The Tale of Despereaux [G]

Once upon a time there lived a mouse named Despereaux, who dreamt of being a brave knight. Banished from his home for being more of a man than a mouse, he one day, meets a distraught princess and vows to embark on a noble quest to free her from her prison and bring her what she longs for. 

This was an interesting little family film in that it goes back to a time of chivalry and honour and there was real sense to it: like a sense of duty, a sense honour, moral sense, and the characters sensing how others are feeling and what can be done to bring happiness. It was more of a feeling movie rather than a grand adventure of damsels in distress, brave knights, and the like. 

Once upon a time, in the faraway land of Dor, there lived a small mouse named Despereaux who dreamt of being a brave knight. Banished from his home for being more of a man than a mouse, he one day meets a distraught princess and vows to embark on a noble quest to free her from her prison and bring her what she longs for. 

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a film quite like this before. There really isn’t much of a story to speak of, more of a collection of personal anecdotes and vendettas of the characters set against that fairytale-esque backdrop of chivalry and honour. It’s a very naturally evolving tale in a way, as the small series of adventures and misdemeanours lead to different feelings, which then lead to actions, some nasty and some nice, rather as it happens in reality. It’s sort of funny to say, as this is really a film where mice and rats are the heroes, but this is actually a very human movie as it depicts human feelings as being the real villains: grief, longing, insult, and injury. 

The animation is amazing with the perfect voice talents to match. 

Featuring the voice talents of Matthew Broderick, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Watson, Tracy Ullman, Kevin Kline, Stanley Tucci, Sigourney Weaver, William H. Macy, Robbie Coltrane, Christopher Lloyd, and Frank Langella, The Tale of Despereaux is a nice little film with both courage and heart. Filled with adventure, soup, bravery, and forgiveness, it’s not the greatest fairytale in the world, but it’s worth having a look at nonetheless.