The Tale of Despereaux (film)

The Tale of Despereaux
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Screenplay byGary Ross
Story by
Based onThe Tale of Despereaux
by Kate DiCamillo
Produced by
  • Gary Ross
  • Allison Thomas
Starring
Narrated bySigourney Weaver
CinematographyBrad Blackbourn
Edited byMark Solomon
Music byWilliam Ross
Production
companies
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • December 19, 2008 (2008-12-19) (United States)
Running time
94 minutes[2]
CountriesUnited Kingdom
United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60 million[2]
Box office$86.9 million[2]

The Tale of Despereaux is a 2008 animated adventure comedy film directed by Sam Fell and Rob Stevenhagen (in his feature directorial debut). It is based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Kate DiCamillo. The film is narrated by Sigourney Weaver and stars Matthew Broderick, Robbie Coltrane, Dustin Hoffman, Richard Jenkins, Kevin Kline, Frank Langella, William H. Macy, Tracey Ullman, Emma Watson and Ciarán Hinds. Animation was provided by Framestore Animation.

The film was released in the United States by Universal Pictures December 19, 2008. It is the second theatrically released computer-animated film distributed by Universal Pictures, following The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie. The Tale of Desperaux grossed $86.9 million against a $60 million budget and received generally mixed reviews; many critics praised the film for its animation, voice acting and the title character, but disparaged its story.

  1. ^ "The Tale of Despereaux (2008)". BFI. Archived from the original on March 10, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "The Tale of Despereaux (2008)". Box Office Mojo.