Rated G for general audiences.
Recommended for ages 8 and up
Run Time: 93 minutes
Quick Take: This super-stuffed movie about a cute, big-eared mouse isn't all warm fuzzies: sensitive kids might not be able to handle the many gruesome moments.
The Story: Despereaux is a little mouse with big ears and a bold disposition to match. The unusual resident of the Kingdom of Dor is inordinately brave (won't cower, draws pictures of kitties, names them Fluffy). He eats up books only by way of devouring the stories, visits humans, and lives by the motto, "Chivalry! Bravery! Honor!" This causes no end of worry in Mouse World, eventually getting Despereaux banished to Rat World where he meets Roscuro, another unusual rodent. Exiled to darkness after a tragic soup incident, epicurean Roscuro (a relative of Ratatouille's Remy, perhaps?) lives among his cannibalistic rat kind, but longs for the light—and soup—of the castle. The search for better lives leads both Roscuro and Despereaux on a shared quest through both darkness and light that connects them to a princess, a servant girl, and, of course, a bowl of soup.
Good If You Liked: Stuart Little, The Borrowers, Chicken Run
Heads Up: Violence and darkness had Lisa and Margot, mothers of two 5-year-olds, wondering if this movie should be children 8 and up, not the rating's "general audiences." No doubt, it was dark. Several children cried when Despereaux was banished down the well. The whole scene was gruesomely painful, with the innocent little mouse sent by his family to the "executioner" who prepared Despereaux for, and then led him to, what felt like the equivalent of the gallows. Rat World is extra grisly, a place where human bones provide décor, and enemies (such as Despereaux) are sent to the coliseum-style arena to battle to the death with a growling kitty, and then get consumed by the waiting and ravenous audience. Near the movie's end, Princess is tied up and threatened in the same arena, a Willard-like event that is horrifying to children and adults. Said Lisa, mom of 5-year-old Joni, "I thought, 'Are we really gonna watch them tear her face off?''" Happily, the answer was no. Rat World's leader is the movie's one unredeemable character. As voiced by the deliciously malevolent Frank Langella, evil he is. The Mayor gets his -- the fact that you don't see it doesn't make it any less gruesome. At movie's end, 5-year-olds Joni and Emma seemed unfazed. "I brought Elizabeth [a stuffed dog] to get through the scary parts," said Joni. Added Emma: "I just covered my eyes." Dor's Queen dies early in the film, but it's such a strange incident, it seemed to barely register with the kids as anything more than a plot point.
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Mouse Tale Keeps Kids Rapt, Leaves Adults a Bit Fuzzy on the Details
It's been famously said (thank you Forrest Gump) that you never know what you're going to get in a box of chocolates. Ditto for movies. You really don't know what you're going to get in The Tale of Despereaux, a movie that, on its whiskered face (or at least in the trailer), is about a brave medieval mouse with super-sized ears, but really it's a Rube Goldberg contraption where "Once upon a time..." leads to "...happily ever after" by way of a mouse, a rat, a storybook, a king, a tragic soup accident, pig slop, a tiara -- deep breath -- a princess, a wannabe princess, a chef, and a creature made entirely out of root vegetables.
Better mousetrap, indeed.
Such randomly connected twists and turns make watching Despereaux a little like being in a maze searching for the elusive piece of cheese. Not that that's a bad thing. Kate DiCamillo's charming fable on which the movie is based is itself random, "being a story about a mouse, a princess, some soup and a spool of thread," as goes the book jacket (the simple story is it's about a brave mouse who gets himself banished for reading, talking to humans, and refusing to cower.) While we parents (or at least this parent) might have benefited from the availability of at least Cliff's Notes ("How the heck is this all going to connect?" was a common refrain heard from adults), kids seemed to have no trouble following along.
In fact, one of the marvels of watching Despereaux was the number of minutes little ones spent restlessly wandering out of their seats: none, zero, zip. This was true for even the smallest children who, despite cowering at some of the film's grittier moments, sat wordlessly rapt as they waited to see what came next. It helps that Despereaux himself is adorable, and that the animation is beautifully created. And give Sigourney Weaver her due for melodious narration that serves as both tour guide and binkie. The latter's a necessity since Despereaux is not all sweetness and light, with references to banishment, kidnapping, and man-eating rats, much of which had tykes covering their eyes or clinging to stuffed toys. All roads eventually converged in a conclusion that's satisfying, if not quite as big as the sum of its parts. It is a mouse maze, after all, so the ending, while no Gruyere, is still a reward, sort of a tasty piece of ordinary Swiss.
Kids Will Like:
Kids seem to gravitate to the happy stuff, and 5-year-old Joni liked it when Roscuro and Despereaux became friends. Kids liked Despereaux in general, not just because of his adorableness (he is unquestionably that), but because of his honor. Even the smallest children could recognize and appreciate the ability of the character to rise above his genetic makeup. Familiarity with the book isn't necessary, though it did prepare families for the movie's darker elements. Still, those same folks also lamented the loss of the glue (explanations and character development) that held the book together. Neophytes, on the other hand, seemed happy to follow the string to see wherever it led.
Parents Will Like:
There are morals and messages aplenty, about forgiveness, heart, and about being accepted for who you are -- all good things for the young set. Despereaux is willing to stand up for himself, but not in a disrespectful way. He also gracefully accepts his punishment when he's gone astray. DiCamillo's characters are multi-dimensional, meaning no one (save for the Mayor) is all good or all bad. It's a comforting notion since real people are considerably more complicated than your average storybook princess.
