“Flushed Away,” the new computer-animated film from Dreamworks and Aardman Animation Studios, showcases the best qualities of the studios that produced it.
It has all the wit and talented voices that audiences have come to expect from Dreamworks Animation, the studio that gave us “Shrek” and “Madagascar.” But it also has the craftsmanship, charm and heart of an Aardman film.
Aardman Animations, based in England, is responsible for a number of Academy Award winning shorts that feature their distinctive style of stop-motion animation using modeled clay figures.
Last year, Aardman won the Oscar for Best Animated Picture with “Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.” Wallace and Gromit, a dim-witted inventor and his mute (but intelligent) dog, are Aardman’s most celebrated and iconic characters.
“Flushed Away” tells the story of Roddy St. James (Hugh Jackman), a domesticated pet rat living the good life in his clean, white palace of a home.
Roddy happily leads a sheltered existence until a sewer rat named Sid comes up through the sink. Roddy’s plan to flush Sid down the toilet, thus sending him back where he came from, completely backfires and Roddy ends up in the middle of an enormous underground city populated with rats.
He enlists the help of Rita (Kate Winslet) and her boat, the Jammy Dodger, to get him back to the surface. In addition to meeting Rita’s big family and coming across packs of singing slugs, Roddy and Rita must save the city from The Toad (Ian McKellen), his bumbling henchmen (Bill Nighy and Andy Serkis), and his cousin Le Frog (Jean Reno).
“Flushed Away” is the third in a five picture deal that Aardman has with Dreamworks Animation. (2000’s “Chicken Run” and last year’s “Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit” were the first two pictures.) However, “Flushed” is the first completely computer-generated film from Aardman.
This is due to the fact that water is basically impossible to realistically depict using clay and stop-motion animation techniques. Their decision to use computer-animation was a good one: “Flushed Away” looks like a streamlined version of stop-motion animation. It is impressive in scale, scope and craftsmanship.
More importantly, it provides a refreshing alternative to the current barrage of shoddy computer animated films (Was anyone able to sit through “Hoodwinked?”).
The humor of “Flushed Away” also makes it a standout film. If you’re walking in expecting to hear one potty joke after another, prepare to be disappointed. The script is tight and witty, featuring humor that adults will enjoy even more than children.
Furthermore, it accomplishes what few family films can by managing to combine action, humor and even a little bit of romance in a plot that’s simple, but never dumbed down.
It’s no surprise that the cast does a fine job, given that the cast is probably the best ever assembled for an animated feature.
It’s extremely impressive that Jackman and Winslet’s chemistry comes through, even in animated rat form. McKellen, Nighy and Serkis are stellar, per usual. Serkis (Gollum from the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, Kong in “King Kong”) is building quite a resume for himself; his comedic skills are shown off especially well in “Flushed.”
But the real M.V.P. of the cast is Jean Reno, voicing the hilarious Le Frog. His hysterical quips and one-liners, apathy towards his toad cousin’s delusions of grandeur, and orders for his band of French ninjas (including a mime) are delivered with a crisp precision that is guaranteed to make even the most skeptical moviegoer chuckle.
Essentially, “Flushed Away” is the best animated film of the year. While it doesn’t have quite as much heart and sentiment as Disney and Pixar’s “Cars,” it is far more entertaining and appeals to a much wider audience.
Aardman animators should start pressing their tuxedos, because “Flushed Away” will at the very least score another Best Animated Picture nomination, if not secure a second win.
