Though the Aardman animation studio gained fame via stop-motion efforts like Wallace and Gromit, they made the leap to computer fare eventually. That jump occurred with 2006’s adventure Flushed Away.

Set in London, a rat named Roddy St. James (voiced by Hugh Jackman) enjoys a posh lifestyle as a pet in a luxury apartment. However, he encounters a snag when sewer rodent Sid (Shane Richie) emerges from the sink and decides he wants to stay in these plush surroundings.

Desperate to get rid of the interloper, Roddy convinces Sid to enjoy the abode’s “whirlpool” – aka the toilet. Unfortunately, Sid doesn’t fall for this ruse, and Roddy becomes the one flushed down the loo.

Stuck out of his element, Roddy finds himself in need of assistance to survive. He recruits a scavenger named Rita (Kate Winslet) to help him make his way home, with many adventures along the way.

At their best, Aardman productions offer a gleeful mix of action, slapstick and weird/wild comedy. Unfortunately, Flushed doesn’t find the studio at their peak.

Not that this makes Flushed an unappealing project. It musters decent entertainment across its fairly brief running time, with sporadic moments of inspired lunacy.

Like many Aardman efforts, Flushed throws a lot at the wall and hopes some of it will stick. As always, some of it does stick, but the percentage of memorable moments feels lower than usual.

Flushed also comes across as more frantic than delightfully unhinged. The best movies of this sort need a sense of crazed wackiness that feels organic, but Flushed can come across as manic for its own sake.

This comes out in the action scenes mostly, as those tend to seem semi-generic. Aardman finds wit in the details, but the overall impression still comes across as a little desperate.

Aardman makes an awkward transition to computer animation, partly because they want to maintain their prior style. The characters can look plastic, but it seems unclear how much of that stems from a desire to emulate the old stop-motion characters and how much comes from the dated CG animation.

I suspect it’s a mix of the two, but 14 years down the road, I’d guess that the non-organic look of the animals stems more from aging computer material. This doesn’t turn into a real issue, but the animation can feel primitive in 2020.

Flushed boasts a nice voice cast, as in addition to Jackman and Winslet, we find folks like Ian McKellen, Bill Nighy, Jean Reno and Andy Serkis. All do fine, but the relatively cliché nature of their characters inhibits their potential to score with their parts.

I don’t want to come down too hard on Flushed Away, as it provides a moderately entertaining affair. However, it doesn’t excel and it can feel a bit undercooked, so don’t expect better than “pretty good” here.

Note that slug shenanigans pop up through the end credits, but we find no tag scene.

Flushed Away appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. No problems marred this appealing presentation.

Sharpness seemed positive, as at all times, the movie remained detailed and concise. No examples of softness or ill-defined images appeared in this tight and firm presentation.

Jagged edges and moiré effects appeared absent, and I noticed no signs of edge enhancement. In regard to print flaws, I witnessed none, as the movie looked clean and fresh from start to finish.

Overall, the movie opted for a fairly natural palette without any clear dominant hues. I thought the tones seemed attractive and the colors consistently looked solid.

Black levels looked solid, with appropriately dark and rich material. Low-light images were concisely displayed and tight, with no excessive opacity. Overall, Flushed gave us a stellar presentation.

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Flushed also seemed strong. As one might anticipate, action scenes offered the most involving soundscape. These created a nice sense of location, as elements of the setting formed around us.

Other scenes offered solid pep and made positive use of the various speakers. General ambience was also fine in the quieter sequences.

Audio quality worked well. Speech was natural and distinctive, and effects sounded clear and accurate.

Bass response provided good punch to louder scenes, and music was always vivid and lively. This was a solid “B+” soundtrack.

We find a handful of extras here, and we begin with an audio commentary from directors David Bowers and Sam Fell. Both sit together for a running, screen-specific look at story and characters, design and animation, cast and performances, influences, and related domains.

Overall, this becomes a quality commentary. Bowers and Fell keep matters light and lively as they cover a nice array of movie topics. Expect a brisk, involving track.

Two Slug Songs appear: “Don’t Feel Like Dancing” (0:26) and “Pump It” (0:38). Both show the movie’s slug characters as they play the songs in question. They’re cute, I guess.

The Music of Flushed Away runs eight minutes, 56 seconds and offers notes from Bowers, Fell, and composer Harry Gregson-Williams. We learn about songs and Gregson-Williams’ score in this mildly informative chat.

Finally, Meet the Cast spans eight minutes, 43 seconds and provides comments from Fell, Bowers, producers Peter Lord, David Sproxton and Cecil Kramer, and actors Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen, Jean Reno, Bill Nighy, Shane Richie and Andy Serkis.

“Meet” looks at cast, characters and performances. Like “Music”, it becomes enjoyable, albeit a bit superficial.

While it comes with a moderate level of fun, Flushed Away falls short of the usual highs we expect from Aardman. This means we get a moderately enjoyable experience but not one with the expected cleverness or charm. The Blu-ray brings very good picture and audio as well as a handful of bonus materials. Flushed Away winds up as a decent diversion but not anything special.