The Tale of Despereaux

My son and I read this book last year and it along with Kate's other great work "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" we enjoyed very much. It is rare to find witty educated authors who are able to identify with the 5-10yr old crowd. The movie however was a far cry from the book, nevertheless the family and I enjoyed it very much. I am personally tired of the movies that focus on the parents more and the kids less (Bolt, The Incredibles etc..). The movie is a great movie particularly if you want to have a great talk with the kids on the way home about honor and bravery.

Was it the book? No and I prefer the book, but the movie is good entertainment in it's own right. Give it a chance, it will touch you.

Although this was not what some would consider a masterpiece of cinema, I though it was great; one of the best kids movies I have seen in a very long time. It was a good tale which taught good principles. There were no adult jokes, fart humor, or any of that nonsense. It did what fairy-tales once did: give hope and inspiration to the less-fortunate while stressing good values. This is what children need more of, not mindless humor meant to please the adults in the crowd. Yeah, the animation wasn't exceptional; but it did have a surreal classic art feel at times. I loved it and will recommend it to my customers. Working at a video store has it's perks. I hope many who would have otherwise turned away will give it a chance.

After waking up with my usual January the 1st mother of all hangovers i wondered how i would manage to grab some recovery time in the form of some extra shut eye later on in the day? Bingo! why not take the family to the cinema? I great place to catch forty winks , or so i thought. Little did i know i would find a kids film that was so good , sleep was the last thing on my mind.

A long time ago, in the distant kingdom of Dor, A horrible accident broke the heart of the king, left a beautiful princess crestfallen, and filled the townspeople with despair. As the sun disappeared from the sky and the flowers were drained of color, the laughter slowly ceased in this once-magical land. It was into this darkened world that a tiny mouse named Despereaux Tilling was born, and while this virtuous little rodent may have been short in stature, his bravery was ultimately too big for such a small world to contain. An unlikely hero with over-sized ears and a discernible wheeze, Despereaux was taken with tales of chivalry, and longed to one day become a noble figure among his people. Sometimes in order to realize their true destiny, heroes must first experience great hardship, however, and when Despereaux fails to adhere to the rigid rules of his society, he is banished from Dor

I don't review Children's films very often . Maybe that's because they are on all the time in my house and i don't really take a great deal of notice of them.

To be honest i didn't even know of The Tale of Despereaux until i checked the listings but I'm glad i did.

This is a magical production that has a mesmerising story , some delightful characters and animation of the highest quality. It reminded me a little of some of the fairy tale books i used to read as a kid. The narration by Sigourney Weaver was perfect. It helped my children understand exactly what was going on when there was two or three sub plots going on.

The Characters voices are performed by Dustin Hoffman , Emma Watson , William H Macey , Tracy Ullman , Kevin Kline and Matthew Broderick but to be honest i only recognised the voices of Hoffman and Watson during the film.

It does make you wonder why studios pay massive wages to big film stars when a lot cheaper alternative could be used.

If you stuck for something to do before the kids go back to school next week you wont go far wrong if you take them to see The Tale of Despereaux .

Without a doubt this is the best film i have see this year......and its also the first!

8 out of 10

When I saw the previews of this movie, I wasn't too sure it would be good. And when I read some of the reviews here it really didn't look like a movie I would want to see. But I am a real fan of 3D animation and I will eventually see every feature movie, even if it is to look at the technique only. I have dabbled myself in 3D for several years so I can watch movies from an educated stand point on the 3D itself as well as cinema, which I studied in University. So I went to see this movie and was pleasantly surprised. It seems it is a rendition of a book but I haven't read it so my comments are without prejudgment of the story itself.

The story, while having several classic plot elements (princess that awaits for her knights to save her for example) is also about courage, honor, and selflessness. It is well paced, well written, and well executed. This is not a plot that will surprise you with incredible twist elements, but we have to remember that it is aimed at a young audience. It reminds our kids of values that are too often muddied in kid movies these days. Desperaux is well rounded, and unlike other reviews I read, I cared about his journey, as I also cared about his rat friend as well. Technically, it is a well made movie with a style of its own that recalls greatly the pages of old children books. I am very confident in recommending this movie for all the family.

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.