The Gruffalo is a 2009 short computer-animated television film based on the 1999 picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.
Directed by Jakob Schuh and Max Lang, the film was produced by Michael Rose and Martin Pope of Magic Light Pictures, London, and Orange Eyes Limited, in association with the award-winning Studio Soi in Ludwigsburg, Germany, who developed and created the film.
The cast includes Helena Bonham Carter, Rob Brydon, Robbie Coltrane, James Corden, John Hurt and Tom Wilkinson.
9.8 million people watched the UK premiere on BBC One, Friday 25 December 2009 and the film went on to receive nominations for both an Academy Award and a BAFTA.
It was screened in US theatres, distributed by Kidtoon Films. In December 2012, the film and its sequel The Gruffalo's Child premiered on television in the United States on Disney Junior, and in December 2017 – 2018, the film and its sequel premiered on television in the United States on the Disney Junior channel.
Storyline
In an autumn wood, a Red squirrel mother finds a nut. Her children are playing until they see an owl. The mother squirrel drops the nut as she escapes from the owl, but her shocked children want her to tell them a story. So she tells the story of a mouse strolling through a deep dark wood.
The mouse tries to find a nut to eat but he can not reach it, so he makes a journey to a beautiful nut tree. Encountering three carnivorous animals along the way, who all wish to eat him -- first a fox, (who wants to cook the mouse) then an owl, (who wants eat the mouse for tea) and finally a snake (who wants to choke and eat the mouse) -- the plucky mouse uses his wits to survive. He lies to each animal that he is meeting a monster (calling his imaginary beast a ‘Gruffalo’), describes his terrible features, says that he is meeting him "here", and that the Gruffalo's favourite food is whichever animal he is being threatened by (roasted fox, owl ice cream, and scrambled snake). Each predator then panics and flees, but later they all gather and talk about what the mouse said, realizing they have been tricked.
The mouse feels so confident that he finally reaches the nut tree and suddenly comes face to face with a real Gruffalo, exactly as he had described it. When the Gruffalo catches and threatens to eat him, the mouse uses his wits again and says that everyone in the wood is afraid of him, asking the Gruffalo to follow him and see. As the two of them meet the animals again, the presence of the Gruffalo frightens them away, but the Gruffalo believes they are afraid of the mouse. As the Gruffalo prepares to eat the mouse, the mouse's tummy rumbles and he says his favourite food is Gruffalo crumble, causing the Gruffalo to retreat in fear. Finally safe, he finds the nut from earlier, which the Gruffalo had knocked down, and can eat it in peace.
When the mother squirrel ends her story, the children feel better and they all go to retrieve their nut as snow begins to fall. In the end credits, the house of the snake is seen.
Also See
Sound Effects Used
- BIRD, DOVE - MORNING DOVE: CALLING, ANIMAL
- Hollywoodedge, Elephant Trumpet Gro AT044301 (Mixed with Sound Ideas, ELEPHANT - VARIOUS SNORTS, GROWLS, TRUMPETS, ANIMAL.)
- Sound Ideas, DINOSAUR, VELOCIRAPTOR - ROAR, 2 VERSIONS, DIGIFFECTS
- Sound Ideas, ELEPHANT - VARIOUS SNORTS, GROWLS, TRUMPETS, ANIMAL (Mixed with Hollywoodedge, Elephant Trumpet Gro AT044301.)