The Amazing Maurice is a 2022 computer-animated fantasy comedy film directed by Toby Genkel and co-directed by Florian Westermann, from a screenplay by Terry Rossio, based on the 2001 novel The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett. [5] [6] The film stars Hugh Laurie, Emilia Clarke, David Thewlis, Himesh Patel, Gemma Arterton, Joe Sugg, Ariyon Bakare, Julie Atherton, Rob Brydon, Hugh Bonneville and David Tennant. [7] The story follows Maurice, a streetwise ginger cat who befriends a group of talking rats by coming up with a money-making scam. Also, I got fuddled with this book in the middle section, trying to figure out whether it’s really meant to be a children’s story or a weird children’s-story-for-adults thing. There are some very very oblique sexual references having to do with the more enlightened rats, and some other things that threw me off. Perhaps it’s that the rats are not quite “Mr. Bunnsy” enough for children- they walk and talk like story-book creatures, but they still pee on everything and eat each other and commit little ratty murders. And that’s troublesome. It’s also troublesome that the rats talk about philosophy, clearly not something we want children exposed to. I guess the easy-reading laugh-a-minute feel of most of the discworld books got diluted somehow in this one. Terry Pratchett’s first Discworld “story” designating it as written for children (followed by the wonderful Tiffany Aching sub-series) but I would submit this is YA territory, no warm fuzzy Disney moments here. novel in the Discworld ® series, but the first written for children. The Amazing Maurice is a lively and entertaining adventure inspired by the German fairy tale about the Pied Piper of Hamelin and a parody of the folk tale genre. Pratchett won the annual Carnegie Medal for the book – children’s literature’s highest award. Despite many other awards, honorary degrees and the knighthood that followed, Sir Terry Pratchett always emphasised that this was the award of which he was most proud. Hamnpork – the aging leader of the Clan, leftover from before they could think. Hamnpork resists the idea of "thinking" and leads the Clan through the brute force and cunning that traditional kee kee leaders use.

I very much enjoyed Terry Pratchett’s first foray into young adult literature. I know he’s written a handful of YA books (many of them also set in the Discworld), but I wish he had written more. He was very good at it! It is full of talking rats and a cat and also some really random and dodgy implications of magic that certainly has me interested in reading more of his works. I do very much so like the fact that it is not at all like traditional fantasy with its swords, wizards and dark lords but breaks all of those boundaries and troops and writing something that is completely different. Karen Usher, who chaired the panel of Carnegie judges, declared that the selection was unanimous: "This is an outstanding work of literary excellence–a brilliant twist on the tale of the Pied Piper that is funny and irreverent, but also dark and subversive." [1] [2]

They discover a great deal of food stolen by the men and large cages when the local keekees are being bred for coursing.

The film stars Hugh Laurie ( Avenue 5) as Maurice, Emilia Clarke ( Game of Thrones) as Malicia, David Thewlis ( Wonder Woman) as Boss Man, Himesh Patel ( Yesterday) as Keith, Gemma Arterton ( The King’s Man) as Peaches, Hugh Bonneville ( Downton Abbey) as The Mayor, David Tennant ( Doctor Who) as Dangerous Beans, Ariyon Bakare ( His Dark Materials) as Darktan, Rob Brydon ( Roald & Beatrix: The Tale of the Curious Mouse) as The Pied Piper, Julie Atherton ( Avenue Q) as Nourishing YouTuber Joe Sugg as Sardines, and Peter Serafinowicz as DEATH. BBC Radio 4 broadcast a 90-minute dramatisation on 23 August 2003, which was repeated on BBC 7 on 2 June 2007 and 27 April 2008. The character of Dangerous Beans was voiced by David Tennant. Darktan's voice was a spoof version of Sean Connery's Scottish burr. The narrator in the adaptation was Maurice himself, describing to Dangerous Beans how they arrived at the perilous situation near the end of the plot. Quotes from Mr. Bunnsy Has an Adventure, which appear as chapter heads in the book, were read by Rebecca Norfolk, aged 8, who played "Child reader" in the BBC Radio 4 production. To mark the occasion of Terry Pratchett's knighthood, it was broadcast on BBC 7 again, along with other dramatizations of his work, in February 2009.4

A very cute and funny look at reputations, stories, courage, having a conscience and the love of fairytales. I’m huge fan of Sir Terry Pratchett, so I would not be embarking on this project unless I felt we were bringing the film to life in a way that honours the book and will please its numerous fans around the world,” said Cantilever’s producer and chief executive Andrew Baker. Maurice is blessedly short on fart jokes* and long on Pratchett's brand of homespun philosophical irony.

She happens to have very good eyesight!’ snapped the mayor. ‘And she didn’t deserve to be bound and gagged along with Mr Vogel, who caught quite a chill as a result! a b Ramachandran, Naman (5 November 2020). "Hugh Laurie, Emilia Clarke to Voice Terry Pratchett Adaptation 'The Amazing Maurice' ". Variety. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020 . Retrieved 7 November 2020. Sky today reveals First Look character images and teaser poster for The Amazing Maurice, a Sky Original to mark the 20 th Anniversary of the book by Sir Terry Pratchett. Maher, Kevin (29 June 2023). "The Amazing Maurice review — meta gags ruin rat caper". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460 . Retrieved 30 June 2023.Maurice watched them argue again. Humans, eh? Think they're lords of creation. Not like us cats. We know we are. Ever see a cat feed a human? Case proven. My father shouted a lot and sent for Blunkett and Spears, too,’ said Malicia. ‘They’re the rat-catchers! And you know what that means, don’t you?’

I'm not sure what was up with the less interesting kid people of the story. I KNOW Pratchett can do better than this. In fact, he can do amazing (see the Tiffany Aching series for pretty much the coolest little girl heroine from like ever). Enough about the stupid humans. The film is co-produced by Sky, Ulysses Filmproduktion and Cantilever Media in partnership with Global Screen, with animation studios Studio Rakete (Hamburg) and Red Star Animation (Sheffield). The film has the full support of the Terry Pratchett estate and is produced in association with Narrativia. Producers are Julia Stuart (Sky), Emely Christians (Ulysses), Andrew Baker and Robert Chandler (Cantilever Media) and Rob Wilkins (Narrativia). The Film is directed by Toby Genkel, co-director is Florian Westermann, from a screenplay by Terry Rossio. Probably the wrong place,’ she said. ‘I’ll just rest my arm innocently on this coat hook.’ A sudden door in the wall completely failed to happen.Darktan – the leader of the rats' Trap Disposal Squad. After his near-death experience and the death of Hamnpork, Darktan becomes the Clan's new leader. Darktan, although an older rat, is much more progressive than Hamnpork. He is well-respected by all the rats because his knowledge of how to disarm traps helps keep them alive.