I’m not sure how this review fell through the cracks. I saw this movie in the theater months ago and just stumbled across this draft this morning.

I understand the less than stellar reviews from some. The Tale of Despereaux is not Toy Story or Madagascar. Don’t expect to see Buzz Lightyear kitsch, or Shrek fart-jokes. It is a fairy tale of the finest sort.

I am a long time fan of CGI animation, since the days before Pixar was a household name (and I do love Toy Story). The artistry and technical achievements in this film leave me speechless. The characters emoted better than many live-action films. (They did seem to cut a couple of corners on non-critical characters. The cat was pretty bad by comparison, but it’s only in two scenes.)

The feel is very literary, as it should be. And you get the feeling they made some sacrifices to get the book to the screen. (Don’t they always?) The film makes me want to read the book and see what I missed. Still, the story stands well on it’s own.

The voice talent (What a star packed cast!!) was held in check allowing the story to shine through. You don’t find yourself thinking, “Hey, it’s Robin Williams!” or “Hey, it’s Mike Meyers!” (Thank God!) Instead, you enjoy the characters and only momentarily think, “I think I know that voice.”

It may be too cerebral (read “old skool”) for some of today’s iPod, Dragon Ball Z, Nintendo DS, 24/7 non-stop stimulation generation, but it’s exactly the kind of story they need.

I enjoyed the movie and will likely own it, but only because of my irrational need to own all of Pixar’s movies. I think the little mouse earned 3 grins