A Rat's Tale

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; Warner Bros. Film Gmbh;
Distributed by	Warner Bros. (Germany); Legacy Releasing (United States);
Release dates	27 March 1997 (Germany); 20 March 1998 (United States);
Running time	89 minutes
Countries	Germany; United States;
Languages	German; English;
Box office	$33,768 (US)

A Rat's Tale (German: Die Story von Monty Spinnerratz) is a 1997 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. The live action 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)

German voice cast (English actors)

Source:

Dagmar Heller as Mrs. Dollart
Friedrich Georg Beckhaus as Prof. Plumpingham
Oliver Feld as Tom O'Dolley

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.

Release

Home media

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

References

1 2 3 "Die Story von Monty Spinnerratz". filmportal.de. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
↑ "A Rat's Tale (1998)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
1 2 "A Rat's Tale". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
↑ Klady, Leonard (March 19, 1998). "A Rat's Tale". Variety. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
1 2 "Helden der Unterwelt" [Heroes of the Underworld]. Der Spiegel (in German). March 23, 1997. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
↑ All of the American actors are dubbed into German in the original German language version.
↑ "Deutsche Synchronkartei | Filme | Die Story von Monty Spinnerratz". www.synchronkartei.de. Retrieved October 4, 2025.
↑ "A Rat's Tale [VHS]". Amazon. Retrieved December 4, 2024.

External links

A Rat's Tale at IMDb
A Rat's Tale at Rotten Tomatoes

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[filmportal-1] 1 2 3 "Die Story von Monty Spinnerratz". filmportal.de. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved November 14, 2024.

[2] "A Rat's Tale (1998)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 3, 2024.

[NUM-3] 1 2 "A Rat's Tale". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved December 3, 2024.

[4] Klady, Leonard (March 19, 1998). "A Rat's Tale". Variety. Retrieved December 3, 2024.

[spiegel-5] 1 2 "Helden der Unterwelt" [Heroes of the Underworld]. Der Spiegel (in German). March 23, 1997. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2024.

[6] All of the American actors are dubbed into German in the original German language version.

[7] "Deutsche Synchronkartei | Filme | Die Story von Monty Spinnerratz". www.synchronkartei.de. Retrieved October 4, 2025.

[8] "A Rat's Tale [VHS]". Amazon. Retrieved December 4, 2024.