The Tale of Despereaux

2008
G
1h 33m

IMDb RATING

6.1/10

40K

YOUR RATING

The Tale of Despereaux - Theatrical Trailer

Play trailer2:14

10 Videos

99+ Photos

Animal Adventure Computer Animation Parody Adventure Animation Comedy Family Fantasy

An unusually brave mouse helps to restore happiness to a forlorn kingdom after making friends with a gentleman rat.An unusually brave mouse helps to restore happiness to a forlorn kingdom after making friends with a gentleman rat.An unusually brave mouse helps to restore happiness to a forlorn kingdom after making friends with a gentleman rat.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.1/10

40K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 8 nominations total

Roscuro
(voice)

Tracey Ullman

Miggery Sow
(voice)

Kevin Kline

Andre
(voice)

William H. Macy

Lester
(voice)

Stanley Tucci

Boldo
(voice)

Ciarán Hinds

Botticelli
(voice)

Robbie Coltrane

Gregory
(voice)

Tony Hale

Furlough
(voice)

Frances Conroy

Antoinette
(voice)

Frank Langella

Mayor
(voice)

Richard Jenkins

Principal
(voice)

Christopher Lloyd

Hovis
(voice)

Charles Shaughnessy

Pietro
(voice)

Sigourney Weaver

Narrator
(voice)

Patricia Cullen

Queen
(voice)

Sam Fell

Ned
(voice)
…

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
For the scene in which Andre and Boldo threw things at each other, Kevin Kline and Stanley Tucci threw things at each other, reading the lines and improvising them based on what transpires in the scene. While they acted the scene out, a cameraman was walking around filming the action. Producer Gary Ross wanted to have them act it out entirely. They tried a variety of different things, different degrees of insanity and intensity.

Goofs
When Andre picks up Despereaux from the kitchen floor, he picks Despereaux by his body and in the next shot, he grabs Despereaux by the tail.

Quotes
Narrator: Okay, remember when we told you how, once upon a time, there was this brave little mouse? Well, If you know anything about fairy tales, you know that a hero doesn't appear until the world really needs one.

Crazy credits
The end credits are depicted as a long, unrolled scroll, formerly used as a several sets of recipes and instructions on food care.

Connections
Featured in Troldspejlet: Episode #40.2 (2009)

Soundtracks
Soup
(uncredited)
Written & Performed by Glen Ballard, Gary Ross and David A. Stewart
Arranged by William Ross
Produced by Glen Ballard and David A. Stewart
Published by UPG Music Publishing (BMI) and Universal Pictures Music (ASCAP)
[Deleted song]

User reviews119

Review

Featured review

9/10

An Underrated Classic

I just saw this movie again, and stand by my original assessment of it. It's an underrated classic, with far more depth than most family movies. On the one hand it's more simplistic than, say, a Pixar film. It's more of a fairy tale like The Little Prince. And while I don't care for the character designs too much (though they do have an artistic charm to them), from a writing standpoint I would put Despereaux on par with the best Pixar films, maybe more so.

Most of the main characters are seriously damaged, yet believably human (even the rodents). The way some characters fall from grace is more believable than anything Lucas came up with in Star Wars III.

If it has a failing it's with some of the secondary characters, such as the Soup Maker's assistant (made up of vegetables) which just didn't really seem necessary.

But the themes of anger, regret, sadness, depression, and the power of forgiveness makes this a movie I feel more children should be exposed to. It's a very much a children's movie, but deals very much with adult themes.