KEY POINTS:
Hugh Jackman says he enjoys being able to see himself in Roddy the Rat, the animated character he voices in the new feature film Flushed Away.
And he delights in the fact the movie - a collaboration between the makers of Wallace and Gromit and the hit movie Shrek - is the first of his that his kids can watch.
"I can see some of my facial expressions," says Jackman of the animated rat he lends his voice to. "And I can see some of my gestures and things like that because they filmed me in the studio the entire time."
The star of the X-Men films has also voiced a character in George Miller's animated penguin flick Happy Feet, also out now.
"It is great to finally have something that my kids can see," he said, talking about his two adopted children - Oscar and Ava - with his actor wife Deborra-lee Furness.
"Oscar has never seen any of my movies."
Flushed Away tells the story of an uptown rat, Roddy (voiced by Jackman), who is flushed down the toilet from his penthouse apartment, landing in the sewers of London.
The film also features the voice talents of Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis and Bill Nighy.
Jackman said working on an animated film was a completely different experience from anything he'd done before.
"You become a bit of a mini family," he said of working with the animators behind-the-scenes instead of actors.
"I loved working with those guys, they laugh a lot, they just love their life.
"These animators are just doing what they love doing, more than anybody else in our business.
"What they can do with the world and their story is immense."
Most of the actors' work is usually done separately in studio sound booths.
Jackman says he never worked directly with any of his co-stars on the project but often discussed the project - which was two-and-a-half years in the making - with his X-Men and Flushed Away co-star Ian McKellen.
It has been a busy year for Jackman. X-Men: The Last Stand was released earlier this year, as were his other films The Prestige, The Fountain and Scoop.
And the Australian actor has another six films slated for release over the next two years.
They include the X-Men spin-off, Wolverine, which will be produced by Jackman's new company Seed Productions.
Jackman's company is driven by an ambition to bring money and work to the Australian movie industry, the actor said.
The company, which Jackman set up with Furness and business partner John Palermo, will make up to five films a year.
It has an office in Los Angeles and in Sydney's Fox Studio movie lot.
"I want the money to be spent here rather than in Lithuania or somewhere else," says a patriotic Jackman, who splits his time between Sydney and New York.
"My dream is that we make three or four movies a year at US$10 million [$14.64 million]. Australians know how to make a great movie for that."
Jackman launched the company in August. Two Australian films are already in the pipeline, including one which will star Furness.
"We are committed to putting back into the industry here, to create work, build bridges and develop synergies between Australia and the US," Furness said when the Sydney office opened.
Jackman is filming his first Seed production, The Tourist - also starring Ewan McGregor and Michelle Williams.
Other Hollywood films slated to be produced by Seed include Fedex, If You Could See Me Now, Drive, Rebound Boy, and Carousel.
Jackman says US investors are happy to be working closely with Australians because they know how talented and underutilised industry workers are. "There are too many good people over here not doing enough work, and they know that over there," he said.
"As long as we make some good material, people want to invest.
"And I think we can make some great movies. We have got some really encouraging things going on, some great scripts and great people."
Once he finishes The Tourist, Jackman will prepare for his role opposite Nicole Kidman in Baz Luhrmann's local epic, Australia, which goes into production in February. "I have just been in doing fittings for hats and boots, so we are definitely on the go," said Jackman.
He said he'd taken some horse riding tips from fellow actor Tom Burlinson, who starred in 1982's The Man From Snowy River.
"I am starting my horse riding stuff," said Jackman, who first learned to ride a horse for Kate And Leopold, with Meg Ryan.
"I am going in for the long haul, mate. I don't want any [stunt] doubles. I am fairly confident on a horse, but this is droving, it's another level."
LOWDOWN
Who: Hugh Jackman
What: The voices of Roddy the Rat in Flushed Away and Memphis in Happy Feet
Also: Starring in The Prestige, opens January 4
