BASED on the beloved 1978 children’s book by Judi and Ron Barrett, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs is a comical fantasy about one man’s pursuit of his dreams.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s computer-animated film is also a colourful morality tale about the gluttony of the West.

In an effort to solve world hunger, Flint Lockwood creates a machine which can transform water into different foodstuffs.

Before he can test his contraption properly and iron out all of the bugs, it launches into the atmosphere – and giant pancakes, pasta and steaks rain down.

Inexperienced weathergirl Sam Sparks is asked to cover this meteorological phenomenon, and she immediately catches Flint’s eye.

Residents put in orders for food they want to rain down, but Flint’s contraption overheats, stranding the plucky inventor, Sam, town cop Earl Devereaux and his young son Cal in the path of a giant spaghetti twister.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs is a treat with slapstick and a miasma of bold colours to dazzle youngsters and some broad humour for teenagers and parents. Family audiences should certainly seek out the 3-D version.