History Literature / TheAmazingMauriceAndHisEducatedRodents

* EatTheDog: Malicia suggests that a villager who'd asked to purchase Maurice had intended to ''eat'' the cat, thus horrifying Maurice into talking in her presence.

* CatsAreMean: Played with.
* CatsAreSnarkers: Maurice.

The story was adapted into a ninety-minute radio drama in 2003, starring Harry Meyers as Maurice and Creator/DavidTennant as Dangerous Beans. It simplified the story a little, but largely kept to the tone and feel of the book. In 2022 [[WesternAnimation/TheAmazingMaurice an animated film adaptation]] was released, with a script by Terry Rossio (''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}''), character design by Carter Goodrich (''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'') and Creator/HughLaurie playing the titular role of Maurice.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: What do you get when you MindRape intelligent talking cat that is terrified shitless for the reason of being surrounded by hundreds of VERY big rats? When you mind rape it so hard that there's no mind left any more, that all the traces of intelligence and even common sense completely disappear? Answer: "A clever cat, but still... Just a cat. Nothing but a cat. All the way to the forest and the cave, the fang and the claw... Just a cat. [[ArcWords And you can always trust a cat to be a cat.]]"

* DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: Apparently Maurice and Death are on first-name basis- [[spoiler: Because Death has visited him three times before]].

* {{Expy}}: At first glance, and indeed at second glance, Maurice can come across as one for [[Literature/MovingPictures Gaspode the Wonder Dog]]; Maurice's OriginStory is similar to Gaspode's second origin (normal stray animals made intelligent from exposure to magical garbage - indirectly in Maurice's case), they're both, on the whole, smarter than the humans they hang out with and use similar tactics in manipulating said humans, and they are both ''masters'' of [[DeadpanSnarker snide and sarcastic comments]]. As the story goes on, however, it turns out that despite similar set-ups and circumstances, the two animals are actually very different when it comes down to it -- where Gaspode is ultimately a pessimist who loves to wallow in self-pity and set himself up as a tragic hero, Maurice has a more positive outlook on life and is a lot more unashamedly a self-centered JerkWithAHeartOfGold -- with a bit of a DarkAndTroubledPast. Although, given how Gaspode mentions that other animals were affected by the magical garbage, the rats' intelligence comes from the same source.

* HeroicWillpower: The RatKing's PsychicPowers can paralyze a creature in its tracks, or strip it of sapience. Little, weak, blind Dangerous Beans feels that power and ignores it.

'''Sardines:''' Er, we prefer 'educated rodents', miss.

'''Maurice:''' I prefer 'amazing'.

-->'''Maurice''': Everyone's got to know ''something''

* TalkingAnimal: In particular, exploring CivilizedAnimal via WhatMeasureIsANonHuman.

* ThemeNaming: The rats are all named after random bits of food label they found in the wizards' garbage pile.

* SympatheticMurderBackstory: Maurice [[spoiler:once ate a talking rat. However, he was only a dumb animal at the time, had no way of knowing until he gained his intelligence from said meal, and none of the Clan hold it against him when they find out - if anything, their reaction is more of a collective shrug]]. The guilt is shown to be why he's so careful about what he eats.

The story was adapted into a ninety-minute radio drama in 2003, starring Harry Meyers as Maurice and David Tennant as Dangerous Beans. It simplified the story a little, but largely kept to the tone and feel of the book. In 2022 [[WesternAnimation/TheAmazingMaurice an animated film adaptation]] was released, with a script by Terry Rossio (''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}''), character design by Carter Goodrich (''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'') and Creator/HughLaurie playing the titular role of Maurice.

The story was adapted into a ninety-minute radio drama in 2003, starring Harry Meyers as Maurice and David Tennant as Dangerous Beans. It simplified the story a little, but largely kept to the tone and feel of the book. In 2019 it was [[https://variety.com/2019/film/news/terry-pratchett-discworld-the-amazing-maurice-movie-terry-rossio-carter-goodrich-1203239220/ announced]] that [[WesternAnimation/TheAmazingMaurice an animated film]] is in the works, with a script by Terry Rossio (''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'') and character design by Carter Goodrich (''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}''). In 2020, it was [[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/nov/06/hugh-laurie-to-star-as-maurice-terry-pratchett-streetwise-tomcat announced that]] Creator/HughLaurie would be playing the role of Maurice.

* HarsherInHindsight: Spider's plan for humanity was chilling enough before it was visualized in APlagueTaleInnocence. Reading the book after playing the game makes it that much harder

* GenreSavvy: Malicia insists on ''always'' seeing things in terms of stories, ranging from fairy tales to KidDetective novels like ''Tom Swift'', ''The Hardy Boys'', and ''The Famous Five'' (she claims at one point that four kids and a dog is "the right number for an adventure"). Furthermore, she has trouble in coping with subversions and exceptions, and [[HeroicWannabe always makes herself out to be the main character of the "story"]]. However, while her record is more miss than hit, she figures out the MonsterProtectionRacket within five minutes of encountering Sardines.