Originally released in Germany in 1997 as Die Story von Monty Spinnerratz
Directed by Michael F. Huse
Starring Beverly D'Angelo, Jerry Stiller, Josef Ostendorf and Lauren Hutton
Based on the story by Tor Seidler
VHS, 90 min.
1998
Warner Home Video
4000 Warner Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91522
ISBN: 0-7907-3505-9
This is the movie adaptation of a super book by Tor Seidler. Unfortunately, this movie is not nearly as good as the book. (Are they ever?) But it is a charming, albeit low-tech, rat-friendly production. The rats are all portrayed by marionettes from the Augsburger Puppenkiste, which is based in Augsburg, Germany. I'm not a big marionette fan, but I have to admit these guys are pretty cute, despite the somewhat stiff acting.
The storyline follows the plot in the book up to a point, but then gets a bit more embellished, adding characters and changing some of the situations. Still, it's a pretty faithful rendering of Seidler's tone and dialogue. The story follows the adventures of Montague Mad-Rat the Younger as he discovers the perilous world outside of his sheltered family life. He lives with his unusually artistic mom and dad in an unused sewer under New York City. One day, he rescues a beautiful, lost girl rat with a yellow ribbon around her neck and ends up in a series of adventures as he tries to help her save their world from destruction.
Monty lives in a stereotypical NYC underground sewer, complete with a "canalligator" friend named Jean-Paul. He is a bit of an outcast, as most other rats are obsessed with collecting dropped coins and other human cast-offs, but he prefers to spend his time in the artistic pursuit of painting seashells. He only becomes aware of how desperately he wants to belong with the in crowd after meeting Isabella Noble-Rat, the beautiful young rat who he falls madly in love with. Together they are destined to save the wharves of Manhattan from the evil Mr. Dollart's poisonous schemes with the help of some magical Mayan shells, which hold the key to a mythical underground city.
Seidler's story of bravery and artistic integrity is somewhat spoiled with the addition of the magic element to this movie. In the book, it is Monty's talents and Isabella's belief in them that save the rats, but here the emphasis is more action-oriented. I did like the addition of Jean-Paul, the canalligator -- he provides a fun, comic element to the movie as well as having some of the best lines -- "So many places to go, rats to see, sewers to save...." I also enjoyed watching Lauren Hutton play the rats' friend and art gallery owner, Ms. Evelyn Jellybelly -- she seems to have a lot of fun with her role.
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