The Tale of Despereaux (2008)

56% of critics liked it
(107 reviews)
46% of users liked it
(160,355 ratings)

A diminutive mouse strives to make a mammoth change in his troubled kingdom in this adaptation of author Kate DiCamillo's Newbery Medal-winning children's book. A long time ago, in the distant kingdom of Dor, a horrible accident broke the heart of the king, left a beautiful princess crestfallen, and… More A diminutive mouse strives to make a mammoth change in his troubled kingdom in this adaptation of author Kate DiCamillo's Newbery Medal-winning children's book. A long time ago, in the distant kingdom of Dor, a horrible accident broke the heart of the king, left a beautiful princess crestfallen, and filled the townspeople with despair. As the sun disappeared from the sky and the flowers were drained of color, the laughter slowly ceased in this once-magical land. It was into this darkened world that a tiny mouse named Despereaux Tilling was born, and while this virtuous little rodent may have been short in stature, his bravery was ultimately too big for such a small world to contain. An unlikely hero with oversized ears and a discernible wheeze, Despereaux was taken with tales of chivalry, and longed to one day become a noble figure among his people. Sometimes in order to realize their true destiny, heroes must first experience great hardship, however, and when Despereaux fails to adhere to the rigid rules of his society, he is banished from Dor. Later, while exploring the outer realms, the lonely Despereaux is joined by a kindhearted rat named Roscuro. Roscuro, too, has been excommunicated from his homeland, and still cannot stand to look into a mirror lest he be reminded of his painful past. Later, as Despereaux embarks on a treacherous quest to rescue the endangered Princess Pea, Roscuro is set down the path of self-destruction after receiving a painful rejection from his highness. Now, on their way to realizing their extraordinary destinies, these two unlikely heroes will face off against the malevolent leader of the sewer rats, who is plotting revenge on humans from his subterranean kingdom; befriend a common serving girl who longs to become princess; and meet a whole host of colorful characters that they will never forget. Matthew Broderick, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Watson, and Tracey Ullman lead a powerhouse cast in this animated feature produced by Gary Ross and Allison Thomas. Also lending voices to the project are Sigourney Weaver, Kevin Kline, Stanley Tucci, William H. Macy, and Christopher Lloyd. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: G, 1 hr. 34 min.
Directed By: Sam Fell, Rob Stevenhagen
Written By: Gary Ross, Will McRobb, Chris Viscardi
Genres: Action & Adventure, Animation, Kids & Family, Comedy

In Theaters: Dec 19, 2008 Wide
On DVD: Apr 7, 2009
Studio: Universal Pictures

Critic Reviews

Ben Lyons, At the Movies
It just tries to take a little bit from some of the things we've seen over the past few years that have worked to make this work and it's just desperate and it doesn't work.
Ben Mankiewicz, At the Movies
It's like Ratatouille meets Upstairs Downstairs to go sort of cross-generational but it didn't work really on any level.
Linda Barnard, Toronto Star
. The plot is too convoluted and there are too many characters to keep track of.
Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle
The Tale of Despereaux may not be a classic, but it still has a lot of class.
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
Despereaux is a little too desperate to be loved.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
There's precious little space in Despereaux's tale for heroism (save for the third act) and humor.
Kelly Vance, East Bay Express
Certainly bears a superficial resemblance to Ratatouille, but it's a better film in several ways.
Brian Webster, Apollo Guide
Extras on the disc include a featurette on the making of the film, an interactive map of the Kingdom of Dor, and a little featurette on the 'top ten uses for oversized ears.'
Brian Webster, Apollo Guide
It amounts to less than the sum of its artfully conceived parts but remains a nice and visually interesting film.
Bill Gibron, PopMatters
Like the title character in the story it tells, The Tale of Despereaux is a noble effort that more or less manages to create a kind of instantly likable post-modern fable
Joseph Proimakis, Movies for the Masses
To gegonos oti sto eikosalepto mporei na se riksei se bathy ypno, mporei na einai kai to kalytero kamoyflarisma aytoy toy anapanteha anepeisodiakoy ki anyperblita baretoy kinoymenoy ap' ta shediastika grafeia tis Universal Animation, poy den ehei kan to t
Robert Roten, Laramie Movie Scope
The film looks great and the story is interesting enough for adults. It may be a little too complex and intense for young children.
Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru
Bland, over-stuffed, chaotic and ultimately underwhelming for both kids and adults.
David Cornelius, eFilmCritic.com
The cinematic equivalent of a cozy bedtime story, warmly told with loving care.
Jason Di Rosso, MovieTime, ABC Radio National
Ego, fear and loathing will come between friends and drive family members apart in a surprisingly sophisticated journey for a kiddie flick.
Jake Wilson, The Age (Australia)
Scratch a CGI fairytale and you'll find an allegory about class, particularly if rodents are involved.
Annette Basile, FILMINK (Australia)
If you're an animation fan, don't wait for the DVD - The Tale Of Despereaux deserves to be seen on the big screen.
Leigh Paatsch, Daily Telegraph (Australia)
There are no cheesy pop-culture gags or similarly wacky wisecracks; the emphasis is purely on action and adventure, and it pays off wonderfully by the end.
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
A thoroughly engaging, slightly offbeat adventure with solid themes running through it
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
For animation fans looking for a little more class and a lot less of the commonplace crass, this makes for a decent timepass.

Read all 23 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Brad W

Good animation, but a boring and unintellegent story. Really not very good, a better tale for a straight to DVD movie.
Bently L

Oh my goodness gracious! They ruined such an amazing story with this movie. I love the book, "The Tale of Desperaux". It was exciting, funny, fresh, and original. You can easily see how much they tried to honor the source material but they easily failed at every chance they… More
Oh my goodness gracious! They ruined such an amazing story with this movie. I love the book, "The Tale of Desperaux". It was exciting, funny, fresh, and original. You can easily see how much they tried to honor the source material but they easily failed at every chance they got. The story is about a fearless mouse named Desperaux who has exceptionally large ears and a big taste for adventure. He live in a castle and a has crush on the princess, who is voiced by Emma Watson of "Harry Potter" fame. Thats one of the very few good things about the film. I don't want to give too much away about the story. Read the book for more. To me, the animation was detailed and good-looking but was unoriginal. Its like they tried to mix Pixar with a Da Vinci painting! The voice acting was decent but not that pleasing. They've could've done a much better job with casting Desperaux. The most annoying thing about the film was Sigourney Weaver's freaking narration! It was poorly written and made me want to perform hari kari on myself. They did not honor the source material, they raped it! They severely raped a wonderful tale with this. They failed to make it exciting like the book. This is sure to bore children to sleep. They also failed to add intereting humor. What kind of G-Rated animated movie contains no humor? There were like only two jokes in this. None of them made me laugh. I'd rather look at a pile of horse droppings for the entire film's runtime. If you plan to see this, read the book first. If you end up giving this a watch, you'll be saying "Forget this movie! The book was so much better!" when it ends. It sucks so bad, I could not make it to the end, folks.
Michael E

Though i havent read the book and i still care not to, i have to say the movie was pretty good
Richard C

the book was excellent. it was really sad and depressing and great. the movie was crap. its not anything like the book. everything that was great about the book they took out in the movie. this was a major disapointment. F
Jason S

This flick was boring most of the time and scattered the rest. None of the characters were developed beyond the surface level except for the rat who started the whole thing. With the story jumping around from place to place and never really coming to any sort of satisfying… More
This flick was boring most of the time and scattered the rest. None of the characters were developed beyond the surface level except for the rat who started the whole thing. With the story jumping around from place to place and never really coming to any sort of satisfying conclusion. The animation was ok but it seemed like they worked the hardest on one or two of the characters looks and then the rest of the folks were just given a quick pass in the design department. In the end I felt that this was a very forgettable movie.
James A

Nothing special but still enjoyable while on a 8 hour plane ride.
Gordon A

Charming animated fairytale with beautifully rendered settings and solid voice acting.
Josh L

Fun little movie that has a nice running length and a great voice cast. I think it's better than the overrated Bolt and should have taken its place for animated films at the Oscars for 2008.
Mark H

Animated fantasy from Universal Studios about how the lives of a mouse, a rat, a servant girl and a princess intertwine within a dispirited kingdom. Features beautiful animation. Unfortunately the story is a chaotic mess that juggles multiple characters and shifting story lines,… More
Animated fantasy from Universal Studios about how the lives of a mouse, a rat, a servant girl and a princess intertwine within a dispirited kingdom. Features beautiful animation. Unfortunately the story is a chaotic mess that juggles multiple characters and shifting story lines, unsuccessfully. What should have been a sweet, whimsical story to watch, feels like a labored, heavy handed chore.
danny d

on the one hand, there are virtues in this film that i want my kids to know. the emphasis on courage, truth, and honesty are encouraging. the animation was also better than i had heard and the characters were very well done. however this film had too many problems to overcome. it… More
on the one hand, there are virtues in this film that i want my kids to know. the emphasis on courage, truth, and honesty are encouraging. the animation was also better than i had heard and the characters were very well done. however this film had too many problems to overcome. it started way too slow, there were moments that were contrived out of what seemed to be a lack of creativity, and there were a few scenes that looked significant until you realized that they werent, which got annoying a few times. good animated films are for kids but can entertain their parents, kids will love this, parents wont.
Rico Z

Here's a "kiddie" movie that is meant to be a little more and actually succeed at it. And it does so without resorting to gross-out humor to appeal to children or adult innuendo to appeal to adults. Instead, it does so through employing pure charm and an unadulterated… More
Here's a "kiddie" movie that is meant to be a little more and actually succeed at it. And it does so without resorting to gross-out humor to appeal to children or adult innuendo to appeal to adults. Instead, it does so through employing pure charm and an unadulterated measure of the cuteness factor. Like Curious George did a few years back, The Tale of Despereaux brings to life one of the most beloved critters from literature. The imagery is stylistically beautiful to watch and every shot drips with a syrupy quality and color palette that you won't be able to deny loving every minute of the movie based on that quality alone. The story becomes dense in parts and may be a bit confusing or hard-to-follow for the younger viewers; but they'll be enthralled with the colors and Despereaux's adorable demeanor that they won't notice. A fairy tale is a hard genre to make seem fresh nowadays with the post-Shrek aftermath. But this film brings something new to the table--old-fashioned feel-goodness.
Bradley W

Good animation, but a boring and unintellegent story. Really not very good, a better tale for a straight to DVD movie.
Walter M

In "The Tale of Despereaux," Roscuro, a rat, arrives in the Kingdom of Dor just in time for Soup Day. Regretfully, he gets too close to the action, accidentally causing many health code violations and a chain of events that leads to the queen drowning in her soup. So, the… More
In "The Tale of Despereaux," Roscuro, a rat, arrives in the Kingdom of Dor just in time for Soup Day. Regretfully, he gets too close to the action, accidentally causing many health code violations and a chain of events that leads to the queen drowning in her soup. So, the king bans both soup and rats, which somehow causes it to not rain anymore. The mice already have enough problems, none of which concern young Despereaux, who is afraid of nothing despite his small size. He even dreams of becoming a knight. "The Tale of Despereaux" is a charming animated film that suffers from unimpressive animation early on and does not do a very good job of juggling the storylines of the rodent leads, often abandoning either for long stretches of time, sometimes in favor of a dull servant girl. Personally, I would have liked to have known what the story behind the vegetable golem is. Most of the voicework does not really register except for Dustin Hoffman who does a wonderful job as Roscuro and Sigourney Weaver who makes for a marvelously arch narrator. In fact, the movie is surprisingly subversive as Despereaux and Roscuro both go against the grains in their respective communities.(Or maybe it's just that Despereaux does not have the brains to be afraid.) That does not include the narration bemoaning the banning of soup which reminded me of how Bill Hicks used to talk about the criminalization of marijuana. That having been said, I just hope there are no kids reading this...
Jeff T

The animanted equivalent of Masterpiece Theatre: beautiful to look at, largely British and slightly boring. Too complicated for kids, too odd for adults (there's a talking conglomeration of vegetables...), Pixar has nothing to worry about.
Chihoe H

I like this sort of animations that are 3D-ish yet have a hand-drawn, painted quality. Not the worst animation I've seen, but somehow I was annoyed by the storyline.
Juan C

a visually wonderful film for familys and kids. full of wonderful charecters here and there and the animatin is good looking. very imaginable and creative. B+
Naughtia N

This is a very sweet and beautifully animated movie. I thought all the characters were memorable, and the story was very good and charming. I've read some reviews where people say that this movie is too dark and boring, but this is not true in my opinion. Animated movies… More
This is a very sweet and beautifully animated movie. I thought all the characters were memorable, and the story was very good and charming. I've read some reviews where people say that this movie is too dark and boring, but this is not true in my opinion. Animated movies don't need to be all pink and happy in order to be good, sadly it has become a common standard for people to expect this. I really liked this movie.
Deb S

Technically, this film was good with its amazing animation but despite being visually spectacular, it was boring and dull. I had hoped for more character development and while the story tries to illustrate values such as forgiveness love, betrayal, and acceptance, it didn't quite… More
Technically, this film was good with its amazing animation but despite being visually spectacular, it was boring and dull. I had hoped for more character development and while the story tries to illustrate values such as forgiveness love, betrayal, and acceptance, it didn't quite seal the deal for me. "Despereaux" features a great cast with William H. Macy, Kevin Kline, Robbie Coltrane, Christopher Lloyd, Emma Watson, Dustin Hoffman and Sigourny Weaver. As the title character, Matthew Broderick gives it his best shot. Sigourney Weaver was not bad as the narrator. However this is no Incredibles, Cars, Toy Story, Kung fu Panda or Shrek!
Duncan R

Despite being CGI, this charmer had the same flavor as old animated films like <i>The Secret of N.I.M.H.</i>, one of my personal favorites as a child. It's not perfect, and it's certainly not going to appeal to everybody. But I thought it was pretty fun escapist… More
Despite being CGI, this charmer had the same flavor as old animated films like <i>The Secret of N.I.M.H.</i>, one of my personal favorites as a child. It's not perfect, and it's certainly not going to appeal to everybody. But I thought it was pretty fun escapist fare, and it has a good message behind it without shoving it down our throats.
William G

An increasingly convoluted, decreasingly charming animal-hero tale that often forgets to involve Despereaux.