If it's yellow, let it mellow

Pixar and Disney dominate the animated movie scene, but the collaboration of DreamWorks and Aardman (responsible for the excellent "Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" and the unappreciated "Chicken Run") comes a close second. Unfortunately the studios split in October, making "Flushed Away" only their third, but final, film together (sigh).\nIn "Flushed Away" England's acting elite, and, er, Australia's and Scotland's and any other country we assume is English, come together to voice the rodents of Ratropolis. Hero Roddy (Hugh Jackman) is a pampered pet rat in London until he is accidentally flushed down the toilet, ending up in London's mini-city of a sewer system. Desperate to get back home, Roddy seeks the help of Rita (Kate Winslet), a tough boat captain. Rita is also being chased by villain The Toad (Ian McKellen), who has plans to destroy Ratropolis and let amphibians take over the rodent world.\nWhat makes "Flushed Away" fun should really drag it down, pardon the pun, the toilet. It's extremely chaotic, overly fast-paced without ever taking a breath and probably has a character too many. However, the script keeps everything controlled and the quirky characters are actually enjoyable rather than annoying like those of most kid movies. The singing slugs even give the tiny sea turtles from "Finding Nemo" a run for their money as cutest cartoons.\nAnd like most children's films, there are dozens of pop culture references to other films, but the spoofing is funny because it actually puts good use to parody rather than just recognizing it as a necessity for adult audiences (I'm looking at you "Shark Tale").\n The city of Ratropolis, based on London, is meticulously detailed and the clay animated characters (although CGI was used as well) all look great, taking on the Aardman signature style (round eyes, square-ish jaws, etc.). Too bad there's no special feature following the making of the city and the animation. Instead there's an enjoyable look at the making of the film's music (not a typical feature for your kid flick) that includes both the score and actual songs (which focus on Hugh Jackman's vocal talent -- something film audiences rarely get to see in his action films --the guy does have a Tony!). Those adorable slugs are back in two unused songs, but this barely lasts a minute and only includes the songs' choruses. And just in case kids haven't begged their parents into buying every DreamWorks animation title, there's a DreamWorks's jukebox that features musical moments from films like "Shrek" and "Madagascar"