to help maintain her large family of siblings. (Here the scene where he meets with her family is hugely entertaining) Before each is able to keep his/ her side of the deal, the pair encounters the scheming James Bond- villian- style Boss Toad (Ian McKellan) and his gang who are out to put hurdles in their way. As it turns out, Boss Toad has the master plan of submerging the underground city under the flood of flushed waters during the World Cup. How Roddy and Rita manage to save the city while finding love during their ride to Roddy’s home becomes the main plot of the story.
Both the main characters Roddy and Rita are convincing, Roddy being the staid rat and Rita the fiesty one who adds spice to their alliance. Boss Toad’s hencemen provide the necessary video-game style chases and hilarious goof ups that frustrate their boss’s plans.
The movie is likely to appeal to children and adults alike.
