The Tale of Despereaux Trailer 2
Universal Animation Movie Stars Emma Watson, Matthew Broderick
Nov 6, 2008
A really good trailer for a non-Pixar animated movie? Say it ain't so, Joe! (Okay, no more Sarah Palin jokes)
Well, that's just what you get when you check out the 2nd trailer for Universal Animation's The Tale of Despereaux, which recently hit the Interwebs. In short, this 30-second spot rocks.
Story Synopsis?
According to the official website, the story follows "several unlikely heroes, Despereaux (Matthew Broderick), a mouse banished for speaking with a human, Roscuro (Dustin Hoffman) a rat who loves light and soup but has been banished into darkness, Pea (Emma Watson) a princess trapped in a gloomy castle and her father's grief, and Mig (Tracey Ullman) a long-suffering servant girl who longs to be a princess.
"Tiny and graced with oversized ears, Despereaux was born too big for his little world. Banished from the Mouseworld for being more man than mouse, Despereaux is rescued by Roscuro, who wants to hear his tales. But when Princess Pea 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 armour."
So What Looks Good?
Universal Animation appears to have gotten it right with this flick. Based on the award-winning novel by Kate DiCamillo, this film looks like somebody's passion project. Far too many great novels get turned into garbage films, mainly due to scriptwriters, executives and directors who want to inject their own creativity into the thing, whether it needs it or not.
So far, it looks like Robert Stevenhagen and scriptwriter Gary Ross are smart enough to stay out of this story's way.
The animation is smooth and has some real atmosphere, and the flick features a solid voice cast, featuring includes Watson (the Harry Potter flicks), Hoffman (Kung Fu Panda), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), Broderick (Ferris Bueller's Day Off), and Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda). In other words, talented actors rather than big names. Watson really shines in this trailer as the princess who Despereaux eventually rescues. It's a bit of a thankless role, but she gives what lines she has some real warmth.
On the downside, the rhyming narration is a bit dopey but that's par for the course when you're dealing with this style of movie. It's still far too early to say for sure, but this film looks really good.
The Tale of Despereaux opens December 19th. You can check out the 2nd trailer by clicking over here.
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