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(f) If the little ones start begging for a pet rat this
Christmas, blame Sam Fell. The British animation
filmmaker oame up with the Idea for -and co-di
rected, with David Bowers -the Aardtnan Anima-
tion company's "Flushed Away" (Nov. 3), which this
fall Is part of a kid-movie crowd that Includes
"Everyone's He,o~ (Sept. i5), "Open Sea
son" (Sept. 29), the 3-D reissue of "Tim
Burton's The Nightmare Before Christ
mas" (Oct. 20) and the holiday season's
"Charlotte's Web."
Aardman, the studio behind Wal
lace & Gromit, recruited an all-star
cast of voices (including Hugh
Jackman, Kate Winslet and Ian
McKellen) for its tale of a well
heeled English rat who sinks
low, only to find high adven
ture. But to hear Fell tell it, .
the whole thing may have
been just an excuse to get sub;
terranean and see the real London
underground.
·We got to go down into the sewers, •
Fell says happily, the way one might discuss
a trip to FIji. ·We all had oxygen and spe
cial suits and big gloves. It was all very dan-
gerousl"
For Charles Sturridge, the director of
"Lassie" (Sept. 1), tl'le danger was in work
ing with real animals. The gentle, England-set remake of the classic tale faces off against other
live-action family fare like the junior secret agent
flick "Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker" (Oct. 6), •
"F1lcka" (Oct. 20), Tim Allen's "The Santa Clause 3: •
The Escape Clause" (Nov. 3) and the holidayfanta-
sy tale "£ragon."
#It's hard to describe what working wit;! animals
is like," muses Sturridge, who has helmed critically
acclaimed TV epics like "Brideshead Revisited" and
"Gulliver's Travels." "It's not like you think, 'I've done :
five days and the next five will be okay.' It's, 'My God, •
I've survived five days of this. How will I do six?' " •
Michael Glitz •
........................................................................................................................... ·
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(f) If the little ones start begging for a pet rat this
Christmas, blame Sam Fell. The British animation
filmmaker oame up with the Idea for -and co-di
rected, with David Bowers -the Aardtnan Anima-
tion company's "Flushed Away" (Nov. 3), which this
fall Is part of a kid-movie crowd that Includes
"Everyone's He,o~ (Sept. i5), "Open Sea
son" (Sept. 29), the 3-D reissue of "Tim
Burton's The Nightmare Before Christ
mas" (Oct. 20) and the holiday season's
"Charlotte's Web."
Aardman, the studio behind Wal
lace & Gromit, recruited an all-star
cast of voices (including Hugh
Jackman, Kate Winslet and Ian
McKellen) for its tale of a well
heeled English rat who sinks
low, only to find high adven
ture. But to hear Fell tell it, .
the whole thing may have
been just an excuse to get sub;
terranean and see the real London
underground.
·We got to go down into the sewers, •
Fell says happily, the way one might discuss
a trip to FIji. ·We all had oxygen and spe
cial suits and big gloves. It was all very dan-
gerousl"
For Charles Sturridge, the director of
"Lassie" (Sept. 1), tl'le danger was in work
ing with real animals. The gentle, England-set remake of the classic tale faces off against other
live-action family fare like the junior secret agent
flick "Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker" (Oct. 6), •
"F1lcka" (Oct. 20), Tim Allen's "The Santa Clause 3: •
The Escape Clause" (Nov. 3) and the holidayfanta-
sy tale "£ragon."
#It's hard to describe what working wit;! animals
is like," muses Sturridge, who has helmed critically
acclaimed TV epics like "Brideshead Revisited" and
"Gulliver's Travels." "It's not like you think, 'I've done :
five days and the next five will be okay.' It's, 'My God, •
I've survived five days of this. How will I do six?' " •
Michael Glitz •
........................................................................................................................... ·