With all of the behind-the-scenes makings of an animated basic, Spellbound contains a proficient voice forged and a can’t-miss inventive group for a household movie with a complete lot of coronary heart.
Directed by DreamWorks alum Vicky Jenson (Shrek, Shark Tale), Spellbound marks John Lasseter and Skydance Animation‘s follow-up to Luck (2022), after he was ousted from Disney/Pixar following a powerful filmography that included Toy Story (1995), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), Tangled (2010) and lots of extra. His newest function, now streaming on Netflix, actually lives as much as that tenure.
In Spellbound, teen princess Ellian of Lumbria desires to spend her days flying griffins across the kingdom together with her buddies, however for the previous 12 months, she’s needed to cowl for the king (Javier Bardem) and queen (Nicole Kidman) after they have been magically reworked into monsters within the Dark Forest of Eternal Darkness. When the dominion learns their secret, Ellian escapes together with her beastly mother and father to discover a treatment earlier than they’re banished to reverse ends of the world and he or she’s compelled to ascend to their throne.
With a voice forged that checks all of the packing containers, Bardem and Kidman clearly had enjoyable taking part in the king and queen, who must learn to converse once more all through the movie. Jenifer Lewis and John Lithgow shine as Ministers Nazara and Bolinar, respectively, who assist the princess preserve her mother and father’ secret however are finally loyal to the dominion. In a enjoyable twist on the princess’ cute pet/sidekick archetype, Lithgow’s type-A Bolinar switches our bodies with Ellian’s Flink, who is just described as “not a purple rat,” regardless of his look, an ideal vessel for the Shrek alum’s voice. Nathan Lane and Tituss Burgess additionally present laughs within the type of the Oracles of the Sun and Moon, an eccentric set of roommates who journey round in an enormous frog’s mouth and use a magical fob instead of a wand.
Featuring music composed by Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin), audiences can count on a family-friendly soundtrack that youngsters will possible be singing on repeat for some time. “Look for the Light” is a cute track by the Oracles, harking back to Lane’s Timon in The Lion King. Lithgow’s purple Flink main an ensemble of blue friends in “I Could Get Used to This” is sufficient to preserve followers anticipating a derivative. Kidman and Bardem remind audiences of their vocal chops on the monitor “Remembering” with Zegler, who additionally reveals off a darker facet on “What About Me.”
(L-R) Nicole Kidman as Queen Ellsmere, John Lithgow as Flink, Rachel Zegler as Princess Ellian and Javier Bardem as King Solon in ‘Spellbound’
Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
Leading her mother and father via the Dark Forest on a journey of sunshine, Zegler’s Ellian finds herself changing into consumed in the identical darkness that turned the king and queen into monsters. Although she succeeds in serving to them discover her mild, and them in serving to her discover hers, the movie hits children with the laborious fact that poisonous household dynamics usually finish in divorce. But the dominion can nonetheless stay in concord with the king and queen in their very own castles.
Producers are Lasseter, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Bruce Anderson.
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Production on Spellbound started through the pandemic in 2020 with a theatrical launch date initially introduced for Paramount. Skydance Animation would ink a multi-year take care of Apple, the place the movie first segued to, earlier than the Ellison-owned studio moved that total deal, and Spellbound with it, to Netflix in October 2023.
Title: Spellbound
Distributor: Netflix
Release date: November 22, 2024 (streaming)
Director: Vicky Jenson
Screenwriters: Lauren Hynek & Elizabeth Martin and Julia Miranda; story by Jenson and Hynek & Martin
Cast: Rachel Zegler, John Lithgow, Jenifer Lewis, Tituss Burgess, Nathan Lane, Javier Bardem, Nicole Kidman
Rating: PG
Running time: 1 hr 46 minutes
Content Source: deadline.com