The Tale of Despereaux

Plot

During Dor's annual "Royal Soup Day", sailor Pietro and his rat companion Roscuro arrive in an enchanting medieval 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 for not being born blind or 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 jailer, Gregory, who stops listening and leaves him alone. Despereaux is kidnapped 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.

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 whom Roscuro accompanied to Dor

Production

The film's production was marred by disagreements and malpractice, or accusations thereof, between the French, British, and 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.

Soundtrack

The score of The Tale of Despereaux was composed and conducted by William Ross, who recorded his score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage. The soundtrack was released on December 16, 2008, by Back Lot Music and Intrada Records. The soundtrack includes the songs "Soup" and "It's Great To Be a Rat", both written by Dave Stewart, Gary Ross, and Glen Ballard.

Release

The Tale of Despereaux premiered at ArcLight Hollywood on December 7, 2008, and was theatrically released December 19, 2008, in the United States and the United Kingdom by Universal Pictures. In the United States, the film received a rating of G for "general audiences" by the Motion Picture Association of America, whereas in the United Kingdom, it received a certificate of U by the British Board of Film Classification.

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.

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 57% of 112 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Despite its striking visuals, The Tale of Despereaux as a story feels familiar and unimaginative." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 53 out of 100, based on 25 critics, 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 Tale of Despereaux grossed $50.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $39.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $90.5 million. Produced on a budget of $60 million, the film was a box-office disappointment.

The film opened in the United States on December 19, 2008. The film grossed $3.5 million on its first day, in 3,104 theaters, with an average of $1,140 per theater; it grossed $10.1 million in its opening weekend, ranking at third behind Seven Pounds and Yes Man. It grossed $8.1 million in its first week, dropping to tenth place behind Four Christmases for a decline of -20%, though would soon make $8.9 million in its second weekend, ranking at seventh behind Seven Pounds, declining by 12% compared to its first weekend. The film closed on March 5, 2009, with a domestic total of $50.9 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.