Rebirth: Movie 04: The Tale of Penelope Pussycat

***The Tale of Penelope Pussycat*** is the 4th film of *Rebirth* and the 24th film of *The Wonderful World of Toons* (franchise). It is loosely based on the 2003 novel, *The Tale of Despereaux* by Kate DiCamillo.

## Overview

Once a thriving place of sunshine and delicious soup, Tune World has fallen into sadness. An accident leaves God brokenhearted; the sunshine fades, and the soup disappears Into this world is born Penelope Pussycat, a book-loving cat and friend to Butch Cat. When Butch is kidnapped, Penelope must find a knight's brave heart within her tiny body and rescue her friend.

## Plot

The Film begins where Lucario and Tuffy dock in the Tune World, famous around the world for its delicious soups, during the "Royal Soup Day." The chief cook, Pitt, makes good soup due to Smidge, a magical troll that emerges from his pot. Tuffy sneaks into the royal banquet hall and falls into the Goddess's soup, giving her such a fright that she has a heart attack and dies. The entire hall goes into a panic and the guards pursue Tuffy. He attempts to flee the castle, but sees Lucario's ship has already sailed away. He narrowly escapes being killed by falling down a sewer drain, which leads to the castle dungeons. There, he is found and taken in by Maleficent, the leader of the large villain population. Distraught over his wife's death, God forbids all things related to soup and makes villains illegal. Without its soup, Tune World becomes impoverished and dreary. Pitt is banned from making soup and Smidge stops appearing. Butch, despairs over the sad state of the kingdom and how God has shut both her and the world out in his grief.

In a hero village, Penelope is born into the Pussycat family. As she grows up, it is clear she is like other heroes: he is not timid, but brave and curious, unnerving others around him. In an effort to teach him to be a "proper cat", Long takes her to the royal library to show her how to chew books, but Penelope is more interested in reading them. She becomes fascinated by books about daring knights and trapped princes. One day, he encounters and converses with Butch. She promises to finish the story about a trapped princes and tell him how it ends. Upon discovering Penelope has violated hero law by talking to a villain, her parents, Fifi and Pierre turn her over to Stonekeeper to avoid being blamed.

Stonekeeper banishes Penelope to the dungeons, where she meets and tells the prince story to the jailor, Scooby-Doo, but he stops listening and leaves Penelope alone. There, he is captured by Pterano and thrown into their arena with Manticore. As Penelope is about to be demise, Tuffy saves her life by asking Maleficent to give Penelope to her to eat. Having been unable to adjust to being a sewer mouse, Tuffy is desperate to hear about the outside world. The two become friends, as every day Penelope tells him the stories and of Butch and his sadness. Wishing to make amends for all the trouble he's caused, Tuffy sneaks into Butch's room and tries to apologize, only to be lashed out at and pursued by guards once again. Hurt by this, Tuffy vows revenge. He enlists the help of Scrappy-Doo, Scooby's nephew who longs to be a prince herself, by convincing him he can take Butch's place if he kidnaps him. After Scrappy drags Butch to the dungeons, Tuffy double-crosses him and locks him in a cell.

Meanwhile, Penelope discovers Butch is in danger and he tries to tell God, but he is too despondent to hear him. Penelope tries to get help elsewhere; she tried to enlist everyone, but they reunited her and she decided to ring the bell, proving that Penelope still lives. Pitt, having had enough of the law, gets back to making soup, which brings the enchanted smell back to the kingdom and brings back Smidge. Penelope tries to get help from Pitt and Smidge, but only Smidge agrees and takes her back to the dungeons. En route, they are attacked by villains; Smidge sacrifices herself to allow Penelope to reach the arena.

In the arena, Tuffy sees the apologetic sincerity in Butch's eyes and regrets his actions, but an enraged Maleficent signals the villains to eat Butch. Penelope lets loose Manticore to chase some of the villains away, and fights the others off as sunlight flows into the villain town. Penelope is captured by Maleficent, but Tuffy saves her by reflecting the light at Maleficent, sending her falling into the arena. With the combined effort from Tuffy and the cats, Maleficent is trapped in a cage with Manticore and devoured.

In the aftermath, Tuffy apologizes to Butch once again and he apologizes too; Scrappy is reunited with Scooby, who has turned out to be his long-lost uncle, and they go back to their farm together; God overcomes his grief and allows soup back in the kingdom; everyone is now practicing how Penelope did; Tuffy returns to his life at sea with the light and gentle breeze, and Penelope herself takes off on a journey to see the world as the film ends.

## Characters

* Penelope Pussycat
* Tuffy Mouse
* Scrappy-Doo
* Pitt
* Smidge
* Long
* Butch Cat
* Lucario
* Kurama
* Fifi Pussycat
* Pierre Pussycat
* Jessica Rabbit
* Stonekeeper
* Maleficent
* Pterano
* God

## Voice Talent

* Ellen DeGeneres as Penelope Pussycat
* Kath Soucie as Tuffy Mouse
* Scott Innes as Scrappy-Doo
* Daniel Brochu as Pitt
* Walt Dohrn as Smidge
* John Cho as Long
* Nicky Jam as Butch Cat
* Sean Schemmel as Lucario
* Paul St. Peter as Kurama
* Alfre Woodard as Fifi Pussycat
* D.B. Sweeney as Pierre Pussycat
* Sofía Espinosa as Jessica Rabbit
* Common as Stonekeeper
* Angelina Jolie as Maleficent
* Michael York as Pterano
* James Earl Jones as God

## Opening Credits

* Based Upon Characters Created by: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera

* Executive Producer: Sam Register

* Produced by: Bobbie Page

* Associate Proudcer: Judge Plummer

* Music by: William Ross

* Casting and Voice Direction by: Maria Estrada

* Edited by: Paul Hunter

* Story by: Robert Zappia

* Written by: John Edwards

* Directed by: Darrell Van Citters

## Songs

1. *Rasputin*: Kath Soucie
2. *Cold Is The Night*: Ellen DeGeneres
3. *Feast Of The Beast*: Kath Soucie
4. *Best Friend*: Ellen DeGeneres, Kath Soucie
5. *Beyond The Nothingness*: Ellen DeGeneres

## Trivia

* This film is based on *The Tale of Despereaux*
* This is the 2nd film where Penelope Pussycat is the main protagonist.