Movie premiere flush with stars

They made their grand entrance at the screening by sliding down a large inflatable toilet. Co-star Bill Nighy was also present at the premiere.

Winslet and Jackman voice rats Rita and Roddy in the animated film by Wallace and Gromit creators Aardman Animations.

Flushed Away - about a rat who gets flushed down the toilet - opens in the UK on 1 December.

Street-wise

Jackman voices Roddy, a rich pet who has no friends or family and is forced to play with dolls to pass his time.

His life changes when Sid, an intruder rat voiced by former EastEnder Shane Richie, flushes him down the toilet.

He meets Winslet's street-wise sewer rat Rita, who agrees to help Roddy back to the surface if he helps make her rich.

Winslet said she took the part for her two children.

"I think it is the reason why we both wanted to do it, ultimately, because there is nothing else either of us have done that our kids can see for some time yet. It's an amazing feeling."

The actress said she could personally relate to Rita, but Jackman said he and his character were nothing alike.

"I like to think of my character as James Bond," he said.

"The truth be told, I am the opposite. I am Australian. We pride ourselves in not being posh."

Flushed Away, produced by Dreamworks, is Aardman Animation's first full-length computer animated film and took almost four years to make.

The characters were moulded in clay, then scanned in 3D and recreated as computerised images.

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Flushed Away
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