A Rat's Tale

A Rat's Tale
German theatrical release poster
Directed by	Michael F. Huse
Screenplay by	Werner Morgenrath Peter Scheerbaum
Based on	A Rat's Tale by Tor Seidler
Produced by	Hans-Peter Clahsen
Starring	Beverly D'Angelo Jerry Stiller Josef Ostendorf Lauren Hutton
Cinematography	Piotr Lenar
Edited by	Timothy McLeish
Music by	Frédéric Talgorn
Production companies	Monty Film[1] Warner Bros. Film Gmbh[1]
Distributed by	Warner Bros. (Germany)[1] Legacy Releasing (United States)[2][3]
Release dates	27 March 1997 (1997-03-27) (Germany) 20 March 1998 (1998-03-20) (United States)
Running time	89 minutes
Countries	Germany United States
Languages	German English
Box office	$33,768 (US)[3]

A Rat's Tale (German: Die Story von Monty Spinnerratz) is a 1997 German-American fantasy film directed by Michael F. Huse, based on the 1985 children's book A Rat's Tale by Tor Seidler. The film features marionette work by German theater group Augsburger Puppenkiste,[4][5] along with state-of-the-art visual effects, and the live action human cast include Beverly D'Angelo, Jerry Stiller, Lauren Hutton, and the German actor Josef Ostendorf.

The film was released in Germany on March 27, 1997, by Warner Bros. under their Family Entertainment label. It received a limited release in the United States on March 20, 1998, by Legacy Releasing.

Plot

Cast

Live-action cast

• Josef Ostendorf as Mr. Lou Dollart
  • Danny Wells voices Mr. Lou Dollart in the English version.
• Beverly D'Angelo as Mrs. Dollart
• Jerry Stiller as Prof. Plumpingham
• Lauren Hutton as Evelyn Jellybelly
• Jonathan Kinsler as Architect Stressback
• Steffen Wink as Assistant Nick McRafferty
  • Scott Weil voices Assistant Nick McRafferty in the English version.
• Andreas Herder as Assistant Tom O'Dooley
  • Nicholas Benson voices Assistant Tom O'Dooley in the English version.
• Jack Recknitz as Mr. Adams
• Natja Brunckhorst as Mrs. Lucy
• Yoshinori Yamamoto as Futon San

German voice cast

• Philipp Moog as Monty Mad-Rat Jr. (Monty Spinnerratz)
• Carmen Plate as Isabella Noble-Rat (Isabella Nobelratz)
• Klaus Havenstein as Old Monty (Monty Senior)
• Gudo Hoegel as Rudi Rake-Rat (Rudi Raffratz)
• Donald Arthur as Jean-Paul Canalligator (Knaligator Charon)

English voice cast

• Dee Bradley Baker as Monty Mad-Rat Jr.
• Lynsey Bartilson as Isabella Noble-Rat
• Raymond Guth as Old Monty
• Scott MacDonald as Rudi Rake-Rat
• Donald Arthur as Jean-Paul Canalligator

Production

Filming took place in New York and an abandoned steelworks site in Duisburg. The interior sets were shot at Warner Bros. Movie World in Bottrop.[5]

Release

Home media

The film was released in the United States and Canada on VHS by Warner Home Video on May 12, 1998.[6]

References

1. "Die Story von Monty Spinnerratz". filmportal.de. Archived from the original on 7 October 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
2. "A Rat's Tale (1998)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
3. "A Rat's Tale". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
4. Klady, Leonard (19 March 1998). "A Rat's Tale". Variety. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
5. "Helden der Unterwelt" [Heroes of the Underworld]. Der Spiegel (in German). 23 March 1997. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
6. "A Rat's Tale [VHS]". Amazon. Retrieved 4 December 2024.

External Links

• A Rat's Tale at IMDb
• A Rat's Tale at Rotten Tomatoes
• A Rat's Tale at the TCM Movie Database