The Gruffalo

The Gruffalo (2009) is a British-German animated short you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Max Lang and Jakob Schuh. Based on Julia Donaldson's beloved picture book, the film follows a small mouse on a woodland stroll who keeps running into predators — a fox, an owl, a snake — each one planning to make a meal of him.

The mouse's solution: invent a monster. He tells each hunter he's heading off to lunch with the Gruffalo — a terrible creature with purple prickles, poisonous warts, and knobbly knees. The predators scatter. The trouble is, the Gruffalo turns out to be entirely real, and hungry.

Helena Bonham Carter, John Hurt, Robbie Coltrane, Tom Wilkinson, and James Corden voice the cast. At 27 minutes, it's one of the more efficient children's films around — no padding, no filler, and the twist lands every time. Stream The Gruffalo (2009) on iFILM.