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With all the behind-the-scenes makings of an animated classic, Spellbound features a talented voice cast and a can’t-miss creative team for a family movie with a whole lot of heart.
Directed by DreamWorks alum Vicky Jenson (Shrek, Shark Tale), Spellbound marks John Lasseter and Skydance Animations’ follow-up to Luck (2022), after he was ousted from Disney/Pixar following an impressive filmography that includes Toy Story (1995), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), Tangled (2010) and many more. His latest feature, now streaming on Netflix, certainly lives up to that tenure.
In Spellbound, teen princess Ellian of Lumbria wants to spend her days flying griffins around the kingdom with her friends, but for the past year, she’s had to cover for the king (Javier Bardem) and queen (Nicole Kidman) after they were magically transformed into monsters in the Dark Forest of Eternal Darkness. When the kingdom learns their secret, Ellian escapes with her beastly parents to find a magical cure before they’re banished to opposite ends of the world and she’s forced to ascend to their throne.
With a voice cast that checks all the boxes, Bardem and Kidman clearly had fun playing the king and queen, who have to learn how to speak again throughout the film. Jenifer Lewis and John Lithgow shine as Ministers Nazara and Bolinar, who help the princess keep her parents’ secret but are ultimately loyal to the kingdom. In a fun twist on the princess’ cute pet/sidekick archetype, Lithgow’s type-A Bolinar switches bodies with Ellian’s Flink, who is only described as “not a purple rat,” despite his appearance, a perfect vessel for the Shrek alum’s voice. Nathan Lane and Tituss Burgess also provide some laughs in the form of the Oracles of the Sun and Moon, an eccentric set of roommates who travel around in a giant frog’s mouth and use a magical fob in place of a wand.
Featuring music composed by Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin), audiences can expect a family-friendly soundtrack that kids will likely be singing on repeat for a while. ‘Look for the Light’ is a cute song by the Oracles, reminiscent of Lane’s Timon in The Lion King. Lithgow’s purple Flink leading an ensemble of blue peers in ‘I Could Get Used to This’ is enough to keep fans anticipating a spin-off. Kidman and Bardem remind audiences of their vocal chops on the track ‘Remembering’ with Zegler, who also shows off a darker side on ‘What About Me’.
Leading her parents through the Dark Forest on a journey of light, Zegler’s Ellian finds herself becoming consumed in the same darkness that turned the king and queen into monsters. Although she succeeds in helping them find her light, and them in helping her find hers, the movie hits kids with the hard truth that toxic family dynamics often end in divorce. But the kingdom can still live in harmony with the king and queen in their own castles.
Producers are Lasseter, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Bruce Anderson.
Production on Spellbound began during the pandemic in 2020 with a theatrical release date originally announced for Paramount. Skydance Animation would ink a multi-year deal with Apple, where the movie first segued to, before the Ellison owned studio moved that entire deal, and Spellbound with it, to Netflix in October 2023.
Title: Spellbound
Distributor: Netflix
Release date: November 22, 2024
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 and Nicole Kidman
Rating: PG
Running time: 1 hr 46 mins
