Flushed Away (2006)

Directors:

David Bowers
Sam Fell

Writers:

Sam Fell (story) and
Peter Lord (story) ...

Release Date:

3 November 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family

Tagline:

Someone's Going Down

Plot:

The story of an uptown rat that gets flushed down the toilet from his penthouse apartment, ending in the sewers of London, where he has to learn a whole new and different way of life.

Plot Keywords:

Sewer | Toad | Rat | Boat | Mouse

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 6 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Hugh Jackman	...	Roddy (voice)
Kate Winslet	...	Rita (voice)
Ian McKellen	...	The Toad (voice)
Jean Reno	...	Le Frog (voice)
Bill Nighy	...	Whitey (voice)
Andy Serkis	...	Spike (voice)
Shane Richie	...	Sid (voice)
Kathy Burke	...	Rita's Mum (voice)
David Suchet	...	Rita's Dad (voice)
Miriam Margolyes	...	Rita's Grandma (voice)
Rachel Rawlinson	...	Tabitha (voice)
Susan Duerden	...	Mother (voice)
Miles Richardson	...	Father (voice)
John Motson	...	Football Commentator (voice)
Douglas Weston	...	Newspaper Seller (voice)

Also Known As:

Ratropolis (USA) (working title)
Lo que el agua se llevó (Argentina) (Peru) (Venezuela) [es]
Souris City (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Aruncat la canal (Romania) [ro]
Bortspolad (Sweden) [sv]
Ciutat ratolí (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Fare sehri (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Flutsch und weg (Germany) [de]
Giù per il tubo (Italy) [it]
Muis van huis (Netherlands) (DVD title) [nl]
Pontikoupoli (Greece) [el]
Por Água Abaixo (Brazil) [pt]
Ratónpolis (Spain) [es]
Virran viemää (Finland) [fi]

MPAA:

Rated PG for crude humor and some language.

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Netherlands:MG6 | Singapore:G | Ireland:G | USA:PG (certificate #42964) | Switzerland:0 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:0 (canton of Vaud) | Hong Kong:I | Malaysia:U | Finland:K-7 | Australia:G | Germany:o.Al. | Brazil:Livre | Sweden:7 | Argentina:Atp | Peru:PT | UK:U (cut version) | Portugal:M/6 (original version) | South Korea:All | Portugal:M/4 (dubbed version) | New Zealand:PG

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

DreamWorks Animation

Trivia:

When Roddy is selecting a movie for the movie premiere, the following DVDs are on the shelf, from left to right (Note that those with real titles are all from Dreamworks): - Chicken Run (2000) - A Clockwork Potato - Die Again Tomorrow - 12 Angry Folks - A Few Good Puns - The Curse of the Daddy - Brief Incontinence - The Maltese Budgie - You Only Live 9 Times - Once Upon a Yime in a Vest - Death in Venice II / Zombie - The Mancunian Candidate - All the Presidents Own Teeth - Ratman Ratman Returns Ratman Returns (Again) - Puckered Lips Now - Piddler on the Roof - Goon with the Wind - In the Heat of the Fridge - My Big Fat Greek Bottom - A Fistful of Dullards - The Julianos of Boca - Courtney and Brendon - The Weisberg Chronicles - Nicky and Dylan - The Chaos of Charis - Madeline's Mayhem - Macy & Owen's Day out - Z is for Zaneta? - Kira - Forces of Nature (1999) - Galaxy Quest (1999) - Just Like Heaven (2005) - The Love Letter (1999) - Mousehunt (1997) - Old School (2003) - Paulie (1998) - The Peacemaker (1997) - Red Eye (2005) - Shrek (2001) - Shrek 2 (2004) - Over the Hedge (2006) - Shark Tale (2004) - The Last Castle (2001) - Antz (1998) - Madagascar (2005) - Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) - The Prince of Egypt (1998) - The Road to El Dorado (2000) - Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003) - Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)

Goofs:

Continuity: Rita's belt. In the end sequence after Le Frog removes the master cable from Rita there is no opportunity for her to obtain a new belt, yet after the wave is frozen she is shown standing with Roddy suddenly wearing a black shoelace as a belt.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Mother: Car's here.
Father: It's nine o' clock already, we're going to miss our flight.

Movie Connections:

References A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Soundtrack:

Sailing

Hugely funny, technically brilliant

I saw Flushed Away at a press screening in Berlin where it was shown in English to an overwhelmingly German audience. Leaving aside the clichés (Germans DO have a sense of humour - it's just different, okay?!), coming as yet another in a long line of CGI films and with (let's be honest here) a less than gripping concept, Flushed Away had only a certain amount of goodwill from this professional crowd. So when an audience like this, yours truly included, laughs aloud and often then there's something special up on the screen!

The humour is overwhelmingly English and there is none of the morality messaging that makes family films from certain other studios such a cringe-inducing experience. The characters are very well drawn (literally as well as figuratively) and the voice casting is universally excellent. The standard of animation is fantastic but you never once get the sense that anyone is showing off what they can do. This is a story- and character-driven film, with the technology there to serve. Anyone writing it off because it is not claymation is doing themselves a great disservice.

Lovers of Wallace & Gromit and Aardman's work in general will have a ball spotting the oh so many references. The level of detail is amazing and it's going to take many viewings and many hours with the DVD on pause to spot them all. There are the bunnies from Curse of the Wererabbit, for example. I spotted the Lion King on the little girl's windowsill, and so on. And on.

When a film credits several writers, plus comedy consultants, it's usually a sign that the script has gone horribly and tragically wrong. Maybe it did, to begin with, and the start is just a tad slow, but it soon picks up speed and the jokes, verbal and visual, just keep coming.

Like the best family films, Flushed Away appeals to audiences of all ages, but the very young might find it a bit long. Not that it lags at any time, merely that the wee tots might get fidgety, you understand.

The cast do a great job and I'm not going to single out anyone for special mention. The performances are spot on and everyone is obviously having a tongue in cheek good time. For professional reasons, I get to watch some 300 or more films a year. Flushed Away belongs to the very, very few that I wanted to see again right after it had finished. And before you ask, no, I am not being paid, induced or threatened at gunpoint to write this. I had a cracking good time, as did my girlfriend (Julia, German, with sense of humour) and you will too.