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Universal's The Tale of Despereaux Mouse Movie Trailer

by Alex Billington
June 26, 2008
Source: Yahoo

This Christmas, Universal, for the first time ever, will be jumping into the animation game with a film of their own titled The Tale of Despereaux. Unfortunately it looks pretty much like a Ratatouille rip off. I know that it's an adaptation of Kate Dicamillo's children's book and doesn't feature a rat who wants to become a chef, but I think the only reason they made this is because Ratatouille did so well. So why not animate a cute little mouse? Unfortunately this isn't Pixar, not at all. It's got a full line-up of voice actors who sound more like themselves than the character they're supposed to play, it's got the cuteness of Wall-E combined with the Oscar nominated writing of Ratatouille all packed into a cheesy, stupid story design to make kids laugh and nothing more. If you can't already tell, I wasn't too excited by this new trailer.

Watch the trailer for The Tale of Despereaux:

You can also watch The Tale of Despereaux trailer in High Definition on Yahoo

The Tale of Despereaux is directed by a combination of Sam Fell (Flushed Away), Gary Ross (Pleasantville, Seabiscuit), and Robert Stevenhagen (ex-animation supervisor) working under Framestore Feature Animation. The screenplay was written by writing team Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi (of Alvin and the Chipmunks). The film is based on the Newbery winning book of the same name written by Kate DiCamillo. The Tale of Despereaux arrives in theaters everywhere on December 19th.

Filed under To Watch, Trailers

From around the web:

05a88

looks good
Keith

yawn. doesn't look good or bad. just, meh.
theMK

This is not the Despereaux I remember... O_o
frank

are you implying this is the first ever universal animated pic, or just the first xmas one? because they released "curious george" a few years back in 2/06.
John

they should make a tom and jerry flick . i would love to see that. this doesnt look too good.
Janet

I think it looks cute.
Chris

I didn't find the voices a problem. To be honest, I find actors 'trying to do a voice' can be more off-putting as it's often clear that none of them have recorded their lines at the same time and there's an awful disparity in the performances.
Josh

Doesn't look terrible. Just cuz it's not Pixar doesn't mean it can't be good. Although, odds are not in its favor.
http://cinexcellence.com Cinexcellence

Yeah, not too impressed with it.
http://movieguyreviews4u.blogspot.com Ryan

Doesn't look too bad.
Shige

Rip off ? Alex come on... With your logic Ratatouille was a Stuart little rip off. It also had a cute mouse/rat (not sure) and it was a reasonable success.
paulina

emma watson is the voice of the human girl, wow!!!!!!
Iron Man Fan

a horrible butchering of a great story!!!!!!!!!
harrison

doesnt look terrible, shouldnt compare every animation to pixar though, pixars on a whole different level, compare it to disney or dreamworks
http://blog.myspace.com/shero_rauf Shero

Nice Characters... nice animation and textures .... the fur is so great ... I think it will be really good ...maybe not the best but at least I will watch it more than one time
kitano0

That didn't look bad at all. Remember, it all started with a mouse!
moldybread

so whats the problem??? looks cute enough for me...at least it isnt another retread superhero or teen-coming-of-age BS...I like it...
http://egghub.com AJ Batac

Feels, sounds and looks a lot like Ratatouille.
yh

I think the characters are... way too human for it to be believable. Pixar always did well with animals because they never made them too human, but kept the animal aspects intact while infusing them with the human spirit. This just looks like it could be done with actors in mouse suits. I like the the art style, and I like the animation, and quite honestly the voice acting, while cheesy as all hell, is chuckle inducing, but I think the mouse/person thing is gonna stick out like a sore thumb on this one. Not a write off, but I'm thinking more Antz than A Bug's Life (I kinda liked Antz btw).
Curtis

doesn't interest me at maybe it'll be good but its not my cup of tea.
whyst

#3, I agree the Despereaux I remember was darker and more, I don't know, melancholy... but I guess they had to make it more light-hearted for the kids. Still, animation and everything looks good I'd give it a chance
alex

so...despereaux copied off of ratatouille which copied off of stuart little which copied off of tom and jerry which copied off of speedy gonzalez which copied off of mighty mouse which copied off of mickey mouse which copied off of three blind mice ...despite despereaux being written earlier [2003] than ratatouille? i like the "it all began with a mouse", kitano0!
fred

What get's me is why, when the mice must have known it would a total Ratatouille rip-off, that they still let the camera crew etc into their homes!!! That's just plain dumb!! They must have been desperate for the publicity & cash. Anyone know how much they get paid for something like this? I hope it's worth it, coz they'll be the laughing stock of their neigborhood come Christmas!!!! Don't they ever think of their kids?
Killerpotatoe

"That didn't look bad at all. Remember, it all started with a mouse! kitano0 on Jun 26, 2008" Well, actually it all started with a dinosaur, or am I wrong ? This movie does not look bad but I don't think it will be a great hit. Characters just look dead, I don't think the design works well for animation.
http://blog.myspace.com/shero_rauf Shero

I heard such words before : It looks like Ratatouille or it looks like Happy Feet ...or such words without any explanations ... What you mean that looks like that ? and that looks like this ? The Tale of Despereaux = Ratatouille ? Why is it because we have rats or mouse in the movie ? Surf's up = Happy feet ? is it because we got penguins in the movie ? Madagascar =Wild ? is it because we have lion and some others having an adventure ? Antz = Bugs Life ? because it is all about bugs ? What do you mean it looks like another movie ? explain ? Do not take me me wrong but learn to explain your ideas and do not just write 2 words and end of the story .... .................................................................... If you really care : Take a look to the animation and visual effect department of the movie in IMDb and you will knowledge that most of the artists " not all of them but most of them " worked in CGI for movies and they didn't make a lot of animation movies ...some of them are never worked in animation movies ... That is why make this movie to be different ... because most of them have the feeling of realistic looks ...and their renders are more realistic than some other animation movies ...
alex

...which all copied off of primordial ooze, hehe. ...who taught EvilDuck how to read? can you not understand the blatant sarcasm perpetuating the already, and now overwhelmingly, negative response to a careless review from a biased, yet very enjoyable reviewer? i do like this site. i do not like this review. we're on the same side here, EvilDuck. and it's good to disagree! that's the driving force behind this site. this dude didn't like what he was reading, thought he could do better, and now we have you doing the same. celebrate differences in opinion. it keeps sites like this so popular.
artveider

I don't know how people like Mr Alex Billington get to write reviews?!... You have to have at least some understanding of the industry and an eye for style... This review makes the website look phony: how can you claim that the movie was maid just because Ratatouille was a success, when Despereaux was already in production for a few years when the world first heard of Ratatouille and saw it for the first time? Animation features in average take more than three years to complete (Alex Billington SHOULD know that). And how can you judge the way the story is told by a two minute long trailer only?.. It is not Pixar and it SHOULD NOT BE Pixar: they are great, indeed, but this is not the only way to make movies!
Zerge

Yeah Alex,what's up, you've got some sand in your vagina?
http://blog.myspace.com/shero_rauf Shero

Please everyone ... I am not protecting or helping Alex .... and let's we be a bit in a level that we can discuss the problems and the matters with explanations and details and proves.... we must not use some words just to put our anger out in the site ....I respect this site and I understand Alex's hard work and I always wrote this to him when I had a critic on his information or on his points... But I never hate him or wanted to make his name dirty ...he is really doing a good hard and clean job ..... but maybe of course he had and still have some point of views that is not based on details in proves ... but it not mean he is idiot or without knowledge .... or I must use bad words against him because he is making mistakes ... Look and see how many sites you will find like this on the Internet ... just by the fast news he give us.... and the clean way he put them in the site .... and that is why let's we be a bit with open mind and critic him by that we mean better information and better real news not for making him down and broke all what he done until now ... Thank you all and of course thanks for Alex for his hard work again and hope he become a better person in critics ..
And ... Cut!

Gee. Another. Animated. Feature. Another cutely written and realistically drawn cartoon of some talking animals. Same characters. Same plot. Same jokes. Just a fancier wrapper. Someone just please slit my wrists now.
Dusty

artveider#27 - I am still trying to figure out why you and others will put that this is a review... and numerous others of Alex's posts... this is a posting of a trailer and his respective thoughts on it. I don;t necessarily agree all the time... but wow.. i have numerous comments lately about how his reviews are lacking factual backing ...blah, blah, blah. Unless you see "Review:" before the title of the post... then it is just an article. I have been following this site for quite sometime.. and enjoy all our interactions on these comments.. but I keep on getting frustrated when I see people jump all over the writers on here for stating their views and the information they find out.
Minic

Heyyyyy, come ooooon... it looks okay. Ratatouille came out last year, didn't it? That's a very short amount of time to create the film in, if they did apparently rip it off. Besides, they look like essentially different movies to begin with. This reminds me of the situation that came up with the release of The Prestige and The Illusionist, or Happy Feet and Surf's Up.
Saw movie trailer in the theater

This movie looked so cute to me and my girls. I decided to look up the title on the web to read the book before the movie comes out December 19th. Honestly I don't know what the critic in the beginning is talking about. Maybe you can hear the actors/actresses voices, but do you honestly think that a kid is going to recognize that it was this person who was once famous is speaking for a cartoon character. For example in Disney's Jungle Book the four vulture characters were the Beetles but do you think my six year old recognizes that???? The answer is no just like many other kids now days(, unless that is what they are told by their parents). As far as Ratatouille is concerned you really need to do your homework. Did you catch that website at the end Mister Alex Billington if you did your homework and checked out the story line at http://www.thetaleofdespereauxmovie.com you would see that the story is not anything like Ratatouille, but more like a mouse who is different and stands up for his differences instead of conforming to the rest of the world, and because of that he is rewarded by being the hero of this story. That being said i leave you with a line from the story at the website: What you look like doesn't equal what you are.
Britt

This movie looks SO cute. Oh man I can't wait to go see it! Its like Cinderella, Rattitouille, Mouse Hunt, Dumbo and Stuart Little all wrapped into one! I'm dying to see it
Renee

None of you read the book I gather--Good book. Anyway, there can be one Princess movie after another. It doesn't matter. This is not for adults. Kids watch the same movie over and over and over...You know. When you are a kid, and into cute litttle animals, it doesn't matter that it's like another movie with cute little animals. In fact, it's a good thing!
Despereaux

Like The Mk said, This is not the Despereaux I remember.
Betty

This movie looks like it will be absolutely adorable. I can't wait to see it. The characters and animation in the trailer is priceless.
Mason

quote: "they should make a tom and jerry flick . i would love to see that." YES YES YES!!! Tom & Jerry would be fantastic with modern tech, modern storyline. What a great idea! I loved T&J because there was no dialogue - the art told the entire story, and the characters features and expressions were superbly done. Hope somebody at Pixar is reading this.......