London-based Framestore creates their first feature animation film

By Robin Rowe

“When I came across ‘The Tale of Despereaux,’ I felt I had found something that was unique and full of magical characters and tone,” says co-director Sam Fell. “It was something I missed in everything else I was seeing around at the moment, material geared toward cynical comedies. It really grabbed me.”

     Fell wrote and directed Flushed Away for Aardman Animations in Bristol, England. For Universal Pictures The Tale of Despereaux he turned to London-based Framestore.

     “We loved the performance of Framestore’s hippogriff created for the Harry Potter movies, and since we’ve worked together, they’ve won an Oscar for their stunning polar bears in The Golden Compass,” says producer Allison Thomas. “They’re known for delivering high quality images for a price and made a great partner for The Tale of Despereaux.”

     Framestore created visual effects for Narnia, The Golden Compass, 1408, and has done commercials and television animation. Despereaux is Framestore’s first feature animated film.

     “We spent a lot of time with our animators trying to find an understated style of animation that allowed you to consider a bit more of what was going on inside each of these characters,” says Fell. “And while the filmmakers knew the movie had to be emotionally impactful, they also wanted the tale to be filled with rollicking adventure as Despereaux and his cohorts embrace their respective quests.”

     “When characters in animation are comedic or cartoonish, they tend to have a much more graphical design,” says Fell. “It’s quite difficult for a strongly graphical character to give a subtle performance in a more naturalistic fashion. The stars of our fairy tale from the Middle Ages are a mouse and a rat who walk and talk. Despereaux and Roscuro are eloquent, scurry on two feet, wear clothes, have 10 fingers…but needed to be recognizable to children as familiar creatures they’ve seen scampering about.”

      “Our goal was to give Despereaux, the other characters and the settings in (the mythical land of) of Dor a painterly, atmospheric look,” says production designer Evgeni Tomov. “Much like the rich Flemish paintings, Dor and its citizens needed to look as if they belonged in the Middle Ages. We knew they should not only be beautiful, but also moving and emotionally engaging. We wanted this organic, immersive quality to the film. We deliberately chose a very muted and subtle palette. We did not want saturated, vinyl or obviously digital colors.”

     Framestore Animation created the visual style in a computer-generated environment by applying traditional painting techniques. Painters created 2-D digital matte paintings and also touched up 3-D renders with minute detail. They were seeking the look of the paintings of the Flemish masters, who often let detail fall off into shadows in their work and added sharper detail in the focal area.

     Matthew Broderick and Dustin Hoffman voice the film’s star rodents, Despereaux and Roscuro, while British actress Emma Watson (taking a sabbatical from Harry Potter) and Tracey Ullman are the story’s leading ladies. Ullman is the serving girl Miggery Sow, a

pig herder who dreams of becoming a princess until her impossible dream is crushed one day.

     “I love Miggery Sow because she has this enduring sense of optimism, despite all of her failings and misgivings,” says Fell. “And Tracey brings this soulfulness, hopefulness and comic tragedy to the lovely character in a way I don’t believe anyone else could.”

     “The best animated movies have a classical sense to them that appeals to a broad range of people,” says Despereaux writer-producer Gary Ross. “It lets adults visit the part of them that’s a kid. And, it lets kids reach for the part of them that wants to be an adult. In the same way that Despereaux longs to be a knight, he longs to be a gentleman, he imagines something beyond the confines of his life. Everybody relates in a very common way. It isn’t that there’s something for grownups and something for kids, it’s that everyone is able to engage with this story because it’s so classical, because there are things that stir you emotionally.”

The Tale of Despereaux

Running Time: 94 minutes

Release Date: December 19th, 2008 (USA)

MPAA Rating: G

Distributor: Universal Pictures