"Flushed Away" (Aardman's New CGI Animated Film)

DavidPla · 02-07-2006, 05:57 PM

Having greately enjoyed both "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" and "Chicken Run", I am quite excited for this. Although, I DO miss their use of claymation.

http://www.dreamworks.com/trailers/f...att_qt_640.mov

http://www.flushedaway.com/

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ChristopherDAC · 02-07-2006, 08:58 PM

Aardman isn't all Nick Park. They've done quite a variety of things in various media. I wouldn't necessarily expect something to be like Wallace & Gromit just because it's from them.

andrew markworthy · 02-08-2006, 02:51 AM

There is a R2 DVD called Aardman Animation Classics which showcases the talents of the individual members, and they are very diverse in style. Sometimes they work collaboratively. If you've seen Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer video, you've basically seen a compendium of the different Aardman styles shoehorned into a three minute video (Nick Park's section is the dancing chickens, in case you're interested). The group also does a lot of commercial art work (e.g. you can see some of their output most nights in commercials on Brit TV).

DavidPla · 05-17-2006, 06:41 PM

New trailer...

http://www.dreamworks.com/trailers/f...lr1_qt_640.mov

Abby_B · 10-26-2006, 04:09 PM

I just saw the trailer for this, and I think it looks really cute. I'm quite excited for it as well, because it looks funny, but not necessarily dumbed down or anything. I like that about movies like this. Plus it's got a really great voice cast doing it (I will walk over coals for anything Ian McKellan does!) Anybody else planning on seeing it?

RomanSohor · 10-30-2006, 09:30 AM

I was wondering for a while why they did this on CGI instead of Claymation... and I read in a few places that they decided it would be too hard (ie expensive) to do all the water effects with plasticine characters. It would have probably had to be a hybrid of stop motion and CGI, so they just went all CGI. Probably gives the movie a more unified look anyway, and the characters still have the classic Aardman look to them.

I'm excited about this one, too.

Patrick Sun · 11-04-2006, 07:41 PM

I liked this film, it moves pretty fast, and the characters are either very likable or purposefully not likable, or provide the humor through their bungling. The only thing that was weird was how much the CGI mouth movements mimicked the claymation style from Aardman's previous efforts.

I give it 3 stars or a grade of B.

Jason Seaver · 11-04-2006, 08:21 PM

I liked it quite a bit - Bill Nighy's mouse steals every scene he's in, as do the slugs. The closest thing I have to a complaint is that the opening moves a little too fast. After that, though, a lot of good slapstick.

Kirk Tsai · 11-05-2006, 02:44 AM

I liked the picture overall, but it felt a little over eager to please or straining its jokes compared to the Wallace and Gromit series. Still a lot of fun. Gregson Williams once again provides a cheery and appropriate score to an animated picture. Also liked the numerous cameoes of the Aardman canon. Patrick's observation is correct regarding claymation, especially the evil boss. The mime of the boss was just priceless.

DaveF · 11-12-2006, 05:50 PM

I enjoyed Flushed Away, and give it a moderate recommendation. Unfortunately, I saw it an open-captioned showing; the digitally projected subtitles were very distracting and may have dampened my enthusiasm.

Roddy, a pet rat in lavishly wealthy Kensington, finds himself flushed to the underworld of sewer rats and other denizens. Trying to find his way back to his life of solitary ease, he becomes involved with Rita and strong-willed, capable river captain / jewel thief (of sorts). They meet violent, make cute, and hijinks ensue. Roddy learns valuable life lessons about himself. Rita learns to trust an outsider. All ends well.

The story is an average confection, but the ride itself, once moving, was fun. The characterizations of Roddy and Rita are likewise blase, but the secondary characters are a hoot and the riffs on pop culture and sight / site gags make up for a great many story-telling sins.

But the slugs steal the show. I swear, I am looking for the sluggy action figure tie-ins. I want my singing slug alarm clock. Why won't McDonalds sell me a Happy Meal with a slug toy?

Flushed Away while mediocre fare compared to the better animated films of recent years, had me smiling throughout, and hooting with laughter at a few gags. And given the paucity of enjoyable comedies on the silver screen, Flushed Away was a welcome diversion.

Adam Lenhardt · 11-12-2006, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveF

I enjoyed Flushed Away, and give it a moderate recommendation. Unfortunately, I saw it an open-captioned showing; the digitally projected subtitles were very distracting and may have dampened my enthusiasm.

I remember when I was at RIT, everything was closed captioned for the NTID kids. I really enjoyed going to the weekly movie night, so eventually I just trained myself to ignore them. The strangest experience was always with comedies. Since dialog comes line by line, I'd often read the punchline before I heard it early on.

MandyHan · 11-13-2006, 11:34 AM

The marketing job I work at allowed me to see this a few weeks early. I really thought this was a pretty good movie. I wonder if it will be up for best animated feature.

Edwin-S · 11-14-2006, 11:37 PM

It was a decent flick. Not quite up to the level of "Wallace and Gromit" or "Chicken Run" but still pretty good. I thought the opening act was a little too compressed. I would have liked to see a bit more business between Roddy and his uninvited guest before the big send off. The pacing was quick and lively, so there was never any point where one started getting bored; however, the slugs did save this film a lot. The film would have been much less without them. Th