The Tale of Despereaux (film)
The Tale of Despereaux | |
---|---|
Directed by |
|
Screenplay by | Gary Ross |
Story by |
|
Based on | The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo |
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | Brad Blackbourn |
Edited by | Mark Solomon |
Music by | William Ross |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 94 minutes[2] |
Countries | United Kingdom United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $60 million[2] |
Box office | $86.9 million[2] |
The Tale of Despereaux is a 2008 animated adventure fantasy film directed by Sam Fell and Rob Stevenhagen (in his feature directorial debut). It is based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Kate DiCamillo. The film is narrated by Sigourney Weaver and stars Matthew Broderick, Robbie Coltrane, Dustin Hoffman, Richard Jenkins, Kevin Kline, Frank Langella, William H. Macy, Tracey Ullman, Emma Watson and Ciarán Hinds. Animation was provided by Framestore Animation.
The film was released in the United States by Universal Pictures December 19, 2008. It is the second theatrically released computer-animated film distributed by Universal Pictures, following The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie. The Tale of Desperaux grossed $86.9 million against a $60 million budget and received generally mixed reviews; many critics praised the film for its animation, voice acting and the title character, but disparaged its story.
Plot
During Dor's annual "Royal Soup Day", sailor Pietro and his
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 having been born neither blind nor 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 jailor, Gregory, who stops listening and leaves him alone. Despereaux is captured 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.
Having been unable to adjust to being a sewer rat, Roscuro is desperate to hear about the outside world. The two become friends, as every day, Despereaux tells him stories of the princess and her sadness. Wishing to make amends for the trouble he has caused, Roscuro sneaks into Pea's room and tries to apologize to her, but she lashes out at him, and guards come after him. Hurt by this, Roscuro vows revenge. He enlists the help of Miggery "Mig" Sow, Pea's young, hard-of-hearing maid who longs to be a princess by convincing her she can take Pea's place if she kidnaps her. After Mig drags Pea to the dungeons, Roscuro double-crosses her and locks her in a cell.
Meanwhile, Despereaux discovers that the princess is in danger, and he tries to tell the King, who is too depressed to listen. Despereaux tries to get help elsewhere; he returns to the mouse village and tries to enlist his family, but they are afraid of his presence — for he has fallen in flour, so they mistake him for returning as a ghost — so he rings the town's bell to prove his survival, but still no one comes to his aid. Andre, having had enough of the law, gets back to making soup, which brings back Boldo. Despereaux tries to get help from Andre and Boldo, with limited success. As Andre is distracted by a rainy thunderstorm (which was caused by the smell of the soup being released into the sky), Boldo agrees and takes Despereaux back to the dungeons. En route, they are attacked by rats; Boldo sacrifices himself to allow Despereaux to reach the arena.
In the arena, Roscuro sees the apologetic sincerity in Pea's eyes and regrets his actions. Still, an enraged Botticelli signals the rats to eat Pea. Despereaux releases the cat to chase some of the rats away, and fights off the others. Botticelli captures Despereaux, but the rain clouds part and sunlight reflects off a lost heart-shaped
In the aftermath, Mig is reunited with Gregory, who turns out to be her long-lost father, and they return together to their farm. Meanwhile, the King overcomes his grief and allows soup and rats back into the kingdom; it stops raining, and the sun rises over Dor; Roscuro returns to his life at sea; Despereaux departs on a journey to see the world.
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, a human princess 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 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 who Roscuro accompanied to Dor
- Sam Fell as Ned, Mig's uncle; Smudge, a rat
- Patricia Cullen as Queen Rosemary, Princess Pea's late mother
- Jane Karen as Louise
- Bronson Pinchot as The Town Crier
- McNally Sagal as the teacher at Despereaux's school
- James Nesbitt as King Philip of Dor, Princess Pea's father (uncredited)
- Sigourney Weaver as The Narrator
Production
The film's production was marred by disagreements and
Music
The score of The Tale of Despereaux was composed by William Ross, who recorded his score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage.[5]
Release
The Tale of Despereaux was theatrically released December 19, 2008, by Relativity Media.[6]
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.[7]
Reception
Critical response
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."[11]
Christy Lemire of Associated Press was more critical, writing that the film "feels obvious, preachy and heavy-handed".[12]
Box office
The film opened at number 3 in the United States, behind Seven Pounds and Yes Man, with $10,507,000 in 3,104 theaters, with an $3,385 average;[13] on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the film was in second. The film closed in March 2009 after grossing $50 million domestically. The film grossed an additional $37 million overseas, for a total of $87 million.
Awards
Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Annie Awards 2009 | Best Directing in an Animated Feature Production | Rob Stevenhagen, Sam Fell | Nominated |
Annie Awards 2009 | Best Music in an Animated Feature Production | William Ross | Nominated |
Annie Awards 2009 | Best Production Design in an Animated Feature Production | Evgeni Tomov | Nominated |
Annie Awards 2009 | Best Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production | Rob Stevenhagen | Nominated |
Casting Society of America, USA 2009 | Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Animation Feature | Debra Zane | Nominated |
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2008 | CFCA Award | Best Animated Feature | Nominated |
Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA 2009, Golden Reel Award | Best Sound Editing – Sound Effects, Foley, Music, Dialogue and ADR Animation in a Feature Film | Lon Bender (supervising sound editor), Chris Jargo (supervising dialogue/ADR editor), Nancy MacLeod (supervising Foley editor), Jon Title (sound designer), Peter Myles (music editor), Michael Hertlein (dialogue/ADR editor), Anna MacKenzie (ADR editor), Michelle Pazer (ADR editor), Paul Aulicino (sound effects editor), James Moriana (Foley artist), Jeffrey Wilhoit (Foley artist) and Diane Marshall (Foley artist) |
Nominated |
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards 2008 | Special Award | Richard Jenkins For The Visitor, Step Brothers and Burn After Reading For the body of work in the last year.
|
Won |
Satellite Awards 2008 | Special Award | Best Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media | Nominated |
Video game
A
References
- ^ "The Tale of Despereaux (2008)". BFI. Archived from the original on March 10, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
- ^ a b c "The Tale of Despereaux (2008)". Box Office Mojo.
- ^ Cieply, Michael; Charles Solomon (2008-09-27). "Name Game: A Tale of Acknowledgment for 'Despereaux'". The New York Times. pp. B7. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
- ^ "Mike Johnson to Helm Tale of Despereaux".
- ^ Dan Goldwasser (2008-12-15). "William Ross scores The Tale of Despereaux". ScoringSessions.com. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
- ^ "The Tale of Despereaux Opens on December 19th". Perrot Memorial Library. December 1, 2008. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
- ^ The Tale of Despereaux - Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information. The Numbers. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
- ^ "The Tale of Despereaux". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 2021-10-06.
- ^ "The Tale of Despereaux". Metacritic. Retrieved 2024-04-08.
- ^ "Tale of Despereaux, The (2008) - B". CinemaScore. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
- ^ "The Tale of Despereaux :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews". Chicago Sun-Times. 2008-12-17. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
- ^ "'Despereaux' feels like a 'Ratatouille' rip-off". 2008-12-17. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
- ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for December 19–21, 2008". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-12-21.