Rotten Tomatoes Logo Do you want to see ‘The Tale of Despereaux’?

The Tale of Despereaux (2008)

tomatometer

56

Average Rating: 5.6/10
Reviews Counted: 106
Fresh: 59 | Rotten: 47

Despite its striking visuals, The Tale of Despereaux as a story feels familiar and unimaginative.

46

Average Rating: 5.3/10
Critic Reviews: 26
Fresh: 12 | Rotten: 14

Despite its striking visuals, The Tale of Despereaux as a story feels familiar and unimaginative.

audience

46

liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 159,333

My Rating

Movie Info

A diminutive mouse strives to make a mammoth change in his troubled kingdom in this adaptation of author Kate DiCamillo's Newbery Medal-winning children's book. A long time ago, in the distant kingdom of Dor, a horrible accident broke the heart of the king, left a beautiful princess crestfallen, and filled the townspeople with despair. As the sun disappeared from the sky and the flowers were drained of color, the laughter slowly ceased in this once-magical land. It was into this darkened world

Apr 7, 2009

$50.8M

Universal Pictures

Cast

All Critics (107) | Top Critics (26) | Fresh (61) | Rotten (47) | DVD (3)

It just tries to take a little bit from some of the things we've seen over the past few years that have worked to make this work and it's just desperate and it doesn't work.

December 22, 2008 Full Review Source: At the Movies | Comment
At the Movies
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's like Ratatouille meets Upstairs Downstairs to go sort of cross-generational but it didn't work really on any level.

December 22, 2008 Full Review Source: At the Movies | Comment (1)
At the Movies
Top Critic IconTop Critic

. The plot is too convoluted and there are too many characters to keep track of.

December 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The Tale of Despereaux may not be a classic, but it still has a lot of class.

December 19, 2008 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Despereaux is a little too desperate to be loved.

December 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | Comment
Philadelphia Inquirer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

There's precious little space in Despereaux's tale for heroism (save for the third act) and humor.

December 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | Comment
Orlando Sentinel
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Certainly bears a superficial resemblance to Ratatouille, but it's a better film in several ways.

August 16, 2011 Full Review Source: East Bay Express | Comment
East Bay Express

Extras on the disc include a featurette on the making of the film, an interactive map of the Kingdom of Dor, and a little featurette on the 'top ten uses for oversized ears.'

April 8, 2009 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | Comment
Apollo Guide

It amounts to less than the sum of its artfully conceived parts but remains a nice and visually interesting film.

April 8, 2009 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | Comment
Apollo Guide

Like the title character in the story it tells, The Tale of Despereaux is a noble effort that more or less manages to create a kind of instantly likable post-modern fable

April 5, 2009 Full Review Source: PopMatters | Comment
PopMatters

To gegonos oti sto eikosalepto mporei na se riksei se bathy ypno, mporei na einai kai to kalytero kamoyflarisma aytoy toy anapanteha anepeisodiakoy ki anyperblita baretoy kinoymenoy ap' ta shediastika grafeia tis Universal Animation, poy den ehei kan to t

March 22, 2009 Full Review Source: Movies for the Masses | Comment
Movies for the Masses

The film looks great and the story is interesting enough for adults. It may be a little too complex and intense for young children.

February 11, 2009 Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | Comment
Laramie Movie Scope

Bland, over-stuffed, chaotic and ultimately underwhelming for both kids and adults.

January 31, 2009 Full Review Source: NYC Movie Guru | Comment
NYC Movie Guru

The cinematic equivalent of a cozy bedtime story, warmly told with loving care.

January 29, 2009 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment
eFilmCritic.com

Ego, fear and loathing will come between friends and drive family members apart in a surprisingly sophisticated journey for a kiddie flick.

January 9, 2009 Full Review Source: MovieTime, ABC Radio National | Comment
MovieTime, ABC Radio National

Scratch a CGI fairytale and you'll find an allegory about class, particularly if rodents are involved.

January 9, 2009 Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | Comment
The Age (Australia)

If you're an animation fan, don't wait for the DVD - The Tale Of Despereaux deserves to be seen on the big screen.

January 8, 2009 Full Review Source: FILMINK (Australia) | Comment
FILMINK (Australia)

There are no cheesy pop-culture gags or similarly wacky wisecracks; the emphasis is purely on action and adventure, and it pays off wonderfully by the end.

January 8, 2009 Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph (Australia) | Comment
Daily Telegraph (Australia)

A thoroughly engaging, slightly offbeat adventure with solid themes running through it

January 1, 2009 Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | Comment
Shadows on the Wall

For animation fans looking for a little more class and a lot less of the commonplace crass, this makes for a decent timepass.

January 1, 2009 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | Comment
TheMovieReport.com

Framestore Feature Animation makes us feel we've gone to the Louvre and walked right into paintings by Vermeer or Brueghel, scenes of breathtaking subtlety and texture.

December 23, 2008 Full Review Source: Christianity Today | Comment

There's nothing actually wrong with Despereaux, but there's nothing all that right with it either.

December 23, 2008 Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | Comment
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

A beautifully animated film with a gorgeous soundtrack.

December 22, 2008 Full Review | Comment (1)
Kaplan vs. Kaplan

Better than this year's critical darling 'Wall-E'.

December 22, 2008 Full Review | Comments (7)
Kaplan vs. Kaplan
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Tale of Despereaux

Good animation, but a boring and unintellegent story. Really not very good, a better tale for a straight to DVD movie.

March 3, 2011
DreamExtractor
Brad Wright

Super Reviewer

Oh my goodness gracious! They ruined such an amazing story with this movie. I love the book, "The Tale of Desperaux". It was exciting, funny, fresh, and original. You can easily see how much they tried to honor the source material but they easily failed at every chance they got. The story is about a fearless mouse

October 16, 2010
Movie Monster
Bently Lyles

Super Reviewer

The Tale of Despereaux Quotes

No quotes approved yet for The Tale of Despereaux. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Latest News for The Tale of Despereaux

April 6, 2009:
RT on DVD: Bedtime Stories, Yes Man, Doubt Hit Shelves
This week's new releases include a few Hollywood takes on science fiction (Fox's remake of The Day...

December 18, 2008:
Critics Consensus: No To Yes Man; Seven Pounds Is Too Heavy
This week at the movies, we've got self-improvement (Yes Man, starring Jim Carrey and Zooey...

What's Hot On RT

RT on DVD & Blu-Ray
RT on DVD & Blu-Ray

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1

Critics Consensus
Critics Consensus

Woman in Black is Solid

The Avengers!
The Avengers!

Five new Marvelous pictures

Total Recall
Total Recall

Unconventional Superheroes

Top Movie Quizzes

LEGO Mania: 2011 Best Picture Nominees
by natalie - 18,470 taken
created 12 months ago
How Much Do You Know About Leonardo DiCaprio?
by natalie - 44,194 taken
created 15 months ago
Pixar Movies!
by jdikwlzviv - 27,022 taken
created 15 months ago
The Wizards of Harry Potter
by jdikwlzviv - 27,527 taken
created 15 months ago

Foreign Titles

  • Despereaux - Der kleine Mäuseheld (DE)
  • La Légende de Despereaux (FR)
Help | About | Jobs | Newsletter | Critics Submission | API | Licensing | Blog | Developers | Mobile