IMDb > The Tale of Despereaux (2008)
The Tale of Despereaux
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The Tale of Despereaux (2008) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 65 | slideshow) Videos (see all 33)
The Tale of Despereaux (2008) -- The Tale of Despereaux - Theatrical Trailer
The Tale of Despereaux (2008) -- Clip: Despereaux tries to tell Chef Andre about the Princess' capture
The Tale of Despereaux (2008) -- Behind the scenes: Tracey Ullman makes noises in the studio
The Tale of Despereaux (2008) -- Interview: Sigourney Weaver "On the what the film has to offer"
The Tale of Despereaux (2008) -- Trailer: Despereaux, a tiny mouse with huge ears, is determined to rescue his beloved princess.

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Overview

User Rating:
6.1/10   6,510 votes
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Down 1% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Writers:
Kate DiCamillo (book)
Will McRobb (screen story)
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Tale of Despereaux on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
19 December 2008 (USA) more
Tagline:
Small Hero. Big Heart. more
Plot:
The tale of three unlikely heroes - a misfit mouse who prefers reading books to eating them, an unhappy rat who schemes to leave the darkness of the dungeon, and a bumbling servant girl with cauliflower ears - whose fates are intertwined with that of the castle's princess. | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
8 nominations more
User Reviews:
Lackluster, Meandering more (84 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Additional Details

Runtime:
93 min | 90 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
A number of characters have names that are artistic references. "Roscuro" refers to the "Chiaroscuro Movement", Botticelli is a reference to the artist Sandro Botticelli, painter of "The Birth of Venus", and Boldo is named after Giuseppe Arcimboldo, a famous surrealistic painter who composed faces and figures out of various objects in the way that Boldo himself is made out of fruit, vegetables and kitchen utensils. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Despereux is about to be dropped into the rat dungeon, he has red string wrapped around his waist. The camera cuts away to show the dungeon, and when it comes back to see Despereux, the red string is missing. more
Quotes:
Narrator: Ok, remember when we said that grief was the strongest thing a person could feel? Well, it isn't. It's forgiveness because a single act of forgiveness can change everything. more
Movie Connections:
Featured in 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009) (TV) more

FAQ

How closely does the movie follow the book?
What is the name of the lute music played by the King?
What was that vegetable thingie in the kitchen?
more
27 out of 47 people found the following review useful.
Lackluster, Meandering, 23 December 2008
3/10
Author: zoenecrosis from Fullerton, California

This film is not doing anything noteworthy at the box office, and for good reason. Whatever merits this story had in its original form are lost in this translation.

The story feels directionless at all times, the plot takes nothing but left turns, there is nothing approaching believable character development, the motivations of all characters remain a mystery, and the narration (though given its all by Sigourney Weaver) is nothing but patronizing and annoying.

Kids can tell good and bad storytelling when they see it. They learn the normative laws of storytelling from Saturday morning cartoons. And this films has abysmal storytelling. And that is why kids are not telling their friends to see this movie.

There is a reason why Pixar films do bang-up business at the box office and all the other studios pale in comparison with their CGI efforts: Pixar are the last custodians of storytelling in cinema.

The Tale of Despereaux is just not a good story.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Tale of Despereaux (2008)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Make it stop MajorMaestro
Tale Of Despereaux Group smallflame17
It happened with Ratatouille and now Despereaux... mizpriz29
Emma Watson's voice... (some spoilers, I suppose) jackehboi
Dustin Hoffman as a Rat cerchiamusic
What in the holy hell was up with the veggie demon? kindigth
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