The Amazing Maurice

Maurice, a streetwise tomcat, has come up with the perfect money-making scam. The family entertainment film is inspired by the Grimm Brothers' fairytale about the Pied Piper of Hamelin - the cat and a young pipe player named Keith lead a band of rats from town to town faking rat invasions! It works perfectly - until their cheat is uncovered.

Maurice, a streetwise cat, has the perfect money-making scam. He’s found a dumb-looking kid who plays a pipe, and his very own horde of rats – rats who, strangely, are educated and literate, so Maurice can no longer think of them as “lunch”. And everyone knows the stories about rats and pipers... However, when Maurice and the rodents reach the stricken town of Bad Blintz, their little con goes down the drain. For someone there is playing a different tune. A dark, shadowy tune. Something very, very bad is waiting in the cellars. It’s not a game anymore. It’s a rat-eat-rat world and the educated rats must learn to accept a new word... EVIL. The story is framed by the Mayor’s daughter, Melissa, a keen reader of children’s literature, who, when she discovers what is happening under her nose, joins the fray and gets involved in the tale of… The Amazing Maurice.

This incredibly lively, unique and entertaining animated feature film is based on one of Sir Terry Pratchett’s highly popular “Discworld” novels that have sold more than 90 million books worldwide. One of the highest-grossing screenwriters of all time, Oscar-nominated Terry Rossio, whose extensive credits include “Shrek,” “Aladdin,” and “Pirates of the Caribbean”, has penned the screenplay. Carter Goodrich, who worked on “Ratatouille”, “The Groods”, “Despicable Me”, is onboard for the character design. The stellar voice cast is led by Emilia Clarke, Hugh Laurie, David Thewlis, Himesh Patel and Gemma Arterton. Toby Genkel (“Ooops! Noah is Gone…”) is directing this international co-production by Ulysses Filmproduktion (Emely Christians) and Cantilever Media (Andrew Baker and Robert Chandler).

Awards

Utopiales Nantes FF, (France) 2022: Audience Award