MPAA Rating: G
Genre: Family/Animated/Adventure
Age range: Ages 5 and up
Runtime: Approx. 90 minutes
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Watson, Tracey Ullman, Kevin Kline, William H. Macy, Christopher Lloyd, and Sigourney Weaver
Studio: Universal Pictures
Release Date: December 19, 2008
The Tale of Despereaux - Summary
Once upon a time, a rat named Roscuro visited the kingdom of Dor, which was known far and wide for its famous soup. Enthralled by the delicious smell wafting through the air, Roscuro snuck into the castle, where he unwittingly initiated an unhappy chain of events, which began with the Queen dropping dead from astonishment upon seeing the soup-smitten rat floating in her broth.
Devastated by the loss of his Queen, the King banned soup and rats, and he refused to be comforted by anyone, even his beautiful daughter, Princess Pea. Such was the sad and gloomy state of the palace and the kingdom until now, but a tiny hero has just arrived on the scene.
Despereaux Tilling is not like other mice. He is tiny of stature, but mighty in character. In fact, Despereaux's refusal to cower and his adventurous ways actually get him banished from Mouseworld. He ends up in the terrible rat dungeon, where he chances to meet the rat who started it all -- Roscuro. The two talk of chivalry and bravery, but when Roscuro's attempt to right his wrong goes awry, he too caves in to feelings of grief and revenge. He uses a heart-broken servant girl, Mig, to unfold a vengeful plan. Despereaux seems too tiny to be able to resolve the situation at hand, but he may be the only one with enough courage to try and shed new light on the kingdom and its sorrowful inhabitants.
Photo © Universal Pictures
The Tale of Despereaux - Guide Review for Parents
Charming and introspective, The Tale of Despereaux offers a more complex moral than most kids' movies these days. Instead of flashy animation, boisterous music, and an in-your-face triumph of good over evil, Despereaux bestows upon viewers a well-articulated tale fraught with literary phrases and complicated characters (as far as kids' movies go). However, the complexity may leave small children a little lost and possibly bored, depending on the child. The movie does have action and some intriguing characters, though, and it offers up several topics for family discussions.
While rated G, The Tale of Despereaux contains some scenes which may be very frightening or unsettling to very young children. The rat dungeon and the rats that inhabit it are dark and scary. They thrive off of the trash from the world above, and they delight in carnage. The rats have a sort of Colosseum or arena where they watch exhibitions such as a cat tearing apart a mouse (This is not shown, just implied, and Despereaux is at one time in the ring with the cat but is able to escape). Also, several weapons are shown in the film, including knives, swords, and axes. People chase rats with various weapons, rats fight, and in one scene rats draw near to the Princess, intending to feast upon her.
*For detailed examples of possibly frightening or offensive material, please see the Content Overview below.
The Tale of Despereaux - Content Overview
The following lists a few of the most prominent examples of possibly offensive content in the movie (may contain spoilers):Violence (Medium)
- People chase rats with weapons such as knives and axes. No rats are shown being killed.
- A Queen gasps and gags and drops dead, face forward into her soup.
- In an arena, rats cheer as a terrible looking cat goes after a mouse. Also in the arena, the Princess is tied up and rats come at her ready to presumably tear her to shreds and eat her.
Sex/Nudity (None)
Profanity (None)
Alcohol/Drugs (Low)
- Wine is poured into the soup, and the chef thinks this makes the soup taste perfect.
Bad/Disrespectful Behavior (High)
- A sailor and Roscuro wear earings.
- Mig is quite jealous of the Princess and is always coveting her position and possesions. In one scene, Roscuro uses these feelings to get Mig to help him get revenge on the Princess.
- Mig's uncle is shown berating and screaming at the girl. He calls her names like, "deaf little urchin."
Scary Scenes (Medium)
- The scenes listed under violence may be particularly frightening for young children.
- The rat dungeon and the rats are portrayed as dark and scary. The mice are terribly frightened of them.
- The Thread Master is a scary looking mouse with glassed over eyes who lowers Despereaux into the rat dungeon.
Photo © Universal Pictures
Sad/Unsettling Scenes (Medium)
- The King is heart-broken after the death of his wife. He does nothing but play his guitar and cry. He ignores his sorrowful daughter, Princess Pea.
- Mig is treated poorly by her uncle.
- Despereaux is banished to the rat dungeon and must leave his family.
The Tale of Despereaux - Discuss the Movie
- After watching The Tale of Despereaux, children may have questions about the following topics: death, royalty, why some people are born princesses and others are born into poverty, fairness in life, grief, grief making people want to hurt others, courage, bravery, revenge, forgiveness.
