The Tale of Desperaux

The Tale of Despereaux is the animated story of a young mouse, Despereaux, who is determined to prove his valour and to befriend a young princess. Emma voices the role of Princess Pea, whom Despereaux first attempts to befriends and ultimately rescues.

The Tale of Despereaux, directed by Sam Fell and Robert Stevenhagen, was released in December 2008 by Universal Pictures and is loosely based upon Kate DiCamillo’s best-selling book.

The film tells the story of Despereaux Tilling (Matthew Broderick), a diminutive mouse from the Kingdom of Dor who incurs the wrath of the Mouse Council by befriending a human (namely the lonely Princess Pea voiced by Emma Watson) and is thus banished from the Kingdom and forced down into the rat infested underworld.

Fortunately Despereaux is befriended by a kind-hearted rat named Roscuro (Dustin Hoffman) who protects him from the other rats. A few years previously Roscuro had unintentionally landed in the Queen’s soup and in doing so caused her to have a fatal heart attack. The King, both heart-broken and incensed, thereafter decreed that all rats were banned. Roscuro subsequently hates all humans and upon hearing of the Princess, decides to lure her to the dungeon and her death. But, he hadn’t counted on one brave little mouse.

“This was the first animated character I had ever voiced and it was such an exciting experience. It was fascinating watching the characters and the story come to life and then to finally see it altogether with my voice. And I loved meeting Dustin Hoffman, Matthew Broderick and Sigourney Weaver, even if it just was at the premiere!” says Emma.

The film also starts Sigourney Weaver as the Narrator.