The Tale of Despereaux (film)

The Tale of Despereaux is a 2008 animated adventure comedy film directed by Sam Fell and Rob Stevenhagen (in his feature directorial debut). It is based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Kate DiCamillo. The film is narrated by Sigourney Weaver and stars Matthew Broderick, Robbie Coltrane, Dustin Hoffman, Richard Jenkins, Kevin Kline, Frank Langella, William H. Macy, Tracey Ullman, Emma Watson and Ciarán Hinds. Animation was provided by Framestore Animation.

The film was released in the United States by Universal Pictures December 19, 2008. It is the second theatrically released computer-animated film distributed by Universal Pictures, following The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie. The Tale of Desperaux grossed $86.9 million against a $60 million budget and received generally mixed reviews; many critics praised the film for its animation, voice acting and the title character, but disparaged its story.

Plot
During Dor's annual "Royal Soup Day", sailor Pietro and his rat companion, Roscuro, arrive in an enchanting French kingdom renowned for its exquisite soups. Chef Andre, the kingdom's culinary maestro, crafts his delectable creations with the help of Boldo, a magical culinary genie residing in his pot. However, Roscuro's curiosity leads him to the royal banquet hall, where his accidental plunge into Queen Rosemary's soup triggers a heart attack, claiming her life. Disheartened by the tragic turn of events, Roscuro discovers that Pietro has left him behind to fend for himself in the castle's dungeons. Roscuro finds shelter with Botticelli Remorso, the enigmatic leader of Dor's rat population. However, he struggles to adapt to their warlike culture. Meanwhile, grief-stricken King Philip bans all things soup-related, declaring rats illegal. This prohibition not only prevents Andre from making his beloved soup but also drives Boldo away. Dor, devoid of the life-giving soup, slowly fades into poverty and despair. Princess Pea, deeply affected by her father's grief, mourns the kingdom's decline and her own isolation from the world.

In a mouse village within an abandoned kitchen storage room, Despereaux is born into the Tilling family. The newborn Despereaux is immediately noted by his family for his large ears and having been born neither blind nor crying. As he grows up, it is clear he is different from other mice; he is brave and curious rather than timid, unnerving other mice around him. In an effort to teach him to be a "proper mouse", his brother Furlough takes him to the royal library to show him how to chew books, but Despereaux is more interested in reading them, becoming fascinated by their stories. One day, Despereaux encounters Pea, promising to finish the story about a trapped princess and tell her how it ends. Upon discovering that Despereaux has violated mouse law by talking to a human, his parents, Lester and Antoinette, turn him over to the mouse council to avoid blame.

The council banishes Despereaux for the crime of having courage. The "threadmaster", a blind mouse named Hovis, lowers Despereaux into the dungeons using a red thread, where he is presumed dead by the rest of the mice. In the dungeons, Despereaux tells the princess story to the jailor, Gregory, who stops listening and leaves him alone. Despereaux is captured by the rats and thrown into their arena with a tabby cat. As Despereaux is about to be eaten, Roscuro saves his life by asking Botticelli to give Despereaux to him under the pretense of eating, appearing to relent to the sewer rat dogma.

Having been unable to adjust to being a sewer rat, Roscuro is desperate to hear about the outside world. The two become friends, as every day, Despereaux tells him stories of the princess and her sadness. Wishing to make amends for the trouble he has caused, Roscuro sneaks into Pea's room and tries to apologize to her, but she lashes out at him, and guards come after him. Hurt by this, Roscuro vows revenge. He enlists the help of Miggery "Mig" Sow, Pea's young, hard-of-hearing maid who longs to be a princess by convincing her she can take Pea's place if she kidnaps her. After Mig drags Pea to the dungeons, Roscuro double-crosses her and locks her in a cell.

Meanwhile, Despereaux discovers that the princess is in danger, and he tries to tell the King, who is too depressed to listen. Despereaux tries to get help elsewhere; he returns to the mouse village and tries to enlist his family, but they are afraid of his presence — for he has fallen in flour, so they mistake him for returning as a ghost — so he rings the town's bell to prove his survival, but still no one comes to his aid. Andre hears the bell, reminding him of the time he made soup, and, having had enough of the law, gets back to making soup, which brings back Boldo. Despereaux tries to get help from Andre and Boldo, with limited success. As Andre is distracted by a rainy thunderstorm (which was caused by the smell of the soup being released into the sky), Boldo agrees and takes Despereaux back to the dungeons. En route, they are attacked by rats; Boldo sacrifices himself to allow Despereaux to reach the arena.

In the arena, Roscuro sees the apologetic sincerity in Pea's eyes and regrets his actions. Still, an enraged Botticelli signals the rats to eat Pea. Despereaux releases the cat to chase some of the rats away, and fights off the others. Botticelli captures Despereaux, but the rain clouds part and sunlight reflects off a lost heart-shaped locket into the dungeon, stunning the photophobic sewer rats. Roscuro saves Despereaux by using one of the arena's spotlights to direct the sunlight at Botticelli, sending him falling into the arena, where the cat chases him into its cage; Pea shuts in the both of them with her feet, leaving Botticelli to be eaten as the rest of the sewer rats flee into the shadows.

In the aftermath, Mig is reunited with Gregory, who turns out to be her long-lost father, and they return together to their farm. Meanwhile, the King overcomes his grief and allows soup and rats back into the kingdom; it stops raining, and the sun rises over Dor; Roscuro returns to his life at sea; Despereaux, who also inspired the mice to be brave just like him, departs on a journey to see the world.

Voice cast

 * Matthew Broderick as Despereaux Tilling, a brave mouse who does not run from danger, as mice should
 * Dustin Hoffman as Chiaroscuro "Roscuro", a civilized rat who arrives on a ship and is taken in by Botticelli
 * Emma Watson as Princess Pea, the human Princess of Dor who befriends Despereaux
 * Tracey Ullman as Miggery "Mig" Sow, Princess Pea's servant girl
 * Ciarán Hinds as Botticelli Remorso, the gaunt and sadistic leader of the rat world
 * Robbie Coltrane as Gregory, the jailer and Mig's long-lost father
 * William H. Macy as Lester Tilling, Despereaux's father
 * Tony Hale as Furlough Tilling, Despereaux's older brother
 * Kevin Kline as Chef Andre, the royal cook.
 * Stanley Tucci as Boldo, Andre's Arcimboldo-esque soup genie and friend
 * Frank Langella as The Mayor of the mouse world
 * Frances Conroy as Antoinette Tilling, Despereaux's mother
 * Richard Jenkins as The Principal at Despereaux's school
 * Christopher Lloyd as Hovis, the threadmaster in the mouse world
 * Charles Shaughnessy as Pietro, the sailor who Roscuro accompanied to Dor
 * Sam Fell as Ned, Mig's uncle; Smudge, a rat
 * Patricia Cullen as Queen Rosemary, Princess Pea's late mother
 * Jane Karen as Louise
 * Bronson Pinchot as The Town Crier
 * McNally Sagal as the teacher at Despereaux's school
 * James Nesbitt as King Philip of Dor, Princess Pea's father (uncredited)
 * Sigourney Weaver as The Narrator

Production
The film's production was marred by disagreements and malpractice, or accusations thereof, between the French, British and North American staff. Sylvain Chomet was employed early by Gary Ross and Allison Thomas as director, before the film was approved for funding by Relativity Media, with pre-production (including character design, the first drafts of the screenplay written by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi, and the addition of the original character of Boldo) taking place at his studio, Django Films in Edinburgh. Chomet came up against creative and ethical differences with the producers and was eventually fired from the project and thrown out of the studio space allocated to the film. Mike Johnson was hired to replace Chomet as director, before the role went to Sam Fell and Rob Stevenhagen.

Music
The score of The Tale of Despereaux was composed by William Ross, who recorded his score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage.

Release
The Tale of Despereaux was theatrically released December 19, 2008, by Relativity Media.

Home media
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray April 7, 2009. One Blu-ray release also includes a standard-definition DVD of the film, in addition to the Blu-ray disc. The film brought in a revenue of $25,531,805 in the United States DVD market.

Critical response
Rotten Tomatoes reports that of reviewers give positive reviews, based on 111 reviews, with an average rating of. The website's consensus reads: "Despite its striking visuals, The Tale of Despereaux as a story feels familiar and unimaginative." Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 53 out of 100, based on 25 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on a scale of A+ to F.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded three stars, and wrote in his review, "The Tale of Despereaux is one of the most beautifully drawn animated films I've seen," but added, "I am not quite so thrilled by the story."

Christy Lemire of Associated Press was more critical, writing that the film "feels obvious, preachy and heavy-handed".

Box office
The film opened at number 3 in the United States, behind Seven Pounds and Yes Man, with $10,507,000 in 3,104 theaters, with an $3,385 average; on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the film was in second. The film closed in March 2009 after grossing $50 million domestically. The film grossed an additional $37 million overseas, for a total of $87 million.

Video game
A video game based on the film was released December 2, 2008, for the PlayStation 2, Wii and Nintendo DS, and December 16, 2008, for Microsoft Windows. An Xbox 360 version was originally announced, but it was canceled. While the PlayStation 2, Wii and Microsoft Windows versions were an action-adventure game, the Nintendo DS version was a 2.5D side-scrolling platformer.