The Tale of Despereaux (film)

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 loosely based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Kate DiCamillo. The film is narrated by Sigourney Weaver and stars the voices of 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 on 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 underperformed at the box office, grossing $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.