
As I mentioned recently, my two-year-old daughter is completely obsessed with The Highway Rat at the moment. The animated version – which was on BBC1 over Christmas – has really captured her imagination. Indeed, she regularly recounts favourite moments in the same intonation as the voice talent!
She was very happy, then, when a review copy of The Highway Rat DVD arrived. Featuring the voices of David Tennant, Rob Brydon, Nina Sosanya, Frances De La Tour and Tom Hollander, the adaptation brings the book to life brilliantly.
If you’re not familiar with the story, you can probably guess the basic plot. A greedy rodent steals food from other creatures before learning his lesson.
What I really like about the adaptation – and, indeed, the other Donaldson/Scheffler-inspired animations – is the way that it is so faithful to the original while standing up on its own too.
For example, while the story is quite rightly told word-for-word, the rat is much more likeable. There’s a specific scene towards the end – don’t worry; I won’t spoil it if you haven’t seen it yet – that doesn’t appear in the book but which complements it beautifully. It’s creative and insightful and adds to the story without the addition of extra dialogue.
Extras include a live performance of The Highway Rat. This features both Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, which I think is a lovely touch. There’s also a nice behind-the-scenes feature which shows how the thieving rodent made his way from page to screen.
It was interesting to learn about the inspiration for the tale as well as the animation process. I was fascinated to see how the animators approached a scene in which the rat steals flies from a spider’s web. So much goes into the briefest of moments and this definitely shows in the finished product.
We love The Highway Rat and will be watching it again and again now we have a copy of our own.
The Highway Rat DVD is available to buy from today. In addition, I have three copies to give away. You can enter via as many of the entry methods in the Rafflecopter widget below as you like. Good luck!
February 5, 2018
the gruffalo
February 5, 2018
My five year old daughter loves the gruffalo and the gruffalos child xx
February 5, 2018
The Gruffalo
February 5, 2018
The Witch from Room on the Broom!
February 5, 2018
The gruffulo such a great storyline
February 5, 2018
The Gruffalo
February 5, 2018
Room on the Broom = a lovely story.
February 5, 2018
The GRUFFALO for us
February 5, 2018
The Witch from “Room on the Broom” – I love that book!
February 5, 2018
Has to be the gruffalo for sure!!
February 5, 2018
the gruffalo
February 5, 2018
The Gruffalo
February 5, 2018
Room on the broom, I’ve just read it with my youngest grandson
February 6, 2018
The Gruffalo, love reading that story to my boy x
February 6, 2018
Definitely has to be The Gruffalo! Initially my daughter was frightened by him but as she’s come to love the story she understands that he’s ‘just big, different and friendly ‘! Her words!
February 6, 2018
the gruffalo
February 6, 2018
The Gruffalo
February 6, 2018
Tyrannosaurus Drip
February 6, 2018
The Gruffalo
February 6, 2018
The gruffalo
February 7, 2018
Tiddler
February 7, 2018
we are Grufalo fans
February 8, 2018
The Gruffalo.
February 9, 2018
The gruffalo
February 11, 2018
the gruffalo
February 13, 2018
The mouse in the Gruffalo is my favourite character!
February 13, 2018
We like the stick man and the gruffalo.
February 14, 2018
the gruffalo
February 14, 2018
Stick Man
February 15, 2018
The Gruffalo
February 15, 2018
Stickman
February 16, 2018
Spinderella is fun and probably my favourite but also love Stick Man.
February 16, 2018
Cave Baby.
February 16, 2018
stick man!
February 16, 2018
Stick man
February 16, 2018
The Gruffalo.
February 17, 2018
Stick man
February 17, 2018
The Gruffalo
February 17, 2018
STICK MAN
February 17, 2018
The witch from Room on The Broom – we love her flying upside down x
February 17, 2018
The Gruffalo
February 17, 2018
Our favourite is Stick Man
February 17, 2018
The Gruffalo
February 18, 2018
The Gruffalo
February 18, 2018
The Gruffalo.
February 18, 2018
Stick man 😀
February 18, 2018
I love mouse from The Gruffalo
February 18, 2018
The gruffalo
February 18, 2018
The Gruffalo And the Gruffalo child. Fantastic stories and my grandson loves them
February 18, 2018
I love the Snail from The Snail and the Whale
February 18, 2018
The Gruffalos child is my favourite character. My kids love it but to be honest they love them all
February 18, 2018
Has to be the Gruffalo
February 18, 2018
The gruffalo
February 18, 2018
my kids love the Gruffalo
February 18, 2018
The mouse from the gruffalo.
February 18, 2018
the gruffalo 🙂
February 18, 2018
The snail and the whale – love the art work and all the fantastic places they go, and the ending – so dramatic
February 18, 2018
The gruffalo x
February 18, 2018
Tabby McTat was a busker’s cat with a miaow that was loud and strong.