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Amazon.co.uk Review
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 its action sequences, even Bourne and Bond. But this movie stands on its own; too dark and violent for very young children, perhaps, but for the most part it’s exciting and funny, and it delivers a message about bravery and forgiveness that is relevant to us all. Voiced by Matthew Broderick, the title character 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 defined 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, genuinely scary place--happens to be the current residence of one Roscuro (Dustin Hoffman), a peaceful sort whose shenanigans in the human world have accidentally led to the death of the Queen, the imprisonment of the Princess (Emma Watson), and, worst of all, the banning of Soup Day (no small 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 can imagine how it all turns out. Directors Sam Fell and Robert Stevenhagen and scriptwriter Gary Ross (adapting Kate DiCamillo’s book) have concocted some vivid and interesting worlds for their film; the look is unusual, often washed out, muted, and bathed in hazy light; and the voice acting is excellent (others include William H. Macy, Kevin Kline, Stanley Tucci, and Frank Langella). All in all, despite a conclusion that’s confusing even while it’s predictable, The Tale of Despereaux is a worthy addition to the crowded animation field. --Sam Graham
DVD Description
Audio tracks:
English, French, Spanish
Bonus Features:
English, French, Spanish
Bonus Features:
- Deleted Songs--"It's Great to be a Rat" and "Soup"
- The tale of The Tale of Despereaux
- Scene progressions
- Top 10 uses for oversized ears
- Interactive video game--make your own soup
- Card creator
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
The Tales of Desperaux. I am so sad that it did not perform better at the box office when it, in my mind, is one of the best animated movies for years.
I watched it yesterday and must say I would take my kids (if I had any) to watch this movie over most other animated films for the past few years, It is up there with ratatouille for me. It talks to the kids in a serious voice; it has scary, but true moments and teaches nice values that any kid, young or old, would love. The only downside of the movie is the princess that feels misplaced for some reason.
Why do I love it so much? Well, it is pure, classic storytelling, it reminds me of Don Blyth masterpieces of yesteryears, and with characters that does not need tie-in jokes and puns. It has dramatic tension, really scary scenes and wonderful voice acting from especially Dustin Hoffman.
I would guess that the voice cast, which is wonderful, came to this movie because of its script, a script that is pure Don Blyth, down to its bones.
I watched it yesterday and must say I would take my kids (if I had any) to watch this movie over most other animated films for the past few years, It is up there with ratatouille for me. It talks to the kids in a serious voice; it has scary, but true moments and teaches nice values that any kid, young or old, would love. The only downside of the movie is the princess that feels misplaced for some reason.
Why do I love it so much? Well, it is pure, classic storytelling, it reminds me of Don Blyth masterpieces of yesteryears, and with characters that does not need tie-in jokes and puns. It has dramatic tension, really scary scenes and wonderful voice acting from especially Dustin Hoffman.
I would guess that the voice cast, which is wonderful, came to this movie because of its script, a script that is pure Don Blyth, down to its bones.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I stumbled upon this film whilst browsing the kids section in HMV, to see if there was any C.G.I efforts that I didn't own yet, I'd never heard of this movie and was surprised to see something I had neither heard of or seen an advertisement for! The artwork on the box made me pick it up, I scanned the blurb on the back and decided to buy it based on curiousity and the drawn in "Burtonesque" (my term for anything that reminds me of the artwork/style of Tim Burton the king) faces of the human characters on the cover.
I watched this with my 6 year old daughter as my 4yr old son was too busy playing "Sonic the hedgehog" to want to come and watch the film, (probably just as well, as I feel the film may not have been as 'engaging' for a younger child- as the other reviewer pointed out that the film sits somewhere between the lines of being an adult/child cartoon)
As an adult cartoon I very much enjoyed it and found the artwork therein to be absolutely stunning! yes it does look a little like "shrek" and it follows a somewhat "mish-mash" formula as does shrek but the film differs in that it has dark undertones and barely any humour at all. This did not make the feature boring, instead it gave it a mythical, epical and most importantly serious feel instead, there is nothing wrong with a cartoon being serious in my opinion and it made a refreshing change from all the other happy go lucky colorful stuff out there.
The story is not really all that epical after you've watched it but the general feel of the film due to it's style, themes and sound give it an epical feel. There are only a couple of laugh out moments, the rest of the film's focus is pretty serious and straight-forward with a few darker themes, It still held my daughters attention from start to finish none the less!
I loved the visual style of this film, the narration I felt worked well most of the time, although at times I did find it a little intrusive, but not so much that it spoilt my enjoyment of the film.
I gave this 4 stars because I thought it was a brilliant addition to my C.G.I collection and well worth the £12 I paid for it, I don't think anybody should give it a miss based on opinions that it is not engaging enough, I don't feel it should be compared to other contemporary C.G.I efforts, this is not toy story, bee movie or shrek, but it has it's own style and enough charisma and substance to sit among classics such as "Rattatouie" and "The nightmare before christmas" just for being different and grown up! this is definitely one for the adults, but children who have an affection for more grown up stories or who like to watch films with their parents rather than on their own will watch this. Get it if you yourself like cartoons and quirky imaginative storytelling and/or you have kids who share your tastes, fine for older children, some younger children may not find it engaging enough to sit through the entire movie, but that's just some, we are not all the same!
I watched this with my 6 year old daughter as my 4yr old son was too busy playing "Sonic the hedgehog" to want to come and watch the film, (probably just as well, as I feel the film may not have been as 'engaging' for a younger child- as the other reviewer pointed out that the film sits somewhere between the lines of being an adult/child cartoon)
As an adult cartoon I very much enjoyed it and found the artwork therein to be absolutely stunning! yes it does look a little like "shrek" and it follows a somewhat "mish-mash" formula as does shrek but the film differs in that it has dark undertones and barely any humour at all. This did not make the feature boring, instead it gave it a mythical, epical and most importantly serious feel instead, there is nothing wrong with a cartoon being serious in my opinion and it made a refreshing change from all the other happy go lucky colorful stuff out there.
The story is not really all that epical after you've watched it but the general feel of the film due to it's style, themes and sound give it an epical feel. There are only a couple of laugh out moments, the rest of the film's focus is pretty serious and straight-forward with a few darker themes, It still held my daughters attention from start to finish none the less!
I loved the visual style of this film, the narration I felt worked well most of the time, although at times I did find it a little intrusive, but not so much that it spoilt my enjoyment of the film.
I gave this 4 stars because I thought it was a brilliant addition to my C.G.I collection and well worth the £12 I paid for it, I don't think anybody should give it a miss based on opinions that it is not engaging enough, I don't feel it should be compared to other contemporary C.G.I efforts, this is not toy story, bee movie or shrek, but it has it's own style and enough charisma and substance to sit among classics such as "Rattatouie" and "The nightmare before christmas" just for being different and grown up! this is definitely one for the adults, but children who have an affection for more grown up stories or who like to watch films with their parents rather than on their own will watch this. Get it if you yourself like cartoons and quirky imaginative storytelling and/or you have kids who share your tastes, fine for older children, some younger children may not find it engaging enough to sit through the entire movie, but that's just some, we are not all the same!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is interesting story. My daughter loves it.It's a bit dark but we enjoyed it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Okay
At under £3 it's cheaper than renting, but you'll probably only ever watch it once. Everything about it is average - the graphics, the storyline, the characters. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ianski
Was the film great? I do not know as it would not play!!!
The DVD was delivered promptly as promised and on opening with two excited under 5's we quickly discovered on placing the disc into the player that it would not work. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Huxley Pig
An excellent dvd
This is a surprisingly good dvd. animation is very good. The story is interesting and insightful for ages 4+ to adult. Read more
Published 4 months ago by B. Cherry
CUTE!!!
I got this for my kids and they loved it, charmingly sweet storey, lovely animation and sound quality. Brilliant value for money good family movie very watchable. Read more
Published 8 months ago by anne
Desparate
Very disappointing. I collect animated movies so it is very rare to find one that I don't really relish. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Ginger
A Tale of a Tail
Let me get this straight: this film is perfectly enjoyable and fun but...
Plot was complex and i got lost (Even though i can understand Doctor Who plots)! Read more
Plot was complex and i got lost (Even though i can understand Doctor Who plots)! Read more
Published 12 months ago by jimjamyaha99
It's a movie
hmmm not going to review the plot, you can google that. The animation is good, the quality was good and it turned up quickly. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Tomas the Tank Engine
TERRIBLE!
This film is really bad! The storyline made me fall asleep, the animation is sloppy and the voice-overs suck! There are very few funny moments so dont expect a laugh! Read more
Published 13 months ago by G. Stephenson
for unenlightened under-7's only
I watched this all the way through just to make sure i was basing this review on the entire film and not just the dismaying first ten minutes. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mr. F. M. Havicon
DVD wouldn't work
The DVD itself didnt work, judging by a glance at the other reviews though this was just a rare dodgy disk. The film is lovely though, I would recommend watching it.
Published 16 months ago by jem
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