The 10 Best Movies Featuring Rats And Other Rodents, According To IMDb

Rodents have come under some serious scrutiny during their years on this planet. As scavenging creatures, they are often seen as a troubling marker of filth, but they have also managed to associate themselves with disease thanks to their part in spreading the bubonic plague. With such a terrible reputation in real life, it is a shock how likable rodents are on screen.

Some rodents transcend the judgment put against them in their own ways, with some offering value in skillset, some with companionship, and some even with love with one another. Rodents offer filmmakers the opportunity to make the creatures that are often considered unlovable into lovable characters, and with the majority of the best films featuring them, that opportunity was taken. The results, however, varied considerably, and the disparate success of these films can be seen clearly in their IMDb rankings.

10 Stuart Little (1999) – 5.9

Stuart Little is one of those peculiar films where characters seem generally unbothered by the fact that a couple chose to adopt a mouse over human children. This extends to the police, who at one point in the film have no issues investigating the abduction of Stuart by a pair of mice imposters pretending to be Stuart’s birth parents.

The story manages to be about betrayal, family, and redemption, yet very little about the fact Stuart is a mouse; it is only ever really used as a derogatory slight against him. That being said, his mouse identity makes him the target of some alley cats who become prominent antagonists in his life.

9 Charlotte’s Web (2006) – 6.3

Though primarily a story about the friendship between a pig and a spider, Templeton, the rat, was an instrumental character in the story of Charlotte’s Web. The film hosts a range of talking barn animals, but though these characters tease the protagonist Wilbur, it is the misunderstood rat, Templeton, who is quick to help Wilbur avoid becoming dinner.

Suspicious, rebellious, and gluttonous, Templeton’s characterization is once again based upon society’s misplaced understandings of rats. His true character is, however, revealed to be noble and downright heroic at points, such as when he helps Wilbur with retrieving Charlotte’s eggs after her passing.

8 Mousehunt (1997) – 6.5

Before Rango and Pirates of The Caribbean, director Gore Verbinski had made his directorial debut with Mousehunt, a slapstick comedy where two brothers attempt to restore an abandoned Victorian mansion as a way to get their lives back on track. All that stands in their way is a singular mouse.

The mouse in Mousehunt, though, is certainly no ordinary rodent. Facing exterminators, giant cats, hoses, and the literal destruction of its home, nothing deterred the mouse antagonist of this film. However, by the end, the mouse amusingly becomes the hero by inspiring the brothers to go into a string-cheese-making career, uniting the brothers’ two interests of food and string.

7 Flushed Away (2006) – 6.6

Flushed Away was actually quite a risky film to release, being the first film by Aardman Animations (known for Wallace and Gromit) to be produced through computer generation as opposed to their usual stop motion style. The animation team kept their recognizable character models, though, leading to their uniquely styled rodents in the 2006 film.

Throwing a London-born pet mouse into the city’s underground sewers, Flushed Away blended many genres in following the odyssey and return of its main character Roddy St. James. Despite the all-star cast and relatively positive critical reviews, the film was a box-office flop and sadly marked the end of DreamWorks’ partnership with Aardman Animations. Fortunately, it would not deter the team, who will be returning with a new Wallace and Gromit feature in 2024.

6 The Great Mouse Detective (1986) – 7.2

Tracing an entire society of city-dwelling rodents, this film centered itself in the period of Victorian London. It is a natural choice as the film, and characters within it, are heavily inspired by the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, with the main character being Basil, a mouse performing a fair imitation of the famous detective.

Following a diabolical plot to seize control of the crown, the world of The Great Mouse Detective aligns closely with that of the human world above them, with their queen being the ruler of the ‘mousedom’ as opposed to the United Kingdom and royal guard dogs being more of a concern than the Royal Guard themselves. It is a convincing Holmes story, even if the stakes are a touch lower.

5 Encanto (2021) – 7.3

Though not members of the Madrigal family, the rats that lurk in the walls of the Casa Madrigal are tinged with the same kind of magic that pervades throughout the story of Encanto, one of the best Disney animated movies of the twenty-first century. Despite one of the family members, Antonio, being able to communicate with animals, it is Bruno the outcast that shares the deepest affinity with the rodents of this film.

The rats keep Bruno company and fulfill his human needs as best as he can make them, using them as his entertainment as well as confidants. Rats and Bruno share a lot in common as both are seen as bad omens or forewarnings of a decline and, as such, face a lot of judgment. The family’s acceptance of Bruno, and the rats with him, is indicative of their positive change in attitude as a whole.

4 The Secret Of NIMH (1982) – 7.6

Based on the classic children’s novel Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, this 1982 film brought the perils of a family of field mice into a mystifying tale of magic and science. Paying homage to a number of generic adventure tropes, this pint-sized epic cemented itself as a modern fairy tale.

As with any fairy tale, there was some shockingly dark material within The Secret of NIMH, with it at instances questioning both the value of life and sentience itself. It is clear that the film adaptation added in some elements that were not present in the book, such as the ‘magic’ itself, and this was likely in a bid to make the feature more family-friendly.

3 Steamboat Willie (1928) – 7.6

A landmark film for the Walt Disney Company, Steamboat Willie was one of the first cartoons with diegetic sound, making it historic for its technical feats as well as for fully introducing audiences to the characters of both Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Though more of a slapstick short than a character study, the film would help to establish Disney’s signature animation style.

Mickey Mouse is still the flagship character for Disney, functioning as their mascot to this day. This is despite Mickey Mouse’s lack of appearances in Disney’s recent feature film ventures, with his most famous performance dating back to 1940 with Fantasia, one of Disney’s most rewatchable animated movies. Still, Mickey Mouse will likely outlast many other characters by living on in both the merchandise and branding of the company.

2 Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) – 7.9

Wes Anderson brought to life one of Roald Dahl’s most beloved stories, Fantastic Mr. Fox, through the medium of stop-motion back in 2009. It is a story of a mischievous fox scheming a way to provide his family and community a better life, featuring some witty humor and quotes along the way. One of the obstacles in his path is that of a security guard rat – named Rat.

Acting as more of a self-appointed security guard than a hired official, Rat spends his time sipping away at the coveted cider of Franklin Bean’s cellar. He is one of the few antagonists in the generally light-hearted Fantastic Mr. Fox, bearing a malicious role he did not originally have in the story the film is based upon.

1 Ratatouille (2007) – 8.0

Remy the rat did more to improve the reputation of rodents in this film than any other on-screen creature to come before him. Ratatouille used the rodents of its story to tackle the complex world of French gastronomy, putting on blast the inaccessibly prejudiced world the industry was creating for itself.

Remy is used as a tool to represent the country style of French cooking and its pedestrian undertones that high-end restauranteurs had become scornful of. The fact he is a rat, the last thing anyone wants to see in a kitchen, compounds this. With its culinary accuracy and comedic beats, Ratatouille is easily one of the greatest films ever made about cooking, and rats too.

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