If you, like myself, love the British Wallace & Gromit cartoons, then you'll go wild over Flushed Away, the latest from the brilliant Aardman studio. Though the humour is decidedly English, there's no reason why most on this side of the Atlantic wouldn't enjoy it.
As with most British tales, Flushed Away deals with class issues, and in this case the mice (upper crust) and rats (lower) living in the sewers of London. Roddy (Hugh Jackman) is a pet mouse living the privileged life in a Kensington flat when a bully rat named Sid (Shane Richie) flushes him down the toilet sending him to the sewers. There he meets lovely Rita (Kate Winslet) who may help him get home, but the rat world is under siege by evil Toad (Ian McKellen) and his cronies (Bill Nighy, Andy Serkis), who discover they don't like Roddy at all. Of course a love story ensues between Rita and Roddy, and this also entails come complicated matters (remember he's a mouse and she's a lowly rat).
What's particularly wonderful about Flushed Away is the setting; the sewer world is the exact duplicate of the "above" world, Big Ben and all, only constructed with bits and pieces of garbage. And many of the characters mirror familiar personages as well, making some of the situations absolutely hilarious (if you get it). And though many of the characters are somewhat overbearing, the main ones remain likeable enough.
Flushed Away may qualify as one of the best animated movies of the year. Lots of fun for kids and adults alike.

	Printable Version	</ td>	Email to a Friend
	Voice Your Opinion		Letter to the Editor