When the cat’s away, the mice will play – or in this case, the rats! However, in the world of the legendary Terry Pratchett, it tends to be the other way around: the rats will play when Maurice comes to town, and they’re dancing to the symphony that he’s conducting. Today, that’s by way of the new stills that were just released to both promote the upcoming animated film The Amazing Maurice and celebrate the 20th anniversary of the book the movie is based on, The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents.
In total, eight stills were released featuring the various characters along with the names of their voice actors. Among the promotional images, luminaries such as Hugh Laurie (Maurice), Emilia Clarke (Malicia), Gemma Arterton (Peaches), and David Tennant (Dangerous Beans) are referenced for this Sky Cinema exclusive due to come out next year. The other characters depicted are Darkatan (Arion Bakare), Sardines (Joe Sugg), Nourishing (Julie Atherton), and the would-be piper Keith (Himesh Patel).
The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents tells a story in the vein of The Pied Piper Of Hamlin, with Keith working alongside the sentient alley cat Maurice and his group of equally sentient rats, feigning rat infestations across the countryside and then making a tidy sum ridding every town they pass through of its “plague.” The book is part of the original Discworld universe, and the film is geared towards younger audiences. It’s the fourth animated adaptation of a work by the late, great author, and the first to be made into a full length animated feature film.
Alongside those depicted in these promo images, not shown are equally wonderful additions to this cast, such as David Thewlis in the role of Boss Man, and Hugh Bonneville in the role of The Mayor. Though they are absent from this collection of promotional stills, they are very much worth noting – powerful and important, if remembered discreetly as is the man behind the creation of their characters, living on “in the clacks.”
Are you looking forward to the movie? What do you think of the character designs below? Tell us in the comments how you feel about the casting choices made so far, and be on the lookout for The Amazing Maurice from Sky Cinema, in theaters 2022!
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Liz Carlie (she/her/he/him) is a regular book, TV, and film reviewer for SCIFI.radio and has previously been a guest on ‘The Event Horizon’. In addition to being an active member of the traditional fandom community, she’s also an active participant in online fan culture, pro wrestling journalism, and spreading the gospel of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She resides in Southern California with her aspiring superhero dog, Junior, enjoying life one hyperfixation at a time.
