While at the pictures today to see Wall-e (which is excellent, by the way,) I saw the trailer for the screen version of Kate Dicamillo's The Tale of Despereaux, with none other than Matthew Broderick giving voice to the mouse hero (who also voiced grown-up Simba in "The Lion King", all those years ago.) "Despereaux" is hands down my favorite Kate DiCamillo book, with any Mercy Watson title as a close second, so I'm not sure what to make of this development. The film is all CGI and looks to be joketastic, which may or may not be a good thing (think wise-ass "Shrek".) Still, the film adaptation of Because of Winn-Dixie was very good, so I will reserve judgement (for now!)
Getting back to Wall-e, go see it if you have not done so already. It's not just for kids! In fact, it was an excellent reminder that a G rating simply means that a film is suitable for a general audience, not that it is intended for the tot-lot crowd. This film was intelligent, wise, and clever beyond belief. And there was hardly any dialog! Like a fantastic wordless picture book, this film let out imagination do the talking.
