Spellbound is not the same as the 1945 movie noir directed by Alfred Hitchcock with the same title. This movie is also different from the 2002 spelling bee documentary as well as the South Korean movie released in 2011, which revolves around a woman who is able to talk to ghosts, all of whom share the same title. In fact, this is the second release from Sky dance Animation, a new animation studio redacted by John Lasseter the previous head of Pixar who was reported to have left his previous office due to intricate sexual abuse allegations. There’s a possibility that Sky dance has the money and confidence to make headways with Luck which was their debut film which was released in 2022. But there is a good chance that Luck served as a blueprint for Pixar to build their empire. The studio’s rendition of Walt Disney Animation is what they are trying to achieve in this sequel to the book.
There is quite a bit that appears to have been lifted from the Mouse House (though its co-director Vicky Jenson has DreamWorks credentials from helming Shrek and Shark Tale). It is a blueprint for a script with a loft concept that takes place in a high fantasy world that is filled with elements cut from Hans Christian Andersen’s tales, A European cut monarchy, a princess dwelling inside a castle and yes; the one and only, Alan Menken composing the score for the songs. To add further innovation, They have discreetly cast Disney’s princess to be, Rachel Zegler into the role of female lead in the movie.
She is the voice of Ellian, who is a teenage princess in the enchanted world of Lumbria, and all she wishes for is to go on a winged tiger dragon beast with her friends (apparently, they do exist). But, as quickly pointed out in the zippy first expositional song, she is forced to repress the horrible truth that her parents are monsters. Quite a clever starting point in the same vein as the private illness of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, combined with the CITV series My Parents Are Aliens.
Among all the fantasy flab, an impressive emotional story about warring parents is definitely commendable in what has now been turned into a fantasy.
Ellian is a head strong main character, engineered to steal the hearts of young girls just like Elsa, Moana or Mirabel, and no one else would be better suited for the role than Zegler. Skydance has assembled an extraordinary cast as well, the voice actors include Tituss Burgess and Nathan Lane who play goblin-like oracles. They sing all their songs exceptionally well and speak enthusiastically about the trip, saying ”We didn’t travel all this way in a frog’s mouth to squander our time!” There’s also John Lithgow who was brilliant as a palace official turned “purple rat” with the name Lord Candypants and had great fun portraying Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem during both their singing and monster roaring.
Vibrant colors and cheerful animation is to be expected in kids movies and this one does deliver as well. It can be said that the character designs lack imagination as it feels like Disney and DreamWorks are the biggest influences for these characters. However, it must be stated that this is a children’s movie and considering it is, the animation does cater to its audience. The movie does not have any present scenes that may require for the viewer to stop for a breath, as the action and singing sequences flow into each other seamlessly.
But the writing, unfortunately, is nowhere in the standards of Pixar or Disney, speaking of the humor present in the film its celling and quite unusual in the context it is used, for example one character shouts “colonoscopies” which is just strange to say the least. “Colonoscopies!” is the term used by a generous critic who commented on the unflattering remarks directed to the exhausted adult spectators.
Somewhat surprisingly, it also gets weighed down by its commitment to its fantasy world. Ellian’s journey is also made so much more complex by the overuse of narrative devices: she is required to go first to the “Dark Forest of Everlasting Darkness”, and prior to that, have to travel to the “Last Mountain”, and only after she reaches the “Lake of Light” will she be able to be freed from the curse.
However, what is most admirable: as much as all of it is fantasy, there is also a particularly stunning and moving allegory on parents who are at war with each other. It is an underhanded tale of a divorce and the level of heartbreak that it brings to a child who has no way of resolving it. “Dark emotions are commonplace,” one of the orators observes, “but how we respond to them matters.” Disney has been there and done the life advice for children so there’s no reason that value shouldn’t be one that Sky dance is proud to advocate.
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