"FLUSHED AWAY"
(2006) (voices of Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet) (PG)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Minor	Minor	Heavy	*Mild	Minor
Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Moderate	None	Mild	None	None
Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Minor	Minor	None	Moderate	Mild

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QUICK TAKE:

Animated Comedy: A pampered pet mouse ends up flushed into a miniature, sewer-based version of London where he teams up with a tomboy rat to stop a nefarious toad from flushing away their city.

PLOT:

Roddy (voice of HUGH JACKMAN) is a pampered pet mouse who lives the good life, especially when his human owners go on holiday, thus enabling him to party with various inanimate dolls and other toys. But his vacation is cut short when rowdy sewer rat Sid (voice of SHANE RICHIE) suddenly shows up and decides to make himself at home. Taken aback by Sid's looks and demeanor, Roddy tries to get rid of him by convincing the soccer hooligan that the toilet is a Jacuzzi, but the street smart rat turns the tables and instead flushes Roddy down the loo.

Which leads to him traveling through the plumbing and sewer system until he lands in an underground, miniaturized replica of London. There, he meets Rita (voice of KATE WINSLET), a tomboy rat who's in the middle of stealing a ruby back from Spike (voice of ANDY SERKIS) and Whitey (voice of BILL NIGHY), two rat goons who work for local villain Toad (voice of IAN McKELLEN).

Once the favored pet of Prince Charles before being unceremoniously replaced and then flushed into the sewers, Toad has a diabolical plan involving the World Cup finals, halftime, and humans' need to use the bathroom nearly all at once, thus ensuring an epic flood of water arriving at their city not long thereafter.

However, not only does Rita have the ruby he stole from her, but also an important cable needed to make his plan work. When Spike and Whitey can't get the job done, Toad then calls in Le Frog (voice of JEAN RENO) and his team of French, martial arts experienced amphibians.

While Rita and Roddy initially don't like or trust each other, they realize they must count on the other to get Roddy back home before his human owners return, and stop Sid before he can carry out his plan.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?

It's a good bet many younger ones will.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG

For crude humor and some language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:

It's debatable whether kids view animated characters, particularly non-human ones, as role models, but here's a quick look at the characters major characteristics.

RODDY is the pet mouse who finds his proper and well-to-do life turned upside down when Sid flushes him down into the underground city where he meets Rita and alternates between being her foil and ally, especially when dealing with Toad.

RITA is the tomboy rat who's in a constant battle with Toad and his minions, first over a ruby and then a special cable. Initially distrusting of Roddy, she eventually comes to like him.

TOAD is the underground city's main villain who battles Rita over various things -- through his minions -- and plans to flush away the entire city of rats as a means of settling an old score.

SPIKE is his small but feisty lieutenant who often gets the worst end of his aggressions toward others.

WHITEY is his big but somewhat dimwitted partner.

SID is a sewer rat who arrives uninvited in Roddy's house and makes himself at home, trashing part of the place while hanging out.

LE FROG is the condescending French frog who's proficient in some sort of frog martial arts and comes to Toad's aid in trying to seize the desired cable.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

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Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

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OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a brief summary of the content found in this animated comedy that's rated PG. While no profanity is uttered, various colorful phrases are present, as are various behaviors that might be enticing for some kids to imitate. A few brief comedy bits involve women's underwear, and an inanimate doll is seen in a bikini.

Violence consists of slapstick style material where characters fall, are knocked into, or otherwise hit others or stationary objects, all played for comedy, and with no permanent injuries (although plenty of impact to male crotches is present). It's possible a few of the adventurous moments might be unsettling or suspenseful for the youngest of viewers, but probably few if any others. Brief alcohol and smoking material is present, as are various instances of crude humor. Finally, various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes.

Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

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ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE

Sid talks about being in a pub before finding himself in Roddy's house, but we don't know if he was drinking or not.

We see an old whiskey bottle that's being used as a candleholder.

Le Frog tries some wine, but then spits it out upon tasting and then seeing that it's British.

A bottle of champagne is used to christen and launch Rita's new boat (and the bottle is as big as or bigger than the boat).

BLOOD/GORE

Crude humor includes the following:

Sid tells Roddy, "Careful mate, those aren't chocolate buttons" (presumably referring to his rat droppings on the floor, but we don't see them).

Sid has long and gross-looking toenails.

After Sid flushes him down the toilet, Roddy thinks he sees a large piece of excrement, but it's really just a candy bar.

After Spike says he has a gut feeling about something, Whitey says that's the curry from last night, adding, "I've got a bum like a Japanese flag."

As part of Rita's house falls apart, we see a roach sitting as if on a toilet with a pipe and reading material.

Roddy is informed that the rice he's eating is really maggots (they start singing and he then flings them away).

Sid holds his crotch while stating he's been holding it in until halftime (to go to the bathroom). We then hear that Toad's plan is to open the floodgates just as all humans up top near simultaneously use the bathroom, thus sending floodwaters into the underground city.

As a balloon is popped and we hear the escaping sound, others react to the smell around Whitey, with him sheepishly saying he saw an opportunity (to fart and have no one hear it).

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE

Toad wishes to settle an old score by causing all of the rat inhabitants of the underground city to be washed away in a massive tidal wave. Whitey and Spike work for him, while Le Frog also shows up to offer help.

Some people might not like the phrases "Whacko" and "Looney."

Trying to get rid of Sid who's arrived uninvited and won't leave, Roddy tells him that the toilet is a Jacuzzi. But Sid doesn't fall for it, and instead pushes Roddy down into the clean water in the bowl, grabs the handle and flushes him away.

One of Rita's younger brothers uses cables attached to a regular battery to shock Roddy (for laughs).

Thinking Rita is going to turn him in for some reward money offered by Toad, Roddy steals her boat and takes off.

We see that Toad was once Prince Charles' pet, but was replaced by another and then flushed down the toilet.

Embarrassed about not having either, Roddy tells a white lie to Rita about having friends and family.

Roddy steals from his human family by giving Rita one of their real rubies (to replace the fake one she had).

FRIGHTENING SCENES

Scenes listed under "Violence" may be unsettling or suspenseful to younger viewers, but probably few others.

Roddy hears strange sounds inside the house, slowly goes to look, and then sees a muddy eruption from the kitchen sink. But he doesn't see a mud-covered figure, looking like a monster, coming up behind him with its arms reaching out (but it turns out to be Sid who has no ill wishes toward him).

After Sid flushes him down the toilet, and he travels a long way, Roddy pops out of the system and finds himself far above the city, falling toward it. However, he turns out to be just a few feet above a sidewalk drawing (depicting an aerial view looking down) upon which he lands.

A large mechanical hand comes up behind Roddy and then grabs him, but we then see that it's being controlled by Rita.

Toad orders Spike and Whitey to "Ice them both" (referring to Roddy and Rita). We then see a refrigerator filled with other animal characters frozen in jars of liquid nitrogen.

Spike, Whitey, and others chase after Roddy and Rita in her boat through the city on its "river." One rat bounces off a large float into another rat, while Spike ends up on the boat, standing on Roddy and preparing to stab him with a corkscrew or something similar (attacked to a line trailing behind him). Rita then hits the propellant, Spike's line goes taut, and he's yanked backwards off the boat, wraps around and slams into a pipe several times, and then lands on a pipe on his crotch.

Rita's boat goes through a river passage labeled as dangerous, and the rapids are rough as Rita battles with Le Frog. The boat then blasts out into an opening, with its mechanical arm grabbing a pipe above it. That results in the boat dangling vertically from it, with Roddy falling and Rita catching him (as she dangles from the end). Le Frog then dislodges the hand's fingers from the pipe, causing the boat to fall. But Roddy and Rita quickly create a makeshift parachute, with the updraft lifting them up and above Le Frog (although her boat crashes into the whirlpool below and sinks).

Roddy finds Rita tied up, dangling in front of a floodgate that's opening (and will allow a tidal wave of toilet water to wash over her and the city). Roddy then flies up to her on a balloon of sorts, with Toad firing staples at him (like a machine gun), eventually popping the balloon.

As a tidal wave of human toilet water (just looking like regular water) races toward the underground city, Roddy uses a frog's long tongue to swing in front it, save Rita, and sprays and thus freezes the tidal wave with liquid nitrogen just in the nick of time.

GUNS/WEAPONS

An inanimate toy soldier carries a toy rifle.

Toad fires staples at Roddy like a machine gun.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR

Phrases: "Careful mate, those aren't chocolate buttons," "You plunker," "Bon voyage, me old cream cracker," "Whacko," "Looney," "You idiot," "You pink-eyed freak," "I've got a bum like a Japanese flag" (meaning a red circle from eating spicy food), "The booty's in the booty," "You're toast," "My fly's undone," "Ice them both," "You big fat slimy airbag," "You idiots," "No it's blooming not," "Get stuffed," "A load of old rubbish," "You cheeky little monkey," "To the rat-mobile," "You dipstick," "Roddy flushed down his potty," "You incompetent cheese eater," "Fruitcake," "I'm such an idiot," "This is too sweat," "What a Lu-Lu-Lu-Loser," "You egregious reject," "Nasty," "You warty windbag" and "You big slimy windbag."

It's possible the film could inspire a young child to flush small pets or other things down the toilet (thinking they'll end up in the underground city as occurs in the film).

Sid lets out an extremely long and loud belch.

Sid asks Roddy if he likes seafood (but talks with his mouth open, meaning "see food").

Hoping he's dreaming and trying to wake himself up, Roddy repeatedly slaps himself.

Rita spits into her hand for a handshake with Roddy, followed by him reluctantly doing the same. They do this again later in the film.

A rat blows a raspberry, and slugs later do the same to Le Frog.

One of Rita's younger brothers uses cables attached to a regular battery to shock Roddy (for laughs).

Rita's father does an unintentional spit-take with his soup (where he's surprised and spits it out in response).

On the phone, Sid lets out such a loud belch that the air blows hard on Roddy's face (through the phone).

JUMP SCENES

None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)

A mild amount of suspenseful music plays in a number of scenes.

Some scary sounding music just turns out to be a slug whistling that tune.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)

None.

PROFANITY

None.

SEX/NUDITY

While Roddy plays with the inanimate dolls (the same size as him), we see him shirtless while playing volleyball, while a female doll is in a bikini.

While tied together back to back, Rita tells Roddy to reach into her back pocket for a paper clip, but she then exclaims "Oh" and "I said my back pocket" (indicating he accidentally felt some other part of her bottom).

Roddy jumps onto Rita as she starts to go down a zip line, accidentally causing her pants to come down part of the way, showing part of her non-explicit underwear (with him saying that wasn't something he wanted to see).

Rita's mom and others think Roddy is the singer Tom Jones. Later, when he dons the act and sings, a large pair of women's underwear (rat sized) flies up onto Roddy's head.

SMOKING

As part of Rita's house falls apart, we see a roach sitting as if on a toilet with a pipe and reading material.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES

None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT

Where things go when they're flushed down the toilet (so that kids don't flush small pets or other things).

Uninvited houseguests.

How Roddy and Rita put their difference aside to help one another.

Wishing to harm others to make oneself feel better for an injustice not directly involving them.

VIOLENCE

Slapstick and/or comedy style violence toward others includes the following:

After Sid flushes him down the toilet, Roddy hits the inside of various pipes and other things on the way down.

Hoping he's dreaming and trying to wake himself up, Roddy repeatedly slaps himself.

Roddy ends up landing on an obnoxious tourist (another rat) and then burns his hands on an outdoor cooking grill when he accidentally places them on it one by one.

A large mechanical hand comes up behind Roddy and then grabs him, but we then see that it's being controlled by Rita.

While being chased, Rita swings one rat into another, with Whitey than grabbing her and Roddy.

Rita knocks Spike aside.

Toad zaps a fly with his long sticky tongue (the fly cries out "Help me!") and then eats it. Later, the still-alive fly is seen on his tongue, prompting Toad to say, "My fly's undone").

Spike and Whitey end up being partially frozen by liquid nitrogen while trying to subject Rita and Roddy to the same. As they chase after them (still partially frozen together), Whitey accidentally slams Spike into a column and the two of them then fall onto others.

Roddy jumps onto Rita as she starts to go down a zip line, but then falls and lands hard on a pipe.

Whitey uses Spike as the transport device on a zip line (wrapping him around it), but both end up falling. Spike ends up landing hard on a surface, and Whitey lands in some water, but then something falls on his head.

Trying to follow Rita down to the city surface, Roddy ends up slipping and falling, landing hard four times in a row on his crotch, followed by a soccer ball then hitting him in the crotch.

Roddy falls into Rita's boat and is okay, but she punches him down into the hold. There, she proceeds to throw all sorts of things at him, including shooting crayons at him like arrows.

Roddy slams Rita's "ruby" down onto something, causing it to shatter (and thus prove it's a fake).

Toad knocks Spike and Whitey out through a closed window (we don't see the initial contact or them landing on anything down below it).

As Rita's house rocks back and forth like a ship, her father (in a wheelchair) and siblings (and/or others) end up repeatedly slamming into one wall and then another.

Rita hits Roddy with a spoon.

One of Rita's younger brothers uses cables attached to a regular battery to shock Roddy (for laughs).

Trying to grab a cable, Roddy is shocked repeatedly and then hurts his foot when he kicks the panel it's in.

After some rats jump down into a "river" on hand blenders (like jet skis), another tries the same on a plugged in toaster, but gets shocked (cartoon style).

Spike, Whitey, and others chase after Roddy and Rita in her boat through the city on its "river." One rat bounces off a large float into another rat, while Spike ends up on the boat, standing on Roddy and preparing to stab him with a corkscrew or something similar (attacked to a line trailing behind him). Rita then hits the propellant, Spike's line goes taut, and he's yanked backwards off the boat, wraps around and slams into a pipe several times, and then lands on a pipe on his crotch.

Spike is shocked when trying to plug the wrong cable into a panel.

During a spoof of sorts of the spaghetti scene in "Lady and the Tramp," two slugs' mouths approach each other on one strand, but one slug then eats the other by accident (we later see it pop out and it's okay).

Rita tells Roddy not to let the bed bugs bite (they're sleeping separately) and one then does bite him (played for laughs).

One frog slaps another.

Rita smacks Le Frog.

Dropping down from a makeshift parachute, Roddy and Rita fall down through a chimney and land hard, but are okay (the fireplace was not lit).

While driving a toy car, Roddy slams into a table leg, causing the car's airbag to blast him backwards out of the car and into a wall.

Rita kicks Spike aside and the latter lands in what appear to be small pushpins (we see them stuck in him -- no blood, and he's otherwise okay).

After having Sid flush him back into the underground city, Roddy lands on a doomsayer (played for comedy).

Roddy finds Rita tied up, dangling in front of a floodgate that's opening (and will allow a tidal wave of toilet water to wash over her and the city). Roddy then flies up to her on a balloon of sorts, with Toad firing staples at him (like a machine gun), eventually popping the balloon.

Spike falls back into a jar containing Toad's tadpole offspring, and they bite him on his butt.

Toad slaps a mime frog aside.

Roddy uses liquid nitrogen to freeze Le Frog's frog companions, while Toad snatches Rita with his tongue and tries to hit Roddy with it as well.

A bottle of champagne (human sized) twice hits Spike as it opens, knocking him around.

Reviewed October 28, 2006 / Posted November 3, 2006

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