Maurice is a streetwise ginger cat who comes up with a money-making scam by befriending a group of self-taught talking rats. When Maurice and the rodents meet a bookworm called Malicia, their little con soon goes down the drain.
| Tagline | A furry tale about me. |
| Release Date: | Dec 16, 2022 |
| Genres: | Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy |
| Production Company: | Ulysses Filmproduktion, Cantilever Media, Narrativia, Studio Rakete, Squeeze, Red Star 3D, Telepool, Global Screen, Creative Europe Media, Sky Original Productions |
| Production Countries: | Belgium, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom |
| Casts: | Hugh Laurie, Emilia Clarke, David Thewlis, Himesh Patel, David Tennant, Gemma Arterton, Ariyon Bakare, Joe Sugg, Julie Atherton, Hugh Bonneville, Rob Brydon |
| Status: | Released |
| Budget: | $17000000 |
| Revenue: | 21110363 |
I quite liked the premiss of this animated comedy. The eponymous orange cat travels from town to town promising to help the citizens eliminate their perennial rat problems. Raising all the cash they can, they pay him and out of the blue a young lad appears and Hamelin-style, pipes all the offending rodents out of the town. Shortly afterwards, though, we realise that this is all a scam. "Maurice" is in league with his team of rats, and with the piper, and the money is to be used to enable them all to travel to a magical land mentioned in their sacred text (a comic book!). It's when they arrive in a town where they face a much greater danger, that "Maurice" has to raise his game and find the real "Pied Piper" and his pipe, if he is to save all his brethren from doom! It's a simple story with some fun characterisations - I liked "Dangerous Beans" and "Sardines" and the action flows along pleasingly for just ninety minutes. Certainly, it's a derivative hybrid of stories, and I found the narration really quite annoying after a while, but as a charming family adventure film that illustrates the values of teamwork, loyalty whilst still being peppered with some fun dialogue and scenarios, I quite enjoyed it.
