tale of despereaux

i went to go see this with my six year old nephew. i wasn't expecting a lot, and i got even less. the story is about a little mouse who doesn't fear cats like he's supposed to, instead he wants to go on an adventure and save a princess. and it just so happens that he lives in a castle where there is a princess in need of saving. handy, huh? as a main story its kind of fun, but it kept taking unnecessary detours by following the stories of a rat, a cook, a king, a stable maid, and some strange sort of cat colosseum. i'm quite certain that my nephew was completely confused by it, heck, i wasn't quite sure what was happening part of the time! the animation is also very drab and almost entirely done in shades of brown. boring. none of the stories ever go anywhere and there. everyone does a bunch of talking and sitting around- not exactly what i'm looking for in an animated movie. notice the key word there: animated! do something!!! each of the story lines start to lift off the ground, and then thud right back down and goes nowhere. i really wanted to like it, for my nephews sake, but they really didn't offer anything to like.