Despite its blocky, computer-generated visuals being about two years behind the expertise of Pixar, this contemporary pan-European interpretation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale is an enjoyable diversion for younger kids and not too unbearable for adults.
Ratso is a streetwise chancer of a rat whose theatre show struggles to impress the crowds. At first he thinks nothing of the egg he stumbles upon until it cracks open in his presence and its occupant – a mutant swan – takes a shine to him. Ugly’s rotund shape and deformed mug at first make Ratso wince, but he soon sees the potential profitability of displaying an Elephant Man-like ‘freak’. Matters go awry, however, when a former acquaintance of his – a floozy of a rodent with heavy-looking cohorts in tow – finally catches up with him.
There’s little originality here – some characters and scenes are reminiscent of Blue Sky’s ‘Ice Age’ films and there’s a surfeit of padding – but it’s agreeable enough for the half-term break.