TF.ORG - The Films - movies download portal

The film opens with a ship sailing into the kingdom of Dor's dock. Roscuro (a rat) (Dustin Hoffman), is aboard a ship with his human friend Pietro, sailing to the kingdom known for its soup on "Royal Soup Day". "Royal Soup Day" in this area is held in higher regard than Christmas.

As they are taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of the festivities, Roscuro is mesmerized by the smell of the huge pot of soup being prepared in the castle. He leaves his human companion in search of the aroma. Meanwhile, André (the royal head chef) (Kevin Kline), pressured into finishing the soup minutes before its presentation, sends out his staff, and argues with a sentient anthropomorphic "Soup Genie", named Boldo, over the ingredients of the soup to be presented to the royal family. Roscuro's search for the soup's smell takes him to a chandelier directly over the royal soup bowl. Upon presentation of the soup to the queen and her subsequent first taste, Roscuro is overcome by the aroma, loses his grip, and falls into the queen's soup bowl, causing her to have a fatal heart attack.

Roscuro is horrified to see what he has done and tries to apologize but is chased through the castle, to which he sees Pietro's ship leaving the dock with out him. Roscuro then falls down a grate into the castle dungeon, where he meets Botticelli (Ciaran Hinds), the leader of the Rat world. Botticelli dislikes Roscuro's gentle ways and tries to force him to conform to the brutal nature of the other rats.

Following the funeral of the queen, the king in his grief orders soup to be forbidden and rats banished. The town falls into eternal darkness and famine because of dark clouds that will not release their rain.

A few years later, Despereaux (Matthew Broderick), a tiny mouse with enormously large ears is born. He is considered odd for a mouse, displaying incredible bravery. But in this mouse society, fear is taught in school as a mouse necessity, and those that cannot learn to fear are considered outcasts. Despereaux's parents attempt to teach him fear by having him explore the castle's library with his older brother “showing him the ropes”. But rather than being fearful he is fascinated with books, and instead of eating them, decides to read them despite his brother's orders. He develops a fascination toward fairy tales and learns from them knight's codes of honor such as chivalry and courage.

Despereaux is drawn towards the lonely Princess Pea (Emma Watson), who at first is afraid, but soon sees Despereaux as a gracious creature. She even expresses her desire for soup, rain, and even rats to return to the kingdom. Despereaux tells the princess a story about a happy princess but is unable to finish because he has not finished reading it yet. Before leaving he promises to finish reading the story and tell the princess how it ends; he makes this his quest.

Upon finding out that Despereaux has broken the law by speaking with a human, the Mouse Council immediately decides to banish him to the dungeons. He is led to the Threadmaster, Hovis, (Christopher Lloyd), a compassionate, blind mouse tasked with sending outlaw mice to the dungeon. Desperaux, after a failed appeal to Gregory the jailer (Robbie Coltrane), is soon discovered by Botticelli's henchmen and is sent to be eaten by a chained cat as entertainment for the rat population. Before he can be eaten, Roscuro's soft side gives way and he asks that the small mouse be given to him as his own, and expresses the intention to eat him himself, to Botticelli's delight. However, rather than eating Despereaux, he takes him into his home as a guest. Despereaux tells Roscuro that during his conversation with the princess she revealed to him that she wishes the sun and the rain and the soup would come back, and that she even misses the rats. This touches Roscuro, and his guilt eventually provokes him to set out and apologize to the princess.

Roscuro approaches the princess and offers his apologies but despite her earlier claims, she is terrified of him and he is again chased. He is emotionally hurt and in turn becomes bitter and decides to kidnap the princess and give her to the rats in the dungeon. He enlists the help of a hard-of-hearing servant girl, Miggery Sow (Tracey Ullman), promising her that "she" would be the princess instead and together they manage to bring the princess to the dungeon. Roscuro then double crosses Mig and locks her in one of the dungeon cells and becomes an idol in the eyes of the rats. Meanwhile, Despereaux realizes that the princess is in danger and attempts to solicit help. He sneaks out of the Rat World and makes his way up the chimney with the help of Pea's locket. After hurtling over a long chain of mousetraps and subsequently losing the locket, he goes and finds the king,who, because of his great depression, does not even notice the mouse. Unable to get help, he returns to the Mouse World, causing the townsfolk to take him as a ghost. Despereaux then goes to the royal chef who, snapping out of his self-loathing, has decided to make a soup with Boldo. Despereaux is able to win over Boldo and the two of them set out to rescue the princess. During their journey, Boldo is fatally wounded, and urges Despereaux to continue alone.

Back in the rat colony, Roscuro sees an apologetic sincerity in Pea's eyes and regrets his actions, but is unable to stop the rats clambering over her. However, before the rats can begin devouring the princess, Desperaux lets loose the cat which chases them all away, except for Botticelli, who is determined to kill Desperaux.

But at this time, a sun-shower has finally begun outside, and all the villagers are happy. The growing light reaches the dungeons, and Roscuro turns a magnifying glass to focus it on Botticelli, causing the villain to fall. Botticelli, chased by the cat, runs into the cat’s cage for a fatal end. The battle finally over, Roscuro finally apologizes, only for the princess to say that there is no need to.

Mig is rescued by the jailer, who is revealed to be her father in an emotional turn of events. Roscuro is reunited with Pietro aboard the ship that brought him. The princess and the king decide to soothe their grief of losing the queen by relying on each other for love and support. And Despereaux is reunited with his family. Despereaux and the princess remain close friends and the little mouse continues his adventures.