Following on from famous hits such as The Gruffalo and Stick Man, the Highway Rat is another successful adaptation of a picture books by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. It tells the story of a masked rat clad in boots and a cape who wields a sword like a musketeer. But he is not driven by a sense of justice. No, he is fuelled by his appetite and his greed as he declares to the animals unfortunate enough to encounter him that all their food belongs him and “the rat thief never shares”. After gorging on a delicious bun stolen from one little victim, this peculiar rodent develops a taste for sweet treats – and he ends up satisfying that craving in a most unexpected manner once he turns his back on banditry!
Like the other works mentioned above, this film takes us into a world that stays faithful to the illustrations in the books, having successfully rendered them in stop motion after working on figures digitally. The story is told by a narrator, with dialogue in verses with a jaunty and playful tone and a surprising conclusion. This is a sweet film to be enjoyed like the dainty cupcake that the Highway Rat devours at the start!
