The Tale Of Despereaux 3
Once upon a time… in the far away kingdom of Dor… lived a brave and virtuous mouse with comically oversized ears who dreamt of getting a knight. Banished from his home for having such lofty ambitions, Despereaux sets off on an awful adventure with his good-hearted rat friend Roscuro, who leads him, at long last, on a very noble quest to rescue an endangered princess and save an entire kingdom from darkness. Based on the heartwarming children’s bestselling book and featuring the voice endowments of an all-star cast, The Tale of Despereaux is a magical, modern fairytale that’s destined to win the hearts of young and old alike. Directed by: Sam Fell, Rob Stevenhagen
- Amazon Sales Rank: #6546 in DVD
- Brand: NBC Universal
- Released on: 2010-05-09
- Rating: G (General Audience)
- Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Formats: AC-3, Animated, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
- Original language: English
- Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
- Dubbed in: French, Spanish
- Dimensions: .25 pounds
- Running time: 93 minutes
| The Tale of Despereaux looks a little like Shrek. The storytelling and animation draw on everything from Ratatouille and classic fairytales to Shakespeare, Jonathan Swift, Indiana Jones, and, in it is action sequences, even Bourne and Bond. But this movie stands on it is own; too dark and violent for very young children, perhaps, but for the most part it’s stimulating and funny, and it delivers a message regarding bravado and forgiveness that is applicable to us all. Voiced by Matthew Broderick, the title reputation is a little guy, even by mouse standards, with enormous ears and an imagination to match; much to the dismay of his elders, he “never cowers, won’t scurry, and refuses to be taught to be scared” (he’d much rather read a book than eat it, a pursuit that fills his head with visions of valiant knights, damsels in distress, and a life specified by “courage, honor, and decency”). That leads to his being banished from Mouseworld to the realm of the rats, where, it is presumed, he will be eaten. But no. Ratworld–a dark, chaotic, veritably scary place–happens to be the current residence of one Roscuro (Dustin Hoffman), a peaceful sort whose shenanigans in the humane world have without advance planning led to the death of the Queen, the imprisonment of the Princess (Emma Watson), and, worst of all, the banning of Soup Day (no little deal) and the end of soup itself! Roscuro and Despereaux join forces, inadvertently helped out by a homely but soft-hearted farm girl named Miggery Sow (Tracey Ullman), and, well, you may imagine how it all turns out. Directors Sam Fell and Robert Stevenhagen and scriptwriter Gary Ross (adapting Kate DiCamillo’s book) have concocted a great deal of bright and interesting worlds for their film; the look is unusual, often washed out, muted, and bathed in hazy light; and the voice acting is splendid (others include William H. Macy, Kevin Kline, Stanley Tucci, and Frank Langella). All in all, in spite of a conclusion that’s mixing up even while it’s predictable, The Tale of Despereaux is a worthy addition to the crowded animation field. –Sam Graham
Printable Coloring Page, Map & Despereaux ears from The Tale of Despereaux (Click for full size)
Coloring Page
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Maze
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Despereaux Ears
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Stills from The Tale of Despereaux (Click for more prominent image)
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The Tale Of Despereaux 3 Image
The Tale Of Despereaux 3 Photo
The Tale Of Despereaux 3 Picture
The Tale Of Despereaux 3 Picture
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful.
 Not Bad, Not Great
By Karen Joan
How do I describe THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX? On the one hand, it’s got top-notch animation, wonderful voice acting, and interesting characters. On the other hand, it has a few too many characters, grown-up themes, and requires the viewer’s rapt attention. On the gripping hand, it’s just not for little ones. To be clear, it’s fine for young ones to watch, it just seems that they are not the film’s intended audience. This is odd since it LOOKS like it’s a kid’s show. It was advertised as a kid’s show. But my 4-year-old only watched when Despereaux himself was on the screen, and my 11-year-old spent most of the movie telling me how different it was from the book. My husband and I liked it, but we all agreed it was simply “OK.”
33 of 42 people found the following review helpful.
 Was a fun film
By Mathew A. Shember
*Spoiler Alert. A request was made to add this for people who don’t like to see storyline*
My daughter wanted to see this film. Probably because the ads showed a cute mouse. We had never heard of this book so I can’t judge the story.
The qualities of the stories are simple. Mistakes, redemption, pure of heart, honor, etc.
The movie opens with a ship heading to a city. On it is Roscuro the rat. Wearing cloths and an ear ring he looks forward for the famous Soup of the day of the kingdom of Dor. Wandering through the city he accidentally finds himself in the royal hall as the royal family are first to try the soup. Too entranced with the smell; Roscuro falls into the Queens soup and she is shocked to see a Rat, suffers a heart attack and dies. The guards chase him and he eventally falls into a drainage where he lands in Ratworld. There he is discovered by Botticelli who befriends him and decides to teach him the proper ways of being a Rat.
The grieving king then declares no more soup and rats are outlawed and any who harbor them will be punished.
Despereaux is born in mouseworld. He is not a typical mouse. Smaller then normal and he has over-sized ears. What’s worst is that he doesn’t cower, run, and he likes to take the cheese from mouse traps. His parents are called into school and told he is about to fail since he does not cower from knives and he draws pictures of cats. Even names one fluffy. The school master suggests that Despereaux follow his brother who graduated and was a proper mouse and could teach by example.
They head off to the library where Despereaux is supposed to eat books but instead he starts reading them and learns about knights, honor and questing to save the fair princess. This eventually takes him to the Princess Peas room where he befriends her as she is curious by his gentlemanly ways.
Eventually, Desperaux is found out and he is punished as he has gone too far by talking to a human.
He is sent to Ratword where no mouse ever returns. The rats find him and toss him into a Colosseum where he is to be sacrificed to a cat.
Roscuro notices him and sees that he is different. He decides to save him by declaring he wants to eat him. Botticelli, leader of the rats, agrees as he had been unhappy with Roscuro since he was refusing to eat flesh.
In Roscuro’s room, Despereaux tells Roscuro about knights, chivalry and his quest to save the princess. Roscuro recognizes the princess is the very girl whose mother he caused to die and decides to help as he may get a chance of redemption by telling her he is sorry.
I could go on but I don’t want to completely spoil the film. Overall I liked the film as the hero really doesn’t solve all problems. It’s more cause and effect that guides the story. The actions of one affect another. Happiness is lost and as the narrator says a hero appears when most needed. Despereaux is the hero and he actions effects others and causes actions which cause the return of happiness.
The cast is excellent. Sigourney Weaver does a great job as the narrator. Matthew Broderick as Despereaux and Dustin Hoffman as Roscuro. Emma Watson as the princess(though I must admit I thought was Emily Watson). Tracey Ullman as Miggery Sow. Kevin Kline as Andre the soup master. Ciaran Hinds as Botticelli(though I must admit I thought Peter O’Toole would have been better).
Visually the film is beautiful and the music adds to experience in the right ways.
Violence wise it’s pretty safe. There is fighting but you don’t see things like stabbing, etc. It can be intense especially with the Rat chases and the rat gladiatorial scenes but it’s not too bad. My girl is sensitive but she only wanted a little comfort but she still kept her eyes on the screen.
My daugher wants to see it again as it’s a great film in her opinion and I think it’s was worth the theater price. My daughter has already declared we have to obtain the film when it goes to DVD.
15 of 20 people found the following review helpful.
 Not a cute film about a mouse for young children
By Critical Guy
This is a G-rated movie, or at least that is the rating provided by the MPAA. It should never have been rated G. The film includes scenes in which the princess, after being betrayed by her handmaiden, is about to be eaten alive by rodents. That’s probably the most egregious part; however, there are lots of other similarly disturbing parts – things that will almost certainly be upsetting for younger children.
The overall tenor of the film is very dark. It is NOT a cute, happy movie to give to children. Some other reviewers here claim that it teaches children life lessons; if so, then it should be noted that top among those lessons are: that friends betray you, bad things happen, often for no reason; and that the world is a miserable and lonely place.
Please, don’t buy this as a “cute movie” to give to young children.
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