“Spellbound” (2024) Review

It’s weirdly fitting that Spellbound is an animated fantasy about divorce, considering the rocky road of this film’s production company. This is the second feature from Skydance Animation, which has bounced from distributor to distributor and shuffled in and out a wealth of talent, some of which were controversial and led to several people leaving the studio’s production. Originally to be released by Paramount, Spellbound has finally arrived on Netflix after spending a long time in development. It’s also been marketed for being helmed by big names behind films like Shrek, Toy Story, and Aladdin. With such creatives, one would expect something better than a routine animated fantasy with clumsy themes.

Taking place in a fantasy kindgom, Princess Ellian (Rachel Zegler) keeps a chipper spirit despite the magical plight she has on her hands. Her parents, Queen Ellsmere (Nicole Kidman) and King Solon (Javier Bardem), have been cursed by a mysterious force that has transformed them into large monsters. While Ellian tries to prevent the public from learning about this curse to preserve peace, she treats her parents like giant pets as she seeks a cure. The reactive royal advisors of Bolinar (John Lithgow) and Nazara Prone (Jenifer Lewis) hope Ellian will come to her senses and ascend to the role of Queen. But Ellian remains determined that she can bring her parents back rather than assume such a leadership role.

After speaking with the eccentric deity couple Sunny (Tituss Burgess) and Luno (Nathan Lane), she learns of a magical MacGuffin in the forest. She hears about it just in time to flee the kingdom when her monstrous parents are discovered. On this fantastical quest, Ellian can get her parents to talk and slowly remember what cursed them in the first place. Long story short, it’s their negativity and the realization that the love has died between them.

The most fascinating aspect of Spellbound is how vanilla it all feels. It comes off more like a first-draft Disney production that wasn’t all there yet. The animation is vibrant and energetic but also highly generic, with its big-eyed heroes, furry animal mascots, and fantastical environments that are grand in scale but bland in design. The music by Alan Menken of Aladdin fame sounds good, but there’s no catchy songs here as they’re more admirable for their energy and pacing than anything all that engrossing. I can’t imagine many people will be humming the song where Lithgow sings about how much he loves eating bugs.

This film’s message is strong, but it stumbles in trying to present a meaningful representation of divorce. The allegorical nature is dropped by the end of the picture, and it comes off less like a dramatic family moment and more like an overly sentimental resolve. Ellian not only has the messaging spelled out for her in the finale, where her rage nearly destroys everything, but also breaks the fourth wall to explain the mechanics of divorce to kids. The way that she talks about her mom and dad living in separate towers and that there’s still a family bond between them comes off hollow, mostly because Ellian never really feels like a fully realized character and more of a vessel for talking to kids about the topic. But even on that level, I’m reminded of how much better this subject has been tackled on something like Sesame Street, which didn’t have to rely on magical elements to craft that message and then abandon it when the story wanted to get real.

Spellbound feels more like a lukewarm animated PSA than a whimsical adventure from people who have made far better films. The film might be relevant to kids who have just recently experienced a divorce and might not know how to feel. The mildly amusing Menkin music might even be sleuthing. But the film never entirely takes off with its animated allure and falls back on many stand-bys of the genre with its slapstick moments, cuddly creatures, and ho-hum jabs at the nature of parenting. For a film proudly boasting its resume of folks like Vicky Jenson and John Lasseter, this is no Shrek or Toy Story, leaving a flavorless quality that will have you running to your DVD copies of the films above as a reminder of what quality animated films feel like.