Who's Involved:
Release Date:
Friday, December 19, 2008 Nationwide
Plot: What's the story about?
Once upon a time, in the faraway kingdom of Dor, there was magic in the air, laughter aplenty and gallons of mouthwatering soup. But an accident left the King broken-hearted, the Princess filled with longing and the townsfolk without their soup. Sunlight disappeared. The world became gray. All hope was lost in this land...until Despereaux Tilling was born.
A modern fairy tale from visionary filmmaker Gary Ross, together with directors Sam Fell & Rob Stevenhagen, The Tale of Despereaux tells the story of several unlikely heroes: Despereaux (Matthew Broderick), a brave mouse banished to the dungeon for speaking with a human; Roscuro (Dustin Hoffman), a good-hearted rat who loves light and soup, but is exiled to darkness; Pea (Emma Watson), a Princess in a gloomy castle who is prisoner to her father's grief; and Mig (Tracey Ullman), a servant girl who longs to be a Princess, but is forced to serve the jailer (Robbie Coltrane).
Tiny and graced with oversized ears, Despereaux was born too big for his little world. Refusing to live his life cowering, he befriends a Princess named Pea and learns to read (rather than eat) books—reveling in stories of knights, dragons and fair maidens. Banished from Mouseworld for being more man than mouse, Despereaux is rescued by another outcast, Roscuro, who also wants to hear the tales. But when the Princess dismisses Roscuro's friendship, he becomes the ultimate rat and plots revenge with fellow outsider Mig.
After Pea is kidnapped, Despereaux discovers he is the only one who can rescue her...and that even the tiniest mouse can find the courage of a knight in shining armor. In this tale of bravery, forgiveness and redemption, one small creature will teach a kingdom that it takes only a little light to show the truth: what you look like doesn't equal what you are.
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Who stars in The Tale of Despereaux: Cast List
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I, Beauty and the Beast
No Hard Feelings, Rules Don't Apply
Kung Fu Panda 4, Kung Fu Panda 2
Avatar: The Way of Water, Avatar 3
Knuckles (limited series), Nobody
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Ricky Stanicky
What Is Life Worth, The Witches
Beauty and the Beast, The Starling
In The Land of Saints and Sinners, The Family Plan
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I, Brave
The Actor, Household Saints
Inside Out 2, Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate
Who's making The Tale of Despereaux: Crew List
A look at the The Tale of Despereaux behind-the-scenes crew and production team. The film's director Sam Fell last directed Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget and ParaNorman. The film's writer Kate DiCamillo last wrote Because of Winn-Dixie.
Director
Screenwriters
Producers
Gary RossTracy Shaw
Allison Thomas
Companies
Production Company
Watch The Tale of Despereaux Trailers & Videos
No trailer available.
Production: What we know about The Tale of Despereaux?
Key Facts
- Adaptation of Kate DiCamillo's book "The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread."
Filming Timeline
- 2008 - December: The film was set to Completed status.
The Tale of Despereaux Release Date: When was the film released?
The Tale of Despereaux was a Nationwide release in 2008 on Friday, December 19, 2008. There were 3 other movies released on the same date, including Yes Man, Seven Pounds and Adam Resurrected.
The Tale of Despereaux DVD & Blu-ray Release Date: When was the film released?
The Tale of Despereaux was released on DVD & Blu-ray on Tuesday, April 7, 2009 .