Flushed Away parents guide

Flushed Away Parent Guide

And you thought you were having a bad day...

Overall A

In an attempt to get rid of an intruding sewer rat (voice of Shane Richie), a pet rat named Roddy (Hugh Jackman) lures the unwelcome guest into the bathroom with the promise of a "whirlpool" bath. But when it comes time to pull the handle, it is the luckless host who ends up being Flushed Away. This hilarious computer animated movie follows the city slicker's hapless adventures in the world below the streets of London, as he tries to return to his cushy, penthouse life.

Release date November 2, 2006

Violence B
Sexual Content B+
Profanity B+
Substance Use A

Why is Flushed Away rated PG? The MPAA rated Flushed Away PG for crude humor and some language

Run Time: 85 minutes

Parent Movie Review

While his owners are away, Roddy the pet rat (voiced by Hugh Jackman) is planning to slip out of his gilded cage and go play with the action figures, dress-up dolls, plastic cars and theater-sized TV. But his leisurely activities are curtailed by the unexpected arrival of Sid (Shane Richie), a belching sewer rat whose wanderings through a mysterious maze of plumbing pipes just happened to take a fortuitous turn.

Disgusted with the uncouth intruder, the resourceful Roddy schemes to rid himself of the pest by offering his unwelcome guest a tour around the penthouse followed by a dip in the porcelain whirlpool located in the bathroom. Unfortunately, Sid is not quite as ignorant as he appears, so when it comes time to pull the handle, it is the luckless host who ends up being flushed down the loo.

After his water-slide-like plunge comes to an end, a drenched and nearly drowned Roddy finds himself in a booming rodent metropolis deep beneath the streets of London. Determined to make his way back home, the unintentional visitor asks the locals for some help and is directed to the captain of the Jammy Dodger. Yet instead of Rita (voiced by Kate Winslet) getting him out of his rat’s nest, Roddy is pulled into the seafarer’s sticky situation involving a villainous Toad (Ian McKellen) and his henchmen, Spike (Andy Serkis) and Whitey (Bill Nighy).

Bringing together the creative team at Aardman Studios (who are responsible for the likes of Wallace and Gromitand Chicken Run) and Dreamworks Animation (the masterminds behind the Shrek franchise), Flushed Away marries a clay animation look with hi-tech computer graphics. Although this gives the production exceptional images and the characters unlimited possibilities, that probably won’t be what impresses viewers most. Audiences will likely be more excited over the incredibly clever plotline, puns, and parodies. (The silly, singing slugs might just do it too.)

Offering a solid story from beginning to end, this witty film begs for repeated watching in order to catch all the rapid-fire comedy. Parents will be pleased to note that the script doesn’t really contain any “potty” jokes, and includes only a few moments of mild sexual innuendo and a murmur of language in a foreign tongue. And while characters are often in peril and threatened with death, all the violence is portrayed in a slapstick style, with little worry real harm will come to anyone. The biggest concern may be the politically incorrect depictions of some French frogs. (Perhaps the British writers are just testing the good humor of their neighbors across the channel.)

Thankfully, for entertainment seekers young and old, Flushed Away is one movie that goes “down the drain” and comes up smelling like a rose.

Starring Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen, Jean Reno. Running time: 85 minutes. Theatrical release November 2, 2006. Updated

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Flushed Away
Rating & Content Info

Why is Flushed Away rated PG? Flushed Away is rated PG by the MPAA for crude humor and some language

Animated violence amongst personified rat characters puts some cast members in perilous situations as they try and escape from Mafia-like enemies. These “bad guys” are made up of an English toad and some French frogs—some audiences may interpret the latter to be a racial slur. Surprisingly, this sewer-focused movie has little “toilet” humor—other than a rat that burps very forcefully. The script includes a few mild sexual innuendos, a term of deity used as an expletive (uttered in French) and a colloquial slang phrase that may be a considered a little offensive by some cultures.

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Flushed Away Parents' Guide

Roddy lives a life of luxury without purpose. Rita lives a life of purpose without luxury. Which would you prefer? Why are we sometimes deceived into thinking someone else’s life would be much better than our own?

Loved this movie? Try these books…

​If you have a family member who is completely obsessed with the Aardman animation style, give them a copy of Cracking Animation: The Aardman Book of 3-D Animation. Written by Peter Lord and Brian Sibley, this is a how-to manual for animation enthusiasts.

Younger readers who want to read about anthropomorphic rodents can turn to the classic Stuart Little by E.B. White. Beverly Cleary’s The Mouse and the Motorcycle and Ralph S Mouse are also sure to appeal to this demographic.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C O’Brien and The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo are also great reads starring rodents. And generations of children have come to love Mole, Rate, Toad, and Badger in Kenneth Grahame’s classic novel, The Wind in the Willows.

Readers looking for a laugh will get a kick out of Laura Numeroff’s If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Flushed Away movie is February 19, 2007. Here are some details…

  DVD Release Date: 20 February 2007

The DVD release of Flushed Away is drowning in bonus extras. Presented in either wide or full screen, both versions offer commentary by directors David Bowers and Sam Fell, a behind the scenes interactive tour, and a peek at the animator’s gallery. Featurettes allow fans to Meet the Cast, travel From Clay to CG: A Technical Journey, and catch the Jammy Dodger Fly-Thru. For those who enjoyed the music in the film, the DVD provides two Animated Slug Songs and a Flushed Away Jukebox. More active options include the games Maze of Pipes and Build-A-Slug, Learn to Draw Roddy and the DVD Rom: Flushed Away Underground Adventure. There are also trailers for Bee Movie, Shrek The Third, and Wallace & Gromit. Audio tracks are available in English (Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), French (Dolby Digital 2.0) and Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0), with subtitles in English, Spanish and French.

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The clever fingerprints of Aardman Studio’s staff are also all over Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Chicken Run. Other films about miniature characters interacting with the human world can be found in Toy Story and Stuart Little.

 

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