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The claymation masterminds behind "Wallace & Gromit" got together with the computer gurus who brought us "Shrek" at DreamWorks Animation to make "Flushed Away."

But this is one of those times in which the whole isn't greater than the sum of its parts.

This comic tale about Roddy St. James (voiced by the ever versatile Hugh Jackman), a pampered pet rat who gets flushed down the toilet of his posh London penthouse and into the sewer, has plenty of thrilling moments. A wild boat chase through an elaborate underground canal system is especially breathtaking.

And the singing slugs who slink about the underground providing the movie's soundtrack, with their big eyes and tiny shrieks, are pretty cute - so much so, they even manage to make "Don't Worry, Be Happy" tolerable.

But despite being deeply steeped in British culture and dry humor, the film from directors David Bowers and Sam Fell lacks the simple, delicate charm that has marked everything Aardman Features has produced on its own (like "Chicken Run" and the Oscar-winning "Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit").

It's too frantic, too loud - which makes it too much like every other all-star, animated, talking-animal movie that's come out this year. And there have been many - one of which, the recent "Open Season," this new film coincidentally resembles way too closely.

Predictable, but it means well.

Kate Winslet is sufficiently feisty as Rita the rat, a sassy boat captain who reluctantly comes to Roddy's rescue and eventually serves as his unlikely love interest.

Ian McKellen and Jean Reno have great chemistry as the power-hungry Toad, who hates rodents and has his own dastardly plans for the underground, and his French cousin, the worldly, snobbish Le Frog, who travels with a posse of ninja assassins.

Kids will enjoy the fact that it's fast-paced and colorful; adults will like the modern-day touches and the pop-culture references (which thankfully aren't too numerous or suffocating).

But in the end, "Flushed Away" will probably make you want to revisit some old, classic "Wallace & Gromit" short.