From the fractured fairy tale by Terry Pratchett, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, THE AMAZING MAURICE is a sublime cartoon cat caper.
A rose by any other name would be a rodent end-em, this irreverent animation is a marvellous adaptation by Pirates of the Caribbean and Shrek scribe, Terry Rossio, illustrating how indeed the paws shall inherit the mirth.
Directed by Toby Genkel, THE AMAZING MAURICE tells the tale of Maurice, a felonious feline with the perfect money-making scam. He has found his very own pied piper and a plague of rats to trick gullible townsfolk into giving him lots of cash.
All is going well until they arrive in the far-flung village of Bad Blintz where they meet a book obsessed girl called Malicia, who enlists their help to solve the mystery of her town, an unfettered famine.
Carter Goodrich’s character designs harnessed to Production & Character Designer and Art Director Heiko Hentschel’s brilliant visual sense makes THE AMAZING MAURICE a feast for the eye, with heaps of hilarious detail, not the least in the design of the charlatan Cheshire.
The voice casting is sublime with Hugh Laurie purrfectly capturing the Puss in Loots in cahoots with a cohort of rats. Louche, languid and obviously, House trained!
The Rat Pack includes of Gemma Arterton, David Tennant, and David Thewlis, with Hugh Bonneville as the Mayor, Rob Brydon as the Pied Piper and Emilia Clarke as Malicia.
Lyle, Lyle Crocodile and Puss In Boots made the early jump in family friendly films this year and have done well at the box office. THE AMAZING MAURICE deserves a designated place at that turnstile table as a film of distinction in irreverent fun, reinforced positive values of co-operation and inclusiveness, and sheer and present entertainment, THE AMAZING MAURICE is the cat’s whiskers, and then some.
