A Second Look at Despereaux

The G-rated animated family film The Tale of Despereaux has just been released on DVD and Blu-Ray by Universal Studios. This “once upon a time” fairy tale has all the ingredients children love: a beautiful princess, adventure, danger, and villains overcome by the heroic deeds of a tiny mouse with big ears and even bigger heart. 

Besides being ridiculed about his ears, Despereaux (Matthew Broderick), refuses to cower and insists on reading books instead of chewing on them. This upsets his teacher, parents and all of the citizens of “Mouseworld” deep inside a castle in the land of Dorr. When he admits to befriending the sad and lonely Princess Pea (Emma Watson), the knight errant mouse is sent to the dungeon to live in Ratworld, where he befriends Roscuro (Dustin Hoffman), a rat who, unlike most rats, loves the light and wants to escape the darkness.

The Tale of Despereaux is an action-filled cartoon aimed at kids, but with lessons for the entire family concerning redemption, forgiveness and strength of character. Both the DVD and Blu-ray discs contains several bonus features, including a humorous behind-the-scenes featurette and special offers designed to entertain and stimulate the minds of little ones.

Though the film has no foul language, sexual references or strong violence, it does contain a bit of darkness. Despereaux endures scary moments as a prisoner among hundreds of hungry rats, a terrifying cat tossing him about and many other dangerous events. The king wallows in his grief over his dead queen who dropped dead after spotting a rat in her soup. And the princess is later kidnapped by her maid and the rats who drag her into the dungeon. But without these grim situations, there would be no need for Despereaux, who embodies strong messages of truth, courage, hope and light. 

For a more detailed review, check out the free website, Previewonline.org, where Phil Boatwright and Mary Draughon review films from a Christian perspective.