Flushed Away: Rats, Toilets, Brilliance, Not Kidding

(From my review at WotBN.net)

I honestly never thought I’d say this about a movie that revolves around rats and sewers, but Flushed Away was denied an Oscar nomination. Possibly this is because no one actually saw the film, due to its incredibly poor marketing. If you remember, this film was a collaborative effort between Aardman Features, the people behind the British claymation favorites Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run, and DreamWorks (Shrek and some other movies not worth mentioning). The results are that the digital rats are made to look like clay rats, which gives the animators more freedom but retains the warmth of the original claymation style for which Aardman is so beloved.

As you might deduce if you are familiar with its predecessors, Flushed Away’s script delivers a rapid fire of dry wit and cultural references with Pixar-caliber timing, something DreamWorks has never really quite been able to achieve on its own.* An entire rat country lies beneath the streets of our major cities, imagines the Aardman writers, complete with electricity, policemen, and, of course, sewery canals. The little rat version of London is unknowingly about to be destroyed by a mob-boss-like toad with a grudge against the entire rat species.

Not such a problem, right? Rats have little going for them, and I personally hate them so much, the very sight of a rat has been known to make me burst into tears. Okay, that was before I knew that HUGH JACKMAN was a rat. Seriously, how adorable is that? A little suit-wearing Hugh Jackman rodent, with artsy hair and white, non-threatening teeth. A pet rat. A gentleman rat. A civilized rat.

Rather quickly into the film, Roddy the Rat (Jackman) gets “flushed away” into the heart of Rat London, meets up with Rita the Rat (a Kate Winslet rat with a red ponytail and a kickin’ bod), and both of them work together to get him back on his way “up top” to the surface. Each learns a little about each other and about themselves, etc. etc, and in the meantime, we are privy to some of the funniest jokes I’ve heard in an animated film in a very long time. Certainly funnier than Cars, Pixar’s achievement this year, and even a fair amount funnier than the Shrek installments.

Jean Reno is Le Frog, the mustachioed French thief, Ian McKellan is The Toad, the bad guy with the soft spot for the British royalty, and so many other good people are so many other funny characters that naming them all may ruin the effect. Americans are made fun of, the French are made fun of, and British soccer fans are probably made fun of, but we won’t get the references, just the sense that once in awhile a punchline about the World Cup is delivered with a brief pause afterwards that you realize should be filled with laughter. Do not despair, however, there are enough jokes that you WILL get – and enough jokes your kids will get – to make up for it. And if your kids insist on getting the DVD when it comes out, don’t roll your eyes. Flushed Away is a prime example of a layered film that will present new jokes every time you watch it.

Still skeptical because of the trailer? I don’t blame you. The trailer really only depicts rats and toilets, and although those are personally two of my very favorites, we can’t all be expected to leap into the car and slam down our hard-earned pay for a film that’s billed with a tagline of “Someone’s going down.” The potty humor is minimal, however, and eventually you’ll fall in love even with the scads of slimy sewer slugs that line the walls.

I feel sorry for the makers of Flushed Away, sitting there eating their treacle** and drinking their Earl Grey, watching the makers of Happy Feet get to stroll the red carpet on Oscar Night. A lot of effort was put into this film to make it lovable for kids and the rest of us, and it’s a shame they won’t get the credit they’re due. Although I guess if the pairing of the two companies produces the potential shown in this film, their future isn’t exactly “down the toilet,” if you know what I mean.

Oh, no, sorry. The jokes are far, far, far better than that. I promise.

*Shrek fans, I am SO prepared to argue this inexhaustibly.

**What’s treacle?