Flushed Away
MPAA Rating: PG for crude humor and some language
Release date: Feb. 20, 2007
Roddy St. James is an uptown rat, living a life of luxury in an upscale Kensington flat in London. When an uncouth sewer rat named Sid intrudes on his lifestyle, Roddy tries to get rid of the unwelcome pest by luring him into the “whirlpool” (a.k.a the toilet). But Sid gets wise to the ruse, pushes Roddy in instead, and takes over the posh pad, reveling in the big screen TV and other cool stuff.
Roddy, meanwhile, is flushed into the underground sewers — a.k.a. Ratropolis — a rowdy community of rats, toads, slugs and other colorful characters. The subterranean city is much the same as London above, only seedier and made from salvaged garbage.
The refined Roddy is clearly out of his element. And his chances of getting back home? Not likely! So he develops a partnership with Rita, a tough-talking rat who works the sewers in her boat, the Jammy Dodger. She makes a deal with Roddy — involving a precious ruby — to get him back home.
But first they have to deal with the villainous Toad, who despises all rodents and wants them iced. Literally. So he dispatches his two hench-rats, Spike and Whitey to get the job done. When they fail, Toad has no choice but to call in his French cousin Le Frog, a mercenary who’ll get the job done — after his five-hour dinner break, that is.
With so many animated movies in recent years, you’ve got to be really special to rise above the pack. This one doesn’t quite reach the stature of, say, Finding Nemo (although the little clown fish does make a cameo appearance). Still, the voices are spot-on and some of the characters are very funny — notably, the skittish little slugs who scream and burst into song at a moment’s notice.
