Introduction:

The film opens with a ship sailing into the kingdom of Dor’s dock. Roscuro (a rat) (Dustin Hoffman), is aboard a ship with his human friend Pietro, sailing to the kingdom known for its soup on “Royal Soup Day”. “Royal Soup Day” in this area is held in higher regard than Christmas.

As they are taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of the festivities, Roscuro is mesmerized by the smell of the huge pot of soup being prepared in the castle. He leaves his human companion in search of the aroma. Meanwhile, André (the royal head chef) (Kevin Kline), pressured into finishing the soup minutes before its presentation, sends out his staff, and argues with a sentient anthropomorphic “Soup Genie”, named Boldo, over the ingredients of the soup to be presented to the royal family. Roscuro’s search for the soup’s smell takes him to a chandelier directly over the royal soup bowl. Upon presentation of the soup to the queen and her subsequent first taste, Roscuro is overcome by the aroma, loses his grip, and falls into the queen’s soup bowl, causing her to have a fatal heart attack, which led her to death.

Roscuro is horrified to see what he has done and tries to apologize but is chased through the castle, to which he sees Pietro’s ship leaving the dock with out him. Roscuro then falls down a grate into the castle dungeon, where he meets Botticelli (Ciaran Hinds), the leader of the Rat world. Botticelli dislikes Roscuro’s gentle ways and tries to force him to conform to the brutal nature of the other rats.