We saw Flushed Away today. It's a cute animated movie about a pet rodent (I thought he was a rat, but the site says mouse) who ends up in the London sewers.
Before the film started we saw previews for Ratatouille, which opens this summer. I'm really looking forward to that one...I know that hero is a rat!
They also showed the trailer for Charlotte's Web. Now, I saw the original cartoon version of that back when I was a kid (the second movie I ever saw, in fact), and I can't imagine anyone but Paul Lynde as Templeton. Still, it's great to see rats in positive anthropomorphic roles.
Today we went to a birthday party for my 84 year old grandmother. We gave her a House Mouse card, and when she showed the picture to one of her friends, she explained "My granddaughter has pet rats." She turned to me and asked "How many rats do you have?"
"Five," I answered.
"Just five? That's all?" asked my grandmother.
Ah, and five years ago, she couldn't imagine why anyone would want even one.
On Monday past, the Washington POST ran a short article on a local family that keeps rats as pets. I loved the opening:
Ashtony Sanders is sitting on her bed, talking on the phone and typing on her laptop when a large rat crawls onto her leg. She picks it up and gives it a kiss.
The article also has a brief sidebar interview with Debbie Ducommun, explaining the difference between fancy, domesticated rats and wild rats.
All in all, it's good rat PR.