The Gruffalo

2009 • 27 min • Animation · Family · TV Movie

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Synopsis

The magical tale of a mouse who sets foot on a woodland adventure in search of a nut. Encountering predators who all wish to eat him - Fox, Owl and Snake - the brave mouse creates a terrifying, imaginary monster to frighten them away. But what will the mouse do when he meets this frightful monster for real?

Our family guide

Best from age 3

Movie Knight Score

348 reviews

100 Reviewers · 1 · 51%
74 Audience · 347 · 49%

A clever mouse journeys through a forest, inventing a fearsome creature, the Gruffalo, to scare away predators. His tall tales work until he encounters the very monster he imagined. This delightful animated short brings a beloved children's book to life.

Violence & peril: 1/10
Language: 0/10
Drinking, drugs & smoking: 0/10
Romance & sensuality: 0/10
Scary moments: 3/10

Heads up

Brief moments of peril for the mouse
The Gruffalo character might be mildly frightening to very young or sensitive viewers

What it models well

Cleverness and quick thinking
Bravery in the face of fear
Imagination and storytelling

Talk about it after

Using your imagination to solve problems
The difference between real and imagined threats
How small creatures can outsmart bigger ones

Written by the Movie Knight editorial team for The Gruffalo. Our own words, our own scoring — always double-check against your family's standards.

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Top billed cast

Director: Jakob Schuh, Max Lang • Crew: Jakob Schuh, Max Lang, Julia Donaldson

Trailers & clips

The Gruffalo - Official Trailer

Reviewer notes

Recommended
Before a mouse goes for wander in the forest to find a nut, he fails to consider that he is just about bite-size for most of it's other dwellers. There's a snake, an owl - who does seem to find it quite difficult to fly in a straight line, and a ferocious fox. Perhaps he has read "1001 Nights" though, because when faced with becoming sandwich fodder, he conjures up an image for each of them of this great and menac...
Geronimo1967, TMDB Community