FLUSHED AWAY [2006 / 2019] [Blu-ray + Digital Download] [USA Release]
The Best Animated Film Of The Year!
DreamWorks Animation presents ‘FLUSHED AWAY,’ an outrageously inventive adventure that's a flood of fun! A pampered pet “society mouse” Roddy St. James [Hugh Jackman] thinks he's got it made…until he's literally flushed away to a bustling underground world of ninja frogs, hench-rats and singing slugs. As he tried to adapt to his surroundings and find a way to get out, he meets an enterprising scavenger, Rita [Kate Winslet], and a villainous Toad [Sir Ian McKellen] that take him on an unforgettable journey!
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 2006 Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards: Win: Best Animated Film. 2006 Satellite Awards: Nominated: Best Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media. 2007 BAFTA Film Awards: Nominated: Best Animated Feature Film for David Bowers and Sam Fell. 2007 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA: Nominated: Saturn Award for Best Animated Film. 2007 Annecy International Animated Film Festival: Nominated: Cristal Award for Best Feature for David Bowers and Sam Fell. 2007 Annie Awards: Win: Best Animated Effects for Scott Cegielski. Win: Best Character Animation in a Feature Production for Gabe Hordos. Win: Best Production Design in an Animated Feature Production for Pierre-Olivier Vincent. Win: Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production for Sir Ian McKellen for the voice of The Toad. Win: Best Writing in an Animated Feature Production for Christopher Lloyd, Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Joe Keenan and William Davies. Nominated: Best Character Animation in a Feature Production. Nominated: Best Directing in an Animated Feature Production for David Bowers and Sam Fell. Nominated: Best Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production for Simon Wells. 2007 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards: Nominated: Critics Choice Award for Best Animated Feature. 2007 Gran Premio Internazionale del Doppiaggio: Win: Film Award for Best Animated Film. Nominated: Audience Award for Best Voice Actor for Francesco Prando for the voice of Roddy St. James. 2007 Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA: Nominated: Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR for Feature Film Animation for David A. Whittaker (sound effects editor), Catherine Harper (foley artist), Christopher Moriana (foley artist), Mike Chock (sound effects editor), Ralph Osborn (dialogue editor), Richard L. Anderson (supervising sound editor/sound designer), Richard Whitfield (music editor), Steve Lee (sound effects editor), Thom Brennan (supervising foley editor) and Thomas Jones (supervising sound editor/sound designer). 2007 National Movie Awards, UK: Nominated: Best Animation. 2007 Online Film & Television Association: Nominated: OFTA Film Award for Best Animated Picture for Cecil Kramer, David Sproxton and Peter Lord. Nominated: OFTA Film Award for Best Music for an Adapted Song for Bobby Vinton (music and lyrics) and Gene Pitney (music and lyrics) for the song "Mr. Lonely" that is performed by the Slugs in the film. 2007 PGA Awards: Nominated: Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures for Cecil Kramer and Peter Lord.
FILM FACT No.2: The idea for a film about rats that fall in love in a sewer was proposed by animator Sam Fell during the production of Aardman Animation's ‘Chicken Run’ [2000]. At the time, Aardman Animation encouraged everyone at the company to come up with ideas for features for the DreamWorks partnership. Fellow development executive Mike Cooper, and producer Peter Lord then developed the concept into a story before pitching it to DreamWorks. Peter Lord described the pitch as “The African Queen with the gender roles reversed.” Comic writing duo, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais were contracted to write the script for the film, which went under the working title of ‘Ratropolis.’ Traditionally, Aardman Animation has used stop-motion for their animated features, but it is complex to render water with this technique, and using real water can damage the Claymation models. It would have been expensive to composite CGI into shots that include water, of which there are many in the movie, so they chose to make ‘FLUSHED AWAY’ their first all CGI production. This was the third and final of three Aardman Animation produced films released by DreamWorks Animation SKG. Aardman Animation's experience with DreamWorks during the making of the film had a lot of friction and disagreement that led to a split between the two studios.
Voice Cast: Hugh Jackman [Roddy St. James], Kate Winslet [Rita], Sir Ian McKellen [The Toad], Jean Reno [Le Frog], Bill Nighy [Whitey], Andy Serkis [Spike], Shane Richie [Sid], Kathy Burke [Rita's Mum], David Suchet [Rita's Dad], Miriam Margolyes [Rita's Grandma], Rachel Rawlinson [Tabitha], Susan Duerden [Mother], Miles Richardson [Father], John Motson [Football Commentator], Douglas Weston [Newspaper Seller], Roger Blake [Policeman / Balloon Seller], Christopher Fairbank [Thimblenose Ted / Cockroach / Passerby], Paul Shardlow [Pegleg], Conrad Vernon [Take Out], Jonathan Kydd [Barnacle], Newell Alexander [Tex], Susan Fitzer [Edna], Joshua Silk [Fergus], Meredith Wells [Rita's Little Sister], Ashleigh-Louis Elliot [Rita's Sister #2], Ashleigh Ludwig [Rita's Sister #3], Christopher Knights [Fat Barry / Market Trader], Emma Tate [Fly-Lady / Passerby #2], Tom McGrath [Action Figure / Artist], Sam Fell [Liam / Prophet / Ladykiller / Fanseller] and David Bowers [Goldfish / Fly / Shocky / Henchfrog #1 / Tadpole]
Directors: David Bowers and Sam Fell
Producers: Cecil Kramer, David Sproxton, Maryann Garger, Peter Lord and Steve Pegram
Screenplay: Christopher Lloyd (screenplay/ story), Dick Clement (screenplay/ story), Ian La Frenais (screenplay), Joe Keenan (screenplay), Peter Lord (story), Sam Fell (story) and William Davies (screenplay)
Composer: Harry Gregson-Williams
Cinematography: Brad Blackbourn (Director of Photography) and Frank Passingham (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
French: 5.1 DTS Digital Surround
Spanish [Castellano]: 5.1 DTS Digital Surround
Spanish [Catalan]: 5.1 DTS Digital Surround
Japanese: 5.1 DTS Digital Surround
German: 5.1 DTS Digital Surround
Italian: 5.1 DTS Digital Surround
Português: 5.1 DTS Digital Surround
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish [Castellano], Spanish [Catalan], German, Italian, Japanese and Português,
Running Time: 85 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Universal Pictures / DreamWorks Animation SKG / Aardman Animation
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘FLUSHED AWAY’ [2006] is a tale about Roddy St. James [Hugh Jackman], a decidedly high-class pet rat who makes his home in a polished brass cage within in a posh Kensington flat. His high society existence comes to a screeching halt when a common sewer rat named Sid pops out of the kitchen sink and decides to stay, especially considering their home land of England happens to be playing arch nemesis Germany in the FIFA World Cup final and what posh Kensington flat isn’t complete without a 60-inch flat-screen?
Roddy St. James, sensing the threat to his lifestyle that a dirty, sloppy sewer rat could pose, decides to get rid of Sid [Shane Richie] by luring him into the “jacuzzi” which is in fact the toilet. With the pull of the lever, he could send old Sid back from once he came. Classless and manner-less Sid may be, but plumbing he understands! Sid plays along and instead pushes Roddy St. James into the toilet and flushes him away instead. There, Roddy St. James meets Rita Malone [Kate Winslet], and high adventure, narrow escapes, and nautical chases ensue.
Aardman Animation has made a name for themselves with their clever stop motion Claymation films, finding hits on the big screen with ‘Chicken Run’ and ‘Wallace and Gromit.’ ‘FLUSHED AWAY’ is completely new territory for the studio, using their Claymation style in the CGI format to bring their characters to life. The characters are given the look of being animated through stop motion and it works surprisingly well (they even texturize them to look like they were moulded with clay). The CGI format is beautiful, allowing the animation team to get more expression out of their characters and place them in settings, and with mediums like lots of water, that are normally limited through the clay and stop motion process.
‘FLUSHED AWAY’ is a witty and fun animated film and I found myself enjoying the animated film way more than I expected to. Subtle spoof gags were inserted throughout the animated film. In fact, among the spoofs seem to be constant jabs at classic Disney animated feature moments, poking fun at ‘Toy Story,’ ‘Finding Nemo’ and ‘Lady and The Tramp,’ to name a few.
Aardman Animation pay so much attention to detail, it's truly impressive. Familiar references also include ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Terminator,’ ‘The Fly,’ ‘Mary Poppins,’ ‘James Bond’ and other Aardman Animation and DreamWorks animated films. Also, there are plenty of expected bathroom jokes given the film's setting, as well as in the sewer, but the story just often feels fresh and enjoyable despite its occasional familiarity or reliance on pop culture references.
People have commented that ‘FLUSHED AWAY’ contains a certain quirky British charm have hit the nail right on the head. The humour is the odd combination of dry witty dialogue with cultural references galore and over-the-top slapstick. Theoretically this should be the secret to success in appealing to everyone and something for the adults to enjoy while the youngsters snicker at the onscreen antics, but unless the viewer is prepared for the type of sublime dry dialogue exchanges that happen without warning, much of the humour and charm could go undetected.
I was particularly impressed with Aardman Animation’s ability to duplicate the stop-motion clay animation look of their earlier films and series through use of laser scanning and software animating. Many of the textures are remarkably lifelike and, not unlike the dialogue, require careful examination to appreciate the layers of depth and pop culture references scattered about.
The vocal work is top notch with Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet delivering voice performances no less potent than the live-action deliveries that each is known for. Andy Serkis makes a perfect Spike henchman to the villainous Toad, along with his partner in crime, Whitey, who's voiced by the versatile Bill Nighy. Sir Ian McKellen who shines in a much less serious, much more expressive and unbridled performance as Toad. Jean Reno rounds out the voice acting talent as the sticky Le Frog, completing a team of actors and actresses who add quite a lot to the animated film.
Harry Gregson-Williams brings a bright and involving composed music score to proceedings, which sometimes sounds reminiscent of other works, but the main theme plays very close to one from John Williams’ music for ‘Hook,’ but carries the action along with panache and certainly adds a layer of epic-ness. ‘FLUSHED AWAY’ is also one of the few animated films of recent times to use source tracks and re-recorded cover versions extremely well within its soundtrack and not just as an excuse for filling a noise crack to suggest an action sequence more frantic than it actually is.
The humour in ‘FLUSHED AWAY’ is fast paced and often on-the-money, knowing just when it's perfect to drop some humour or even an adorable little slug into a slower moments in the animated film. And even though the slow moments do pop up now and again, but they are very fleeting. With so much going on in the animated film, I noticed that, more than once, the soundtrack seemed to overpower the dialogue slightly, which in an animated film with such detail as this one is a critical error. Finally, I was a little surprised at how much bathroom humour permeated the animated film, allowing the pushing of the comedic envelope to take place. While there was never any profanity or anything especially vulgar, some jests may surprise some adults, while, at the same time, zip right over the little ones' heads. Overall, I found myself enjoying ‘FLUSHED AWAY’ far more than I expected. Smart and creative, and ‘FLUSHED AWAY’ may hit a few bumps along its rushing sewer ride, but ultimately succeeds in being a little mucky fun for the whole family. Please stay right through the end credits, as you see some very funny and hilarious extra slug animation. Right at the end of the credits, they inform us that no slugs were a-salted during the making of the animated film.
FLUSHED AWAY MUSIC TRACK LIST
DANCING WITH MYSELF (Written by Billy Idol and Tony James) [Performed by Billy Idol with Generation X]
YAKETY SAX (Written by Boots Randolph and James Rich) [Performed by Boots Randolph]
LAND OF HOPE AND GLORY (Written by Sir Edward Elgar and A.C. Benson)
ARE YOU GONNA BE MY GIRL (Written by Nic Cester and Cameron Muncey) [Performed by Jet]
SHE’S A LADY (Written by Paul Anka)
BATMAN THEME (Written By Neal Hefti) [Performed by Neal Hefti]
RULE BRITTANIA (Composed by Thomas Augustine Arne from the poem by James Thomson) [Performed by John Venzon]
DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY (Written by Bobby McFerrin)
BOHEMIAN LIKE YOU (Written by Courtney Taylor-Taylor) [Performed by The Dandy Warhols]
ICE COLD RITA (Written by Joe Keenan and Keith Baxter)
WEDDING MARCH (Written by Richard Wagner)
SAILING (Written by Christopher Cross) [Performed by Christopher Cross]
THAT’S NOT RICE YOU’RE EATING (Written by Keith Baxter)
ACCORDIAN AND KAWALA (Written by Badawi & Chamoun) [Performed by Badawi & Chamoun]
LA MARSEILLAISE [Performed by Erika Dapkewicz]
M/F NORÖNA (Written by Knut Ivar Boe) [Performed by Knut Ivar Boe]
PROUD MARY (Written by John Fogerty) [Performed by Tina Turner]
Mr. LONELY (Written by Bobby Vinton and Gene Allan)
WHAT’S NEW PUSSYCAT (Written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David) [Performed by Tom Jones]
WONDERFUL NIGHT (Written by Fatboy Slim aka Norman Cook and Lateef Dumont) [Performed by Fatboy Slim]
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Animation SKG and Aardman Animation presents us the animated film ‘FLUSHED AWAY’ with a very nice 1080p image and shown in the usual standard 1.85:1 aspect ratio and for the most part the image appears pleasantly accurate from its source. The animation has a feel of slickness and smoothness throughout the animated film. The bricks down in the sewer, the finer appointments in Roddy's human home, various costumes, and object details down in the world below, which are deliciously complex and texturally involved, are all captured from the source with details that are quite nicely with robust clarity and sharpness. The animated characters are nice and crisp and well defined, even if hair is a bit clumpier than it is organic. Colours are very pleasing, with the image finding a satisfying assortment of tones both in Roddy's stately home and down in the sewer. The colour palette plays nicely against the fairly regular reddish brick background. It's a pleasingly diverse palette with plenty of opportunity to shine, which it does with regularity. So all in all, this is definitely a very good image presentation, so well done Aardman Animation and DreamWorks Animation SKG.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Animation SKG and Aardman Animation brings us the animated film ‘FLUSHED AWAY’ with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio experience that really compliments this animated film and is also very energetic. As Roddy St. James is flushed down the drain, there is plenty of rushing water effects pushing through the stage, and his arrival in the underground rat city sees the stage spring to life with pleasingly immersive and detailed results. While it's rarely full-throttle intense, and as surrounds don't carry a prodigious amount of content with regularity, there's a nice feel for general stage-filling detail and basic immersion into all of the film's scenes. The composed music score soars to it most pleasing, and gives us a full-stage spread and richness as Roddy and Rita soar upwards by holding onto a plastic bag. The surround sounds find their greatest usage at film's final climax, with a rush of water through the sewer that carries not only the deep-end chaos but also the din of a panicking populace. Dialogue is consistently balanced and accurate with satisfying front-centre placement and it is well prioritized for the duration, so giving this animated film a really great sound experience throughout the animated film, so once again well done Aardman Animation and DreamWorks Animation SKG.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Slug Songs: Here we get to view two special micro slug music videos inspired by the film and they are as follows:
“I Don't Feel Like Dancing” Performed by The Slugs [2006] [1080p] [1.78:1] [0:26]
"Pump It" Performed by The Slugs [2006] [1080p] [1.78:1] [0:38]
Special Feature: The Music of ‘FLUSHED AWAY’ aka FLUSHED AWAY TUNES [2006] [1080p] [1.37:1] [8:56] With this special feature we take a closer look at the exploration of Harry Gregson-Williams' composed music score. It is a bright ‘n’ breezy profile of Harry Gregson-Williams’ work on the animated film ‘FLUSHED AWAY’ and we get plenty of scoring session footage that was filmed in the famous Abbey Road Studio in London and we also get scenes of the orchestra at work with the conductor. Harry Gregson-Williams talks about his process and the directors chime in on how the music helps to tell their story. This interesting feature runs just under nine minutes. The second half of it covers the choice of music tracks used as story and score pieces, and how the singing slugs went from being a one-off gag to popping up throughout the animated film. Contributors include: David Bowers [Director], Harry Gregson-Williams [Composer] and Sam Fell [Director].
Special Feature: Meet the Cast [2006] [1080p] [1.37:1] [8:43] With this special feature we take a closer look at the primary voice cast, and including a trip behind the microphone to – hey! – meet the star actor’s voices. This is typical soundbite promo material with the big names, but there is some good info and it’s always fun to see the actors in the studio recording their lines. It’s not much more than a run-through of the characters and who plays them, but it’s clear the stars are throwing themselves into their roles as opposed to simply providing a star voiceover and at the same time we get a plethora of clips from the animated film ‘FLUSHED AWAY.’ Contributors include: Cecil Kramer [Producer], Hugh Jackman [Roddy St. James], Sam Fell [Director], Kate Winslet [Rita], Peter Lord [Producer], Sir Ian McKellen [The Toad], David Bowers [Director], Jean Reno [Le Frog], David Sproxton [Producer], Andy Serkis [Spike], Bill Nighy [Whitey] and Shane Richie [Sid].
Feature Audio Commentary with Directors Sam Fell and David Bowers: Here we get introduced to Sam Fell and David Bowers and welcomes us to this audio commentary to talk about directing the animated film ‘FLUSHED AWAY.’ They talk about the opening scenes in the film of London and feels it is a very London British film, and decided to show all of the world famous London landmarks. They are also very proud of the composer Harry Gregson-Williams who they feel did a very wonderful job, especially the opening shots of the film, to make it feel like a big movie moment, and a great introduction to our hero Roddy St. James. They say that when Roddy St. James finally meets Sid in his home in Kensington, and when Roddy St. James is trying to get rid of Sid by trying to flush him down the toilet, but instead Sid knows this plan of Roddy St. James, but instead Sid pushes Roddy St. James into the toilet bowl and flushes him into the sewer, and both directors were worried about certain English words like “toilet” and “plonker” and especially for international audiences, and tried to think up other unknown words instead, but found it did not work, so stuck to the original plan of the typical English words. The two directors were worried about the introduction of the slugs, but in fact people actually loved the slug characters. The two directors based the two rat characters Spike and Whitey on Laurel and Hardy and actually loved those two comedy genius actors. They also tried to make Spike act nasty and evil, but didn’t quite work out in the end and inform us that Spike still lives with his Mum. The two directors wanted The Toad to look like Charles Laughton, but ended up more like Noël Coward in ‘The Italian Job,’ and of course is voiced by the wonderful over the top Sir Ian McKellen. They both like English puns, which of course will be totally especially alien to American audiences. The two directors mention that there are lots of Aardman Animation and DreamWork references, and one of them if you look carefully below deck on the Jammy Dodger is Gromit from Wallace and Gromit. When Roddy St James and Rita get back to Roddy St James home in Kensington, he realises he was before his great adventure a very lonely rat, but now realises his life has changed dramatically for the better. As we get near the end of the film, where Roddy St James and Rita save the day and finally launch the new Jammy Dodger II boat and we hear the Tina Turner song “PROUD MARY” that goes so well with what we view and the two directors feels the song is so perfect for the moment in the film and especially with all the colourful slugs on the boat signing, and a perfect ending, and they both say that it was totally fun making the animated film , and very pleased the way it turned out, and say, “that is the end of the movie and they hope you enjoyed it,” and they also say, “that if you enjoyed our audio commentary then you must of enjoyed the movie, and thank you for listening.” And to sum up, I really enjoyed this fun audio commentary with the two directors and we hear a lot from them lots of nice information titbits about the making of the animated film and is well worth listening to.
Finally, ‘FLUSHED AWAY’ all in all, this Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Animation SKG and Aardman Animation animated film comes off as a very charming little romp with a bit more underlying depth than is not as common with other animated feature films. It’s undeniably an Aardman Animation animated film, which means it isn’t quite as in your face or over the top as a majority of the other famous DreamWorks Animation SKG animated film releases. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
