The Gruffalo 2009

In an autumn forest, a mother red squirrel, Helena Bonham Carter as Mother Squirrel, spots a nut while her little ones play. When they glimpse an owl overhead, she drops the nut and darts away, prompting the youngsters to beg for a story before she goes back. She obliges by recounting the tale of a mouse wandering through a deep, dark wood.

The mouse, voiced by James Corden, sets out to find a nut to eat, making his way toward a beautiful nut tree. Along the path he runs into three animals who would be glad to make him lunch. First, a fox, Tom Wilkinson, tries to lure the mouse to share a meal. To stay safe, the mouse invents a fictional creature—the Gruffalo, Robbie Coltrane—a monster with terrible tusks and terrible claws and terrible teeth. He even claims that the Gruffalo’s favorite food is roasted fox, prompting the fox to sprint away in fear.

The same ruse works on an owl, John Hurt, and later on a snake, Rob Brydon. Each time, the mouse adds more details about the Gruffalo’s appearance and appetite, telling them the Gruffalo’s preferences, such as owl ice cream and scrambled snake, respectively. The predators realize they have been tricked after their conversations with the wary mouse.

At last, the mouse reaches the nut tree and comes face to face with the real Gruffalo. The mouse’s quick wits come into play again as he asserts that everyone in the wood fears him, and that the Gruffalo should follow him to see these fears for themselves. As they progress, the other forest creatures scatter in fear of the Gruffalo, but the mouse’s cunning makes the Gruffalo believe the danger comes from the others rather than from him. Just as the Gruffalo is ready to devour the mouse, the mouse’s stomach growls and he claims that his favorite dish is Gruffalo crumble, which unsettles the predator and causes him to back away.

With the danger averted, the mouse retrieves the nut the Gruffalo knocked down and enjoys it in quiet satisfaction. Back with the mother squirrel, she finishes the tale, and the children feel braver. Snow begins to fall as they head outside to reclaim their nut, ending the tale with a sense of wonder and warmth.