With a talking Chihuahua topping the box office this past weekend, I thought it would be appropriate to look to another talking animal film scheduled for holiday release. Rodents have always been a popular choice for animation -- besides the venerable Mickey we've had mice and rats in Ratatouille, Stuart Little, The Rescuers, The Secret of NIHM, Flushed Away and Charlotte's Web . Arriving this Christmas is a mouse described as too big for his small world, Despereaux (voiced by Matthew Broderick). Based on the award-winning Kate DiCamillo book, The Tale of Despereaux promises adventure as we follow the big-eared Despereaux who defies the mousy tradition of being scared of everything. As with Ratatouille , the film offers the pairing of a rodent and a chef. Also providing voice talent are Kevin Kline, Tracey Ullmann and Dustin Hoffman. And once again you will find multiple directors at the helm (I still don't know why animated films alsways seem to need multiple directors): Sam Fell, Rob Stevenhagen and writer Gary Ross are all credited as directors in the early press materials. Fell comes from Aardman Studios, which is a plus. The trailer is courtesy of Universal.
