Skydance Animation returns with its second feature film, Spellbound, this time for Netflix and bringing the iconic visionary Vicky Jenson, who directed Shrek (2001) and Shark Tale (2004). These are two films that achieved a lot in animation during their time. Will Vicky Jenson be able to perform a hat trick, returning after 20 years to direct an animated film, or does Spellbound fall into the cliches of modern animation?
Spellbound is set in the fantastical world of Lumbria, where we follow Princess Ellian (Rachel Zegler), who goes on an adventure across the land to find a way to break a spell that has torn her kingdom apart and transformed her parents into monsters.
This is a movie that has a star-studded cast with huge names such as Rachel Zegler (Y2K), Nicole Kidman (Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom), John Lithgow (Conclave), Javier Bardem (Dune: Part Two), and so much more. The crew is just as impressive as the cast, with Vicky Jenson returning to the director’s chair for an animated movie and Alan Menken, the mastermind behind Disney classics such as The Little Mermaid (1989) and Aladdin (1992). This sounds like a recipe for one of the best animated movies to grace our eyes in a year that already has several outstanding animated movies, but unfortunately, Spellbound falls short on a few notes.
Similarly to Luck, Skydance’s first feature animated movie, the animation still lacks an identity that helps it stand apart from the countless animated movies that have come out over the past few years. With Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse breaking boundaries for mainstream animated feature films, several studios and creative teams have taken inspiration and provided new life to their projects, but Spellbound fails to follow in their footsteps and instead ends up looking generic in the mix of widely inventive animated films.
Princess Ellian has been dealing with her parents being monsters for almost a whole year now. She’s been trying to keep them under control, hidden from the kingdom, and for them to notice her. With Ellian not having parents around, Minister Bolinar and Minister Nazara Prone try their best to still make the palace feel like a home for the princess. It’s a strong message that Spellbound is trying to tell young children who might be able to relate with living with divorced parents, being split between two homes, and guardians trying to make everything seem normal. Using the monsters and the magic of the world as an analogy for divorce and a broken home, it’s a creative way to go around it, but it only ever feels like we really delve into the heart of this during the third act.
Up until that moment, this analogy is strung throughout the songs and beaten like a dead horse. While Alan Menken is the composer of Spellbound, every song feels the same with its meaning and isn’t as catchy as some of his previous work, leaving something more to be desired from one of the core components of this movie. Rachel Zegler has proven in West Side Story and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes that she has what it takes to deliver in a musical, and while her singing voice will always be phenomenal, it doesn’t reach the heights of her previous vocal performances, and this could solely be because the songs are as lyrically generic as the movie itself. Aside from her singing voice, Zegler and the entire cast deliver a performance that gives Spellbound the energy it desires.
Another animated feature film from Skydance Animation fails to live up to the high standards set by the wide list of animated films released in the year, with Spellbound delivering a subpar final product. If you’re looking for a musical to watch with songs that will have you wanting to get up, dance, and sing along, then you should just head to the theater to watch Wicked. If you want to witness innovative animation, then you’re most likely better off going to see a movie such as Flow or The Wild Robot. While it has a strong message at its core that some young children will be able to resonate with, it doesn’t do anything substantial with it until the third act, making Spellbound an overall slog of a movie to get through.
Spellbound is now streaming on Netflix.
