Film Details:
The Ugly Duckling And Me (U)
Kids (2006) 88mins Fr/Ger/UK/Ire/Den
Director: Michael Hegner, Karsten Kiilerich
Starring: Morgan C Jones, Paul Tylack, Anna Olson, Gary Hetzler, Danna Davis

Ratso, a wheeler-dealer rat struggling to break into showbusiness as the agent of a performing earthworm, flees the city to escape jilted lover Phyllis and her heavies. He ends up in a duck yard, in possession of an egg, which he claims to be his unborn son. Forced to take charge of the hatchling, named Ugly, Ratso adopts the public persona of a doting parent, whilst privately digging an escape tunnel. Ratso realizes that the clumsy duckling has a talent for making other animals laugh so he agrees to represent Ugly and they head for the nearby carnival where the teenager is due to perform a dance routine.

LondonNet Film Review
The Ugly Duckling And Me

Loosely adapted from Hans Christian Andersen, The Ugly Duckling And Me puts a contemporary spin on the classic yarn using computer animation that seems decidedly lack lustre next to the state-of-the-art technical wizardry of Pixar's Ratatouille...

Admittedly, Michael Hegner and Karsten Kiilerich's feature has been realised on a meagre budget. However, family audiences have come to expect slick, eye-popping visuals and an equally sharp script, and this endearing little film leaves us short-changed. The big screen format really exposes the weaknesses of the animation, particularly a chase sequence through a fairground that culminates in a ride on a ghost train.

As the characters careen down the rickety track, screaming at the top of their voices, we're reminded of a scene from the '80s video game Dragon's Lair or the cult children's programme Knightmare. The DVD format will be much more forgiving. Animal and bird protagonists move awkwardly against realistic backgrounds, and the screenplay slathers on mawkish sentiment, hammering home the notion that external beauty is fleeting which might explain the distorted physicality of the wildlife.

Do female ducks really need a pair of pert, feathered breasts? Ratso (voiced by Morgan C Jones), a wheeler-dealer rat struggling to break into showbusiness as the agent of a performing earthworm (Paul Tylack), flees the city to escape jilted lover Phyllis (Anna Olson) and her heavies. "Your life belongs to me, Ratso, and I'm gonna find you, whatever it takes!" screams Phyllis as her beau makes his exit on the roof of an express train. Ratso ends up in a duck yard, in possession of an egg, which he claims to be his unborn son. The ducks and chickens aren't convinced until the egg hatches. "That's the ugliest duckling I've ever seen!" squawks one bird. "He's the father all right!" clucks another.

Forced to take charge of the hatchling, named Ugly (voiced by Kim Larney), Ratso adopts the public persona of a doting parent ("What kind of father would I be if I refused to mother my only son?") whilst privately digging an escape tunnel. Phyllis and her goons catch up with Ratso just as he realizes that the clumsy duckling has a talent for making other animals laugh. Ratso agrees to represent Ugly and they head for the nearby carnival where the teenager is due to perform, accompanied by a pretty bird called Jessie (Aileen Mythen), who is quackers for the self-confessed "ugly freak."

The Ugly Duckling And Me is still recognisable as the Andersen fairy-tale, despite the addition of a fast-talking rat as the main character and frequent narrative detours. Pacing is pedestrian - a near-death encounter with a hungry pike on a frozen lake feels sluggish. Characters fall into neat racial stereotypes, from Italian-American rats to Irish seagulls who sound like they have been dipping their beaks in the Guinness. A feelgood happy ever after is assured.

- Jo Planter