TRAILERS
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.
35 Comments
1
looks good
05a88 on Jun 26, 2008
2
yawn. doesn't look good or bad. just, meh.
Keith on Jun 26, 2008
3
This is not the Despereaux I remember... O_o
theMK on Jun 26, 2008
4
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.
frank on Jun 26, 2008
5
they should make a tom and jerry flick . i would love to see that. this doesnt look too good.
John on Jun 26, 2008
6
I think it looks cute.
Janet on Jun 26, 2008
7
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.
Chris on Jun 26, 2008
8
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.
Josh on Jun 26, 2008
11
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.
Shige on Jun 26, 2008
12
emma watson is the voice of the human girl, wow!!!!!!
paulina on Jun 26, 2008
13
a horrible butchering of a great story!!!!!!!!!
Iron Man Fan on Jun 26, 2008
14
doesnt look terrible, shouldnt compare every animation to pixar though, pixars on a whole different level, compare it to disney or dreamworks
harrison on Jun 26, 2008
15
That didn't look bad at all. Remember, it all started with a mouse!
kitano0 on Jun 26, 2008
16
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...
moldybread on Jun 26, 2008
18
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).
yh on Jun 26, 2008
19
doesn't interest me at maybe it'll be good but its not my cup of tea.
Curtis on Jun 26, 2008
20
#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
whyst on Jun 26, 2008
21
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!
alex on Jun 27, 2008
22
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?
fred on Jun 27, 2008
23
"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.
Killerpotatoe on Jun 27, 2008
24
...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.
alex on Jun 27, 2008
25
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!
artveider on Jun 27, 2008
26
Yeah Alex,what's up, you've got some sand in your vagina?
Zerge on Jun 27, 2008
27
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.
And ... Cut! on Jun 27, 2008
28
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.
Dusty on Jun 28, 2008
29
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.
Minic on Jul 2, 2008
30
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.
Saw movie trailer in the theater on Jul 22, 2008
31
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 😀
Britt on Aug 14, 2008
32
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!
Renee on Aug 19, 2008
33
Like The Mk said, This is not the Despereaux I remember.
Despereaux on Sep 22, 2008
34
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.
Betty on Dec 8, 2008
35
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.......
Mason on Dec 27, 2008
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