While director Vicky Jenson has recently been focussing on live-action, she's now returning to her biggest love, animation, with Spellbound. Known for her work on Shrek and Shark Tale, Jenson certainly isn't messing around. She ensembles an immensely strong team including composer Alan Menken, who gave us unforgettable songs in films such as The Little Mermaid (1989) and Beauty and the Beast (1991), and an A-list voicing cast including Rachel Zegler (West Side Story), Nicole Kidman (The Undoing) and Javier Bardem (Dune: Part Two). Her latest magical fairy tale might be formulaic, but it also feels heart-warming, vibrant and inspiring thanks to its light-hearted humour, beautiful animation and important messages.
While visuals might be lively and vibrant, the Land of Lumbria looks much darker. King Solon and Queen Ellsmere, voiced by Bardem and Kidman, have been turned into giant monsters because of a dark spell. It's up to their daughter and heir, Ellian (Zegler), to keep the kingdom together. This isn't easy, as the monsters are tearing it and the family apart. The constant fighting between the parents complicates Ellian's quest to return everything to normal.
It's those fights that were key in creating the story. During our interview with Jenson, she mentioned that part of this story was based on kids not understanding why their parents constantly fight and thinking it's all their fault. Her parents constantly argue, and Ellian finds herself in an impossible situation. While this is a heavy topic, especially for a film that's mainly aimed at children, even more so because there are hints of other important themes such as dementia and separation, Jenson balances the sadness and enjoyment perfectly.
The sadness and darkness mostly come through when Ellian embarks on her quest. To help her in her difficult journey and to break the spell, she commands the help of magical creatures such as Boliner (John Lithgow), Flink (Dee Bradley Baker) and the Oracles Luno (Nathan Lane) and Sunny (Tituss Burgess). Joined by the monstrous creatures and her magical aid, including an enchanted fob, Ellian travels through the Dark Forest of Eternal Darkness to search for the Lake of Light. However, throughout her difficult journey, she faces personal and magical challenges, making it nearly impossible to fight the darkness (both internal and external) and restore the kingdom and her parents.
However, no matter how difficult or dark the story gets, there's always light to find in Spellbound. Lithgow (The Rule of Jenny Pen) plays the highly chaotic and anxious mouse-like creature in a fun way and will put a smile on your face while Zegler sings heart beautifully. On top of that, the visuals are breath-taking, nevertheless very familiar. The monsters are adorable, especially when Bardem and Kidman burst into song. At the same time, Ellian oozes the cheekiness of a teenager and also the determination she has to try and save everyone.
The warmth and heart of the feature is also very tangible in the musical elements, which are present straight from the start. The film's musicality welcomes the audience with open arms while being the perfect guide for Ellian during her almost impossible quest to save her parents. Whether the princess singing about how she misses the old days, the oracles providing her advice in a musical way, or the kingdom musically trying to figure out what to do with the King and Queen being monsters, each song beautifully fits the story and conveys the necessary emotions. It's a shame the songs aren't as catchy and memorable as needed in a musical. While they provide joy during the scenes, you won't remember any numbers after the 109-minute runtime.
While Spellbound is a formulaic musical animation that does it by the numbers, there's still much to enjoy in this feature. Yes, there are the monstrous creatures, the (dark) magic and the emotionally loaded scenes. However, there are vivid and dynamic animations, bold and creative design choices and plenty of enjoyable musical numbers, which ensure that that movie can stand out from similar animations.
Spellbound is out now on Netflix
