'A Classic Fairy Tale'
Writer/producer Gary Ross says The Tale of Despereaux, devoid of any cutesy pop culture references, is a throwback to the vintage classics.
Josh Hurst | posted 12/17/2008
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It begins with a rat causing trouble in a kitchen, but this is no Pixar knockoff.
Based on Kate DiCamillo's much-loved book for all-ages readers, The Tale of Despereaux—opening Friday—is a CGI animated family movie that's noticeably different from a lot of other recent family flicks. It's a straightforward fairy tale, devoid of pop culture references or big musical numbers, focused instead on a simple story of courage and heroism.
Gary Ross
The man responsible for bringing this retro family movie to the big screen is Gary Ross, the director of Seabiscuit and Pleasantville, who adapted the book to the big screen and served as the film's producer.
Ross spoke with CT Movies about what the story means to him, what the process of adaptation was like, and which classic family films have inspired him.
I took my wife to see the movie. She had read the book and I had not, and it made me want to go back and read the book—
Gary Ross: Oh, cool! In fact, Kate [DiCamillo] says that what makes her happy is that people can see either one—or read either one—first and still enjoy the experience, so that's awfully nice.
How involved was she in the movie and the adaptation?
Ross: We talked with her the whole way through. She wrote an early treatment for us of the movie, so we have a great relationship.
What attracted you to this story?
Ross: I loved the characters and I loved the themes. You don't often get to do a movie that's about kindness, and people releasing themselves from anger in order to get free. All these characters are so wounded that they're visiting cruelty on one another, and they're hurting one another because they're hurt. I very much enjoyed the idea of making a movie that's about breaking that cycle.
It would be easy to make this story into a political parable, or a social commentary, but there's a timelessness to the story that the movie captures pretty well.
Ross: That's very kind of you to say. What works about fairy tales is that they endure, and the great thing about fairy tales is that you can explore big, epic things that you can't really explore in other situations. This is [a film] about forgiveness, and redemption, and kindness, and breaking a cycle of cruelty. These things are pretty big ideas, and hopefully they'll stay resonant. Kate wrote a book that lingers with you long after you read it, and, if we're successful, hopefully we've made a movie that will stay with you long after you leave the theater. We hope to start conversations between parents and kids, and inside families.
There's an interesting line at the end of the film that isn't in the book, which says that the movie isn't about coincidence—it's about good luck. That's a strange note to end on, because really it seems like the movie isn't about good luck—it's about the heroism of its characters, about the consequences of their actions. So in what sense would you say this is a story about luck?
Sigourney Weaver
Ross: Well, that's actually Sigourney [Weaver, who narrates the film]. One thing that Kate did that I love is that she made her narrator very idiosyncratic. The narrator is a real person, not just an omniscient voice. So Sigourney is playing with you there a little bit. I think she means "good luck" a bit ironically. In other words, she says it wasn't a mistake [what happens to all the characters], it was good fortune. And I think there's a little bit of a wink in the way she says that, because she knows there's more than just luck involved, to have things turn out so well. Sometimes she doesn't always say exactly what she means, but you take away something larger.
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