The Amazing Maurice - Advanced Screening Fundraiser

“Humans, eh? Think they're lords of creation.
Not like us cats. We know we are.
Ever seen a cat feed a human? Case proven.”

Please join us for a special advanced screening of

The Amazing Maurice

based on The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Sir Terry Pratchett

as we raise money for the Australian Discworld Convention!

Where: Palace Nova Prospect,
98 Prospect Road, Prospect, South Australia
When: Saturday, December 10, 2022
Time: 2:30 for a 3pm start
Price: $21.00

An Amazing Fundraiser! 

Adelaide locals were treated to an Amazing movie screening on Saturday the 10th of December at Palace Nova Prospect when the Australian Discworld Convention showed a special advance screening of “The Amazing Maurice”. Due to be released in Australia on the 12th of January, the story is based on a book by our favourite fantasy author, Sir Terry Pratchett.  

For those who need a refresher, the story is about the Amazing Maurice, a talking cat, who, together with a bunch of talking rats and a boy called Keith, run a Pied Piper type scam in a new town every day. They stumble upon a Mystery (it deserves the capital M) when they reach a town with a rat infestation without the rats. They team up with Malicia, a story obsessed girl and daughter of the town’s mayor, to help solve the puzzle of the starving town without getting trapped, hurt or eaten! 

Unlike some Pratchett adaptations, The Amazing Maurice was considerably true to the source materials (COUGHTheWatchCOUGH) which delighted the viewers. Fans particularly loved nods to the author and brief cameos of other well-loved characters – no spoilers here! Truly a family film, there was enough to keep it interesting for older viewers as well as mild enough to not be too scary for the younger audience members. In fact, due to a sudden increase in ticket sales in the last days leading up to the event, the movie screening was moved to a different cinema in the complex half an hour before the start time, giving ticket holders the bigger screen experience. 

The movie screening was organised to help raise funds for the upcoming Australian Discworld Convention in 2024. Each two years a different state hosts the convention, and it is Adelaide’s turn again, the last being in 2017. Check out the Australian Discworld Convention page to find out more about tickets to the convention and to join the newsletter. To this end, a raffle and market stall was also held before the screening with prizes including double movie passes, museum exhibit tickets, and a new, not-yet-released-in-Australia book of “The Unadulterated Cat Maurice”. 

Now the only question left is: is it MawREESE or MORRis? 

Maurice (a cat)

Watch the movie trailer here!

The film tells the tale of Maurice, a large talking cat, who travels from town to town offering to solve their sudden rat problem. He unveils Keith, a young boy who can play the pipe quite well, and the rats march out of town to the relief of the townsfolk. Maurice and the money received from the grateful town suddenly disappear and he reappears a suitable distance away to count the money with Keith and the rats! But these are no ordinary rats – they talk and wear clothes and dream of an island paradise where rats and humans live together in peace. All goes well with their ‘rat scam’ until they reach the town of Bad Blintz, where they meet a book obsessed girl, Malicia, who leads them on an adventure to solve the mystery of her town...

This animated family film is produced with Narrativia, the independent production company set up by Terry Pratchett in 2012 and is a co-production between Cantilever Media and Ulysses Filmproduktion for Sky Cinema.

The film stars Hugh Laurie (House, Avenue 5) as Maurice, Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) as Malicia, David Thewlis (Wonder Woman) as Boss Man, Himesh Patel (Yesterday) as Keith, Gemma Arterton (The King's Man) as Peaches, Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) as The Mayor, David Tennant (Doctor Who, Good Omens) as Dangerous Beans, Ariyon Bakare (His Dark Materials) as Darktan, Rob Brydon (Roald & Beatrix: The Tale of the Curious Mouse) as The Pied Piper, Julie Atherton (Avenue Q) as Nourishing, YouTuber Joe Sugg as Sardines, and Peter Serafinowicz (The Tick, Good Omens radio adaptation) as Death.

Can't make it to our advanced screening? Nullus Anxietas! (No Worries!) The film hit cinema screens in Australia on January 12, 2023.

Posters of all the characters in The Amazing Maurice