John Lasseter Attempted a Disney Musical Knock-Off...

[@dawndoesart]

I will say the idea of a child blaming herself for her parents divorce is a very real concern. She doesnt just believe they dont love her, she believes its her fault entirely. It makes a bit mkre sense when you look at it from this angle. She believes if she brings rhem back together itll prove it isnr her fault. But now that shes failed it only solidifies in her mind that it is indeed her fault

[@wormziewormz..]

THIS! I remember spending years of my childhood believing I was at fault for my parents fighting, problems, and eventually their divorce. I felt very seen by this movie at least in those themes.

[@lauracerqueiramachado8979]

Yes… but I wouldn’t say it’s the case with Ellian in the beginning she believed what happened was just an accident and when they realized her parents fighting caused that she blames them for not thinking about what is best for her, her song is literally called “What About Me?”. It would have been more impactful if the fight that turned them into monsters was because of something she did or said and she knew that then she would have blamed herself and it would have been heartbreaking

[@sneakingfox11]

not just that too but she even says "if you can fall out of love with each other, you can fall out of love with me" which is a real fear kids get. it's not that she automatically believes that they don't love her, but that they have the capability of NOT loving her in general. that thought can be petrifying.

[@sdrawk3611]

I'm going through a divorce (and so are my two kids) and we will end up in "separate castles" so to speak, so for us this movie is perfect. My kids watched it once and immediately wanted a rewatch.

[@blondbraid7986]

Yeah, for me, I don't remember blaming myself, as much as feeling I needed to try and fix it, and that I as their child COULD fix it, because so much of the media I grew up with featured divorced parents having to come together for an adventure, and falling back in love in the process. Take movies like the Parent Trap, Liar Liar, Jurassic Park 3, 2012 (the movie, not the year), while some of them individually are good movies, the trope as a trend feels so toxic. And before people say "but movies aren't supposed to be realistic, they are whish fulfillment", compare that to how many childrens movies feature dead parental figures or mentors, who doesn't come back to life exactly to help children understand and relate to real life loss and how to process it. When I lost older relatives at a young age, I didn't have a ton of media pushing the idea that if I just tried hard enough, I could magically make them come back to life again.

[@CaptainCat101]

That trailer constantly reminding us that John Lasseter made several Pixar movies is one of the biggest "ego-strokes" ever (to put it lightly)

[@krissydiggs]

Probably because people wouldn't watch it otherwise.

[@JoeChillton]

Not exactly Coppola stroking here, but still riding off the past

[@Altronn]

John Lassiter is only the producer. Seems like they were just using his name to sell this

[@patrickmcguire7896]

Ok yeah the marketing for this could’ve been better but it was still a great movie

[@noobmasterruben5167]

​@JoeChillton that is the exact situation with Coppola's Megalopolis, its not as good as they used to

[@joshuatewolde1837]

Despite the movie being a total flop, I kinda like the character designs, the dress, and the magic and wants to know what culture it’s based on

[@poisons-da]

it looks like south asian culture?

[@eddie-roo]

It really looks south asian, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, The Maldives, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, maybe even Thailand.

[@crystalowl6608]

It’s a mix of India, Morroco, and Spain.

[@MYLAR.]

@@eddie-roo mr worldwide

[@blondbraid7986]

Yeah, I applaud them for looking for different cultural inspirations and not just go the easy route of "medieval" Europe.

[@MrMordo85]

TBH i think you missed a key note here, the dark forest of Darkness? a marraige therapist's office, first time there the parents explode knowing they can't work together and become monsters (aka fighting constantly at home) the 2nd journey are the stages of therapy, they meet the Oracles aka the therapists and the monsters follow Ellian's (starting to listen and follow directions) they get to the log where kind words are uplifting and harsh words hurt (opening a controlled dialog) once they pass this they can "talk" the dad even says "I am saying things but i do not know what they mean as they come out of my mouth" they take a break (under the stars) where they look back on memories and try to think of good memories together the queen says "i try to tell my eyes not to forget again but they just get wet again" aka the queen is finding it hard because she's been upset for a long time unbeknownst to Ellian the black tonado following them throughout is the feeling of spiraling into depression the sands and rocks is the therapists telling them that fighting against eachother can not only hurt them but innocents around them aka the cat griffins and Ellian until they stop and listen to Ellian being amongsth the Cat griffins is immersian therapy aka "this is what happy families should act like" and once they see Ellian happy and acting like a kid they get the sentiance to know who they are/were and try to make it as a family again but it doesn't work and Ellian get sucked into the downward spiral (creeping darkness) until the parents sit her down and bath her in love aka the light... all that aside i love the joke where the queen monster keeps trying to hug Ellian but her arms are too short but she is still trying

[@rarakun8019]

I completely agree with you! I personally really enjoyed the movie, I thought it was a really creative way to handle the theme of divorce. I feel that Dazz took everything alittle too literally and ignored the metaphorical themes shown.

[@arcanine_enjoyer]

I watched the movie myself on my own (with family) and it's not THAT bad. Definitely felt AI generated with the lighting but that's the lighting being weirdly bright and colorful to appeal to kids more than anything. (Though there are some moments that are weirdly animated or have the typical shot mismatch.) The movie is very trope-y I will say that, but it's also kinda refreshing to see that the scheming people and the stoic military figure ends up not being villains. Antagonists, for sure, but not "bad guys" and even then the parents are framed as the villains for most of the story because it's about them trying to become human again. The three other prominent figures are all under the misunderstanding that she was kidnapped, aside from the guy who I swear has a name that sounds like a certain Pikmin protagonist. In the end he also has a huge change of heart moment with the rat guys and witnessing the parents recalling memories. My only gripe is that I felt NOTHING for her plight because we never got to see what they were like before the transformation. I think they could've still kept the "surprise" hidden at the end by making them venture off into the forest a quarter into the movie with the first quarter setting up for a "This is Me" song into the transformation and THEN a reprisal that twists the "This is Me" to be about their new plight. It's why the Steven Universe Movie worked for me (even though I have watched the show in its entirety) because we know what everyone is like before their reset. Making us understand the love she has for her parents and maybe some SUTBLE FORESHADOWING 💥💥💥💥 of them fighting would have made me think as a viewer, "Damn!!! They need to be un-spellbound right now!!!!!" That being said, the lore is kinda cool and I like the setting a lot. Love the very south Asian vibe of the city and its castle. That water gate thing? Also really cool. I think if the movie took itself a little more seriously I could enjoy it more as an adult.

[@UnderworldPrincesslol]

​@@arcanine_enjoyer“aside from the guy who I swear has a name that sounds like a certain Pikmin protagonist” Bolinar lmao

[@DanGamingFan2406]

They kept mentioning how this was made by "The visionary behind Toy Story" and whatever, but didn't have the guts to say his name. In addition, the film's just bad.

[@ChristiahTshimanga-x7z]

This movie, to me, feels like those Disney rip offs made by Video Brinquedo, but with better animation

[@herowither12354]

Because the majority of people don't know his name, but they do know Toy Story.

[@cloudline_100]

OF COURSE. They just HAD TO add the cute little critter that ends up having a DEEP MANLY VOICE 💀

[@ManaAdvent]

*Gets horrible Disney's Wish flashbacks.

[@falsehoodintensifies445]

I love Alan Thudyk I truly do, he's such a versatile voice actor, but he keeps getting reduced to animals and side kicks WHYYYY

[@dedriansanchez8409]

At least this one is an actual character who has a mini arc over the movie, shallow as it may be

[@GwenMurray-if5te]

As a newly single mother with two struggling young daughters, I have this to say: My oldest has loved Disney since she was a baby. She’s also Autistic and will devotedly watch their animations on repeat. However, this animation she has watched multiple times and actually found cathartic relief in her situation. The movie has given her room to open up about her feelings and also find peace that things will be okay with her dad and I. So perhaps this movie was not a perfect first run for the studio, but as for the divorce concept, they reached one girl, and likely many more.

[@lauraw2526]

Yeah, as a child of divorce I thought the ending was great and as you said, very cathartic. I've watched it several times myself, and even though I don't remember(since it was a long time ago) my parent's divorce being that terrible, it still touched on genuine emotions and fears that I could relate to.

[@louise8551]

I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. I did like that the movie brought up divorce, and it didn't end with the parents getting back together. But it felt too rushed, and there were a bunch of plotholes.

[@alexjewett7455]

I think it would have worked better if saw they're situation before the curse, so the divorce thing didn't come out of left field. Also maybe not wait an entire year to resolve the situation.

[@user-zs9ux1ru8u]

Question: Was a the world building better than Wish?

[@SnowCount]

What if it had became a show 12 episode shows are like 4 hours long and in my opinion make things feel less rushed

[@Raximus3000]

And that is why you should not have children!

[@valhatan3907]

We overlooked VICKY JENSEN, a talented artist behind Fiona's concept art from Shrek, the writer and director of this movie, because of our hatred to this John Lasseter guy. I'm not saying this movie is good (😂), but I think we trashtalking it unfairly due to bias toward the Lessertaste guy.

[@Lucasone111]

Oh my goodness people, as a teen with divorced parents I loved this movie, It showed how parents having conflict to each can affect their child as a whole but having nothing do but to support each other and accept this new reality even if separated, we all have different opinions and maybe for some the themes of the movie may seem too much but its really not, plus, my little brother loved it, his a kid that watches kid's shows

[@patrickmcguire7896]

Exactly! I keep seeing videos of people dumping on this movie and saying the divorce part came out of nowhere and it makes no sense! Most of the videos seem to be of people hating it just because of Lasseter, but their blinded by hate that they can't see how deep this movie actually is, hell one guy said Wish was better than Spellbound! The whole point of this movie was to show a family's love but sometimes things need to change to keep the family together. Now as someone who parents aren't divorced I apologize if I'm over stepping, the parents becoming monsters is meant to symbolize parents in an unhappy marriage how their more concern with their anger towards each other and their own issues that they ignore their children and make them feel left out and stressed as the kid try's to find a way to "fix" things and sometimes keep their family life a secret out of shame. Also every song relates to that theme even the one about the guy stuck in a rodent's body "I could get used to this." There's nothing wrong with getting a divorce but the most important thing for parents is to think about the child, that doesn't mean staying married but making sure the child feels love and not putting them in the middle or your drama

[@Lucasone111]

@patrickmcguire7896 exactly!!! finally someone who actually gets the point

[@triadwarfare]

I think Ant Man is the best divorce movie. The criticisms of Lasseter is valid though. He kinda ruins plots, getting the original creators fired, then uses his own underlings to hijack the movie and kinda making it worse

[@justjoaoo]

My parents aren't divorced, nor have I have had any family problems similar to that, but I loved the movie. The meaning was obvious to me, and I also really loved the movie!

[@ghostynotes]

Child of divorce here. I just wanna say that near the end, it isn't that Elian doesn't believe her parents love her, it's more so that all her work was for naught. She did all this work to keep them together, all this to put things back the way they are, and now in her perspective, the parents are just saying "Nah" (16:52)

[@justacursedimagewithintern7235]

Yes. She literally drags them across The Forest Of Darkness because she wants things back the way they were, spends a YEAR taking care of them and the kingdom while they take a Monster-Divorce Sabbatical, and after everything they just go “Sit tight, your mom and I are gonna decide on how to split our assets.” It is awful and I am happy the writers let Eliana understandably crash out about it.

[@sebastiantrias1529]

John Lassiter is a good animator, but when it comes to writing a story, he needs other people to work on it.

[@venti726]

Agree

[@valhatan3907]

He not the one who write on it. The writers are Vicky Jensen, Lauren Hynek, and Elizabeth Martin

[@-Rockstar_Molty985-]

@@valhatan3907 Basically, we need women that can actually write stories

[@patrickmcguire7896]

Ok what do you mean the divorce thing was last minute? That was the whole point of the movie! There were clues about that this being the main theme of the movie from the beginning. I've seen other videos saying the same thing and it just baffles me

[@kayleee4065]

Please give it a watch. I'm supporting the movie because of Alan Menkin (famous disney composer). The divorce theme was EXTREMELY out-there, like I wasn't expecting the princess musical movie to even go there and it hit me hard. Ellian's journey (and one song in particular) to get her parents back was so wonderful I was close to tears.

[@kayleee4065]

Oh my bad, you already watched. Haha sorry

[@only1one1me]

Right? I saw it being about divorce pretty quickly--or at least about how the parents' fighting with each other had something to do with them turning into monsters. Especially when you could see how their anger affected things in the dark forest (like their angry sounds turning into actual red, damaging energy), and the girl pointing out that fighting causes bad things to happen in that forest. One could draw the conclusion that a particularly bad fight with each other caused the monster situation. The oracles also pointed out a light inside of them had died. What really drove it home is when during arguing, they tried to make her pick sides, and she pleaded with them not to put her in the middle of their argument.

[@krissydiggs]

Woah that was fast! I think the big thing that makes me love this movie is that it has so much more of what I miss from modern Disney movies. Comparing this to Wish, which the movie definitely takes a few jabs at, and you can FEEL what was really lacking in Wish. It's not a perfect movie, but for a studio that doesn't have a while lot of experience in making this type of film, I feel like it was an excellent attempt. I loved the worldbuilding and I really loved the theme. I thought the wizard couple were pretty funny... (also there were more animals than you mentioned!! The frog, okapii things, etc). Some things I would love to see from movies from this studio in the future would be more moments of calm and absorption. I would have loved if the forest scene was a bit longer and a bit more atmospheric for example. But all in all I thought it was a remarkable showing that Disney should be worried about. This movie proved that it isn't all together impossible to make a Disney classic... and I think that if this film gets enough buzz and support, the likelihood that they will hit a home run gets higher and higher. It took Disney decades to get to Little Mermaid... and having Alen Menkin writing the music is a real game changer. I digress... I liked it. Thought it was charming, and I hope beyond hope that they continue trying down this path.... because it is SO CLOSE to the magic I remember growing up

[@w_nder]

i like positive reviews... you should consider writing reviews fior real! i think you have a knack for it

[@krissydiggs]

@ aww thanks! I wish I had the time to edit but I’m just so busy these days. I appreciate the kind words though. I think it’s important to give constructive criticism (because I’m an artist and I know how important it’s been for me in my life.) maybe one day when I can afford an editor!

[@valhatan3907]

Lasseter was just the "producer", meanwhile *Vicky Jensen was THE director and writer of this movie.* It's HER movie not him. We overlooked VICKY JENSEN, a talented artist behind Fiona's concept art from Shrek, because of our hatred to this John Lasseter guy. If his name not there, maybe we still giving the movie a benefit of the doubt, a justification, or "not every movie need to be masterpiece" defense. I'm not saying this movie is good (😂), but I think we trashtalking it excessively with unfair judgement due to bias.

[@Gabytsuki]

Thank you for your positive review, I will watch it along with my niece. As for the renaissance of Disney, I know that Alan Menken gets most of the credit for the songs, but I always have to point out that Howard Ashman was the one who created the lyrics for the iconic songs, and that he pushed the "I want" song to not be cut off the film

[@shieldgenerator7]

i liked this movie more than Brave and Wish combined

[@alchemy5750]

Kinda feel like the monster designs looked really good, even compared to Disney ones, and the overall "magic world" just felt more inviting and creative than anything Disney put out in recent years. It wasn't half bad as a movie, and if it was in fact made by Pixar, it would fit comfortably among the "good and loveable but not groundbreaking" ones, like Luca and Onward. I feel like just because it has Lasseter's name attached, we really shouldn't bury all these movies instantly. Hate him or not, he's really just one guy, and his prescence shouldn't undermine the work of all the other talented artists, who probably took up like 99% of production anyways.

[@Venus0Kets]

I will say, I did enjoy that they got divorced in the end- and it wasn’t ultimately a journey to fix her parents relationship, moreso to fix their relationship with hers.

[@TheNotverysocial]

Mrs Doubtfire.

[@ALEXACEDEATH]

I interned at Illion while this was in pre-production, and just like with Luck, the original vision honestly seemed way more interesting. Oddly enough this seemed like it was farther in production and it even looked like it was supposed to come out before luck. The story itself was more basic, but WAY more promising. From what I can remember, the divorce angle wasn't the big twist in the end but actually front and centre. The idea was that the princess was supposed to eventually inherit both of her parent's kingdoms, said kingdoms were basically opposing factions. As they explained it to us, the father seemed to rule over a Mordor-like faction (spiky armor and maces), while the mother ruled the Rivendell-like faction (robes, staffs and magic). But as I recall there was a move at some point to make the factions more related to the mounts they employed, the mother's kingdom was known for raising pegasi I believe, while the father's kingdom raised gryphons. From what I could see from the concept art the story had much more of a How to Train your dragon feel... I wish I knew what happened with both this and Luck for them to move away so far from the original vision...

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

I have to be honest, the original vision sounds a bit convoluted.

[@lizzytheowl577]

The original story kind of sounds like they have the concept of a story (Like "We want [plot point], [character], and [theme]) and they were ironing out the details. To be honest, two opposing factions of nobility set to be ruled by the same person seems like a much looser divorce metaphor than "The parents fought so much they turned into monsters" route they chose.

[@ALEXACEDEATH]

@@lizzytheowl577 Yeah but in this case it wasn't a divorce metaphor. In that early version of the story they were already divorced and separated and it was more about prepping the daughter to rule both kingdoms, forcing their customs and traditions on her.

[@valhatan3907]

I'm just very sad that we overlooked VICKY JENSEN, a woman behind Fiona's concept art from Shrek, because of our hatred to this John Lasseter guy. Lasseter was just the "producer", meanwhile Vicky Jensen was THE director and writer of this movie. She is a talented artist from DreamWorks, although she made Shark Tale, doesn't we have love-hate relationship with it? Spellbound just stick Lasseter name and we goes rampaging on the movie as if it was the most terrible shit ever meanwhile if it his name not there, maybe we still giving the movie a benefit of the doubt, a justification, or "not every movie need to be masterpiece" comment.

[@VoltzyVoltz]

unironically kinda liked Spellbound. Especially the ending being pretty realistic

[@dianaquill9969]

I just went and watched the movie to find out more about the arguing cause it's one of my interests. I'm sad that they didn't give an example of actual, base disagreements(like a disagreement of morals or something like that that is enough to break a marriage apart), but they did show toxicity, and I like that they phrased it as not bringing the best out of each other, and how the parents still agreed in how to raise their kid together. But GOSH DUDE. You missed a lot of the climax's main point. Elaina literally yells at them that she doesn't believe words, she's attacking her former hopes at how it used to be, she hates that the memories are emotionally hurting her. Then she sees her parents working on getting back to her *together*, setting aside their differences. Being monsters is just a very straight forward metaphor for being self-serving jerks. This is even emphasized in how Elaina had to pick up their messes constantly. It's not just about divorce, but how living with someone you're already emotionally divorced from can be horrifying for the kid, turning the parents into toxic monsters. For how you said that this movie was ham-fisted with its messaging you really missed two really important points of the movie. I feel like the whole story is just straight up metaphor after metaphor of different things. Like the parents had to learn to not fight in the log, which was actively causing harm to their kid. One step closer to being humans, or their own happiness, means that they're able to speak and communicate more, learning more and more how their kid is taking in these horrible things they're saying to each other. Also, I love that movie after seeing it just once. Great movie. Thank you for sharing about it because if you hadn't I would not have found a really cool movie to add to my actually good movies to show literally all my friends and maybe my kids when they're old enough. Great video! Thank you for making something cool even if a random internet stranger doesn't agree with it, lol.

[@lauraw2526]

I loved it too! The ending, with her saying she doesn't the words makes me cry every time.

[@MonsterHoundStudios]

This movie made me cry at the end bc suddenly after the realization of what it was really abt, the music lyrics changed meaning for me. Oh and also bc I realized this was my life (except for the part where she thinks her parents don’t love her, that’s the one thing I hold onto throughout all the fighting), I especially related when they found out why this was happening they pushed her away to asses it themselves and when they made her choose sides on the quick sand TuT.

[@donjuangaming_gyatt]

I heard my younger sister watching this, and when I heard "Archimedes, no!" at the end I started laughing because that's literally what TF2 medic says

[@sandmaker47]

I didn't hate it, which is a win these days. A teen panicking about her parents being taken away is enough about why she doesn't want to go back. Plus with how much divorce happens, you'd think there'd be more kids shows to explain it

[@Justice-jm2cc]

Honestly, I enjoyed the movie way more than I thought I would. It's deeper than it seems, and it's basically a metaphor for something rather dark and realistic. The ending is especially mature and well-handled, and once the big twist is revealed, it puts everything else in a completely different and VERY emotional new light.

[@foxpokemonforever4775]

I haven’t watched the movie, but the songs are pretty decent. I cried a lot while listening to The Way it Was Before and What About Me, but that could be just because I’m a big softie

[@ninalove_9]

I think the flying leopards were a bit overused and underused at the same time, the mc's flying leopard could've easily become a companion during the journey, however, they barely used it. Meanwhile I feel like the species overall was a bit overused in the sense that we see the creatures 3 times in different environments, the "domesticated ones", the ones in the desert and the ones in the mountains. I think it would be great if they got new creatures at least for the desert section specially because... Well, the cub was stuck on a rock floating on a sea of sand and its FLYING parents couldn't do nothing other than flying around it? It would make a lot more sense if it was some kind of terrestrial creature that really couldn't escapte the sea of sand... It just felt like we could've gotten other interesting creatures but they were lazy and decided to re-use one of them 3 times

[@MonkieKatt]

man, i actually really loved this movie! i never seen the trailer of knew who John Lasseter was- i thought everything was actually really good and well handed! i loved the more positive talk about divorce, we dont see much of that! especially were everyone was ok and felt better about their situation loved how it looked, loved the songs, the story felt really good- and i liked the art we see at the end, concept art is really nice to look at.

[@kayleee4065]

Also loved the story about divorce. It's so important. Really shocked me as I wasn't expecting the movie to go there.

[@bighand1530]

I hope SkyDance Animation’s Jack and the Beanstalk movie is good since Disney cancelled it.

[@Twistwim]

OK to be so real, Disney has been around for so long that it’s near impossible to do anything unique so if an animation studio comes out and they have elements that are similar to Disney, it’s just pretty much “ there are no ideas” kind of logic at this point. It seems that every Disney movie has to end on a good note nowadays or if they end on a bad note, they do another movie or series or whatever to make it better so that there is a happy ending at the end of it. But this movie did give us a happy ending so to speak, but not in the typical way that has been doing for so many decades

[@Twistwim]

A little over halfway of the video the person that’s making this video said that it was bland. I think you’re looking for the Disney magic. I wanted to defend this movie because it’s the first animated movie. I’ve watched in a hot minute because all of the Disney movies have been really trash lately, so I hope this doesn’t come off too rude but I think if you’re looking for that spark of Joyce, wonder that Disney brings, you might have better luck looking at a Disney movie?

[@ScooterCat64]

There's a million things you could do with an animated film that isn't Disney-like, but that would require stepping out of the box Coraline, Long Way North, The Secret of Kells. I could list dozens more. Skydance films are just generic

[@princeapoopoo5787]

​@@ScooterCat64yeah that's the thing, there's so many animations out there that are so "Un-Disney." People literally treat anime as a different medium as cartoons (despite being just cartoons from Japan) for crying out loud. 😂 Folks intentionally go out to specifically ape the Disney style because of how successful it is.

[@austygo3563]

Honestly not the worst animated musical I’ve seen recently, mostly just felt a little “off”

[@MtchndraLrd]

Switching from Spellbound to Luck clips and I couldn’t notice…

[@jandoel]

I actually saw this the other weekend with my nephew. It was a cute film, and I really enjoyed the art style. It took me until the end to figure out it was about divorce, although I think the message was more important for parents in general.

[@NithumChenuli]

2:01 they literally got the music composer of Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin

[@ArthurDeaville]

and Hunchback of Notre Dame

[@NithumChenuli]

@@ArthurDeaville exactly

[@Dupontman627]

Sausage Party

[@BrontoSmilodon1]

Honestly I'm getting "Strange Magic" vibes from the art of the movie.

[@ronnieong1981]

They are gryphons not leopards The queen or female monster is really cute

[@theburtongamer4214]

The main character looks the same as the luck one 😭

[@alejandrovelez6358]

You don’t say😭💀

[@theburtongamer4214]

@@alejandrovelez6358 still better than the new Disney movies

[@valhatan3907]

Still better than Disney

[@theburtongamer4214]

@@valhatan3907 this guy gets it

[@justacursedimagewithintern7235]

The animation and art style may be similar, but they do NOT look the same what 💀 If i close my left eye and squint ig I could see that they look similar? Putting them side-by-side makes the differences really clear.

[@OkayKoda_off]

I liked it I think, it was pretty nice to watch in the background. It was VERY fast paced but compared to other recent fantasy movies similar, it wasn’t super lifeless like how I expected it to be It was also very visually beautiful and the setting was cool, it has a lot of potential I like the idea of this young girl having the responsibility of a kingdom, and hiding her parents from said kingdom and taking care of them too I think if there were higher stakes it might have been more interesting, but it isn’t necessary

[@luckyowl6432]

Honestly the best thing was the garlic bread obsessed 🌞🌚 homosexual couple

[@kayleee4065]

YAAAAAA RIGHT no-one is talking about them and i love themmm

[@melodytorres1948]

Disney knockoff!?! I am offended

[@Dany-rx7rs]

Yeah

[@bronzelaugh2350]

I thought this movie was fine. I probably won't rewatch it any time soon, but I liked that it went for explaining something as complicated and emotional as divorce for kids and parents alike. It did feel sorr of shoved in there last minute, though. I feel it would've felt more authentic if it was made clear from the start that the parents had issues with each other. Edit: Also, the songs were just shockingly bad. I thought there would be one catchy one in there but I literally cannot name a single one.

[@carbootstudios2459]

I'm starting to think most people would hate on anything new and recent with John's name attached to it.

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

I mean, yeah? A lot of people feel quite betrayed by his actions. And frankly, I blame him for the whole "twist villain" thing

[@carbootstudios2459]

@ Actions?

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

@@carbootstudios2459 Did you not read why he left Disney?

[@carbootstudios2459]

@ I heard they let him ride out his contract and let him go. Something like that I guess.

[@StarWarsomania]

@@rosesweetcharlotte he gave hugs at work and somehow that’s “sexual harassment”?

[@J.MahargJust]

I actually really enjoyed this film. Honestly, if Wish was more like this, I would've respected it more.

[@HanesAnimates]

Pretty curious about this movie. Considering whether or not I should watch it. Its not a sequel, or a live-action remake, so I guess it's got that going for it?

[@Justice-jm2cc]

I liked it. Once you get towards the end, there's a big reveal that puts everything in a new light, and it's quite emotional

[@darianstarfrog]

Give it a go..ya may love it

[@julvixxaciastka633]

Give it a try, I love it and my family too

[@missroyaltea4012]

If you like animated musicals I think you would enjoy this I thought it was pretty cute.

[@ourfamilyaccount]

This was one of the few films I saw during a test screening. I'm glad it's finally out for others to enjoy. It was wild seeing the animation in an unpolished state. I too agree that the places and world building was solid.

[@iamSketchH]

The biggest problem all of these modern films is that their plots are way too goofy. What made Pixar, Disney, and DreamWorks so great in the 90s (and some in the early 2000s) was that, yeah, you may have a story about an old man flying his house with balloons, a dragon-tamer named "Hiccup" who wears his mom's breastplate as a helmet, or a pride filled with a bunch of talking lions, but the plot was mature in many aspects. These recent films feel like the main and only target audience is very little and overly sensitive kids. Their characters are too babyish in design, the animation is very bright and plastic-feeling, the characters are very manic and over-the-top, and the lessons from the films are WAY too much in your face. It's obnoxious. Walter E. Disney himself said that if you only target children in your audience, you're dead. The idea of a "family film" in the past was that it was just as much made for the adults (not necessarily in a risque way as much as a maturity and deep way) as it was for the kids--and (in regard to animated films) it was beautiful enough to draw adults to the art while charming enough for children to enjoy as well. Today "family movie" has devolved to simply mean "kiddie movie--with maybe a few questionable jokes thrown in there for the unfortunate teens and/or adults forced to watch this with their family." The trailer for this movie alone was enough to deter 90% of potential viewers from this film. And that's sad, because we know John Lasseter has the potential to create much better. He's what saved Frozen and Moana and made them so loveable (with the quality of Disney and Pixar films wavering in the years since he left). So knowing that this film and Apple TV's film "Luck" both came from him is puzzling. Maybe it was an issue with not allowing him full creative freedom by the studio he works for, maybe it was that he was hired to take on a project that was doomed from the start, or maybe he's bowed to the pressures of conforming to the "modern film" style, but here it is--and sadly (like most "family" films today) no one wants to watch it.

[@irem7651]

I dont really like how it presents divorce as this thing that hundred percent solves everything and everybody is happy now yippee, I get what is trying to say but it just failed imo

[@KboGamez]

Eh, i kinda enjoyed the film.

[@mechajay3358]

Yeah it feels most of these reviews are more about John Lasseter than the movie itself.

[@riddlemefish6217]

This movie is the equivelant of making a fart joke and then going "Your mother and I are getting a divorce"

[@BirthweenBaby]

Respectfully, what are you talking about?

[@valhatan3907]

​@@BirthweenBabyjust wanted to join the convo of trashtalking

[@aftershokke]

what is blud waffling about

[@Probox-hn9yf]

The more you think about it , the more it's basically just Pixar's Brave

[@cryptid-artha]

I liked the creature designs, but the movie itself was... kinda crap. I also really hated the songs. They were so badly written. Even Wish's music was better. And Wish was dreadful.

[@krissydiggs]

L take. These songs SMOKE Wish. Her I want song gave me goosebumps. The orchesteral arrangements alone are next level compared to Wish's shoddy pop music. Tell me what Asha even wants in that movie? lol Dislike the movie all you want, but the songs are very good imo.

[@alexjewett7455]

I think my main problem with the movie was the untapped potential. It could have been better if they took the story just a little more seriously. Also, the songs in wish are still worse.

[@unicornpupart]

eh i think the way it was before was alright it sounds good if its with another character like i saw an animatic from this underrated channel of a indie animation called salmon and the big bad wolf it was good havent watched this new movie idk if i will it just.. looks boring and a boring style. but i do love those lynx with wings creatures or gryphons and nothing is worse than wish in my opinion

[@valhatan3907]

I chose this over Moan 2 and Wish. Anyone couldn't be as musically tone deaf as this.

[@Digital_Void200]

Moan 2???😭😭😭​@@valhatan3907

[@lucarionite6538]

I think the "Flying cat monster" are based on griffins.

[@jessicaprice9918]

Or maybe from a syrax? I think that's how you spell it

[@fischotterchen]

how is the protaganist SO cute and normal-looking and all the other people in the story are REALLY uncanny in some way?

[@TV-8-301]

The more I learn about 3D digital animation, the more I'm driven crazy by how GLORIOUS the animation is of so many of these movies, only to have a lackluster story. The textures!!! The lighting!!! The expressive motion!! Do you know how long it takes to fully rig as expressive of faces as these models have?! There's so many impressive details that most viewers won't even notice!!

[@dragon_slayer2026]

I'm hoping Skydance Animation is still finding its feet and we'll eventually get back to the quality creative direction Lassiter brought to classic Pixar... but I'm not all that confident about that. This may just be the caliber we'll be getting from the studio, which could be worse but would be a far cry from a spiritual rebirth of classic Pixar.

[@kayleee4065]

Daz really under-reviewed this movie. Go watch if you haven't.

[@dragon_slayer2026]

@@kayleee4065 I did: My initial comment was based on having seen it. It was okay, but I was not a huge fan.

[@hayleyhellbound9513]

2:44 the Boog from Home 2:57 Jaquins from Elena of Avalor 9:44 Bo Peep’s sheep with Boundin’ esque faces And I understand the Tangled thought, but I’m thinking he went more for specifically the Northuldra from Frozen II, and like you said, Strange World for the animation styles

[@annabait-ml1wd]

The actual premise of the movie was good. They handled it HORRIBLY. As someone with divorced parents, I don’t think we should ignore that some relationships are just not forever, but WHY ARE THEY ALL SO HAPPY? It’s not a wonderful thing for your parents to separate, you’re not gonna group hug in the end. While it’s good to give kids of divorced parents something to see themselves in, it’s not a nice thing to normalize In the way of the parents just being like “Sorry kid, hope you understand. But everything is happy now! yYyYyAaaaayyyy!”

[@darianstarfrog]

Disney hasnt good media for over ten years now bro..this is 1000x better than ANY recent disney movie

[@SourRobo8364]

Netflix will never top their 2 best animated movies: Klaus and Leo.

[@Hannah-w1p]

I honestly LOVE the movie klaus

[@gracedoesdoodles]

Klaus is ICONIC

[@reyfan011]

The movie was a mixed bag. Comedy wise, it was mid, subpar. The characters, not bad, but nothing amazing. The songs, fun, at least one or two with a fun melody. The animation, very nice. The story, good, original. I admire telling a story about a child of divorce and the ways they told the story and resolved it. Knock off disney is accurate but Disney has recently not really been its best either other than a couple sequels.

[@Kittyboi.]

I actually quite enjoyed the movie. The running gag with the old lady was great, love her! I thought the premise was pretty cool, loved the world building and my favorite character is the pigeon guy lol

[@thisperson8441]

I'm noticing a theme. The people who don't like the movie just genuinely didn't get it. They couldn't relate properly so they couldn't see everything underlying. That's not bad, it just means you aren't the target audience, not that the movie itself is bad for not entertaining you specifically

[@theyakkomanguy7522]

John just can't seem to let go of his past with Disney, can he?

[@kadibookalways]

I see the climax being more that she for the past year and at that moment wanted everything to go back to how it was before. because all of her good memories are of her family loving her before they turned into monsters. So to her, fixing the issue is to go back to those good times. To the parents, they remember the fights and don't want to go back to that time, and she takes it that if they dont go back to how it was before (loving her) then that means they dont want to love her. It's even mentioned that she felt if they could fall out of love with each other, they could fall out of love with her. So helping her feel seen and secure in their love for her is the answer. So that when changes in their dynamics happen she will know they still love her and their problems are not something she has to fix. I do wish earlier in the movie they would show the parents fighting with each other in monster form more to lay the groundwork that they dont like each other.

[@alexjewett7455]

1:37 I think they specifically said it was a year.

[@EpixAndroid]

I can't believeversioncypu fail to mention that Alan Menken was involved with the music!

[@Espeeeon]

i didnt hear any news about this film nor did i see any trailers, i just saw it was new on netflix, sat down and watched it. I agree with alot of things you point out in this video but i feel like i have to point out a few things to you. (12:31-12:41) It is explained but not outright stated. The oricals explains that her parents lost their light and that they need a drop of light, at some point in that same song the light shines from within her showing that she is the light her parents need, they were trying to go for a show dont tell kind of thing. the first time i watched it i dont think i noticed it but i figured it was because of her they were turning more human even though they were both in her care for over a year but at that point i kinda guessed it has something to do needing to be where the monster curse orginated. (16:00-16:07) I dont think you really noticed this before but the cages are diffrent from the cages they were in before. the cages in the begaining of the movie were most likely metal forified with chains, gravity seems to break it tho. Of course the army wouldnt know that they got out of said cages so when they saw they were out of the cages at the dunes they started building cages made of wood as they traveled as well as the muzzles. doesnt make it anyless annoying tho. I do have other things to say but I'm kinda running out of steam but here ya go, sorry its a long comment.

[@bongus840]

Everyone mentioning this movie being like Brave, a movie that had one of it's writers driven out by the John himself...Yikes.

[@DoomDarenxbourg]

Funny, cause I heard that Moana 2 is just a early 2000s disney chepquel, but on the big screen.

[@xs0528]

“Chepquel?”

[@DoomDarenxbourg]

@xs0528 Mulan 2, Atlantis Milo's Return, Pocahontas 2: they were dubbed chepquels. But they went straight to video/DVD.

[@xs0528]

@@DoomDarenxbourg But what IS a chepqual?

[@StephvonDames-t5q]

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone...

[@ikhy1990]

This movie starts slow, but I think I'm start investing in the story when the princess and her parents run to the forest and chases by the guards. At first I thought it was a standard parents are cursed so princess try her best to break the spell, pretty standard story, nothing we haven't seen before, but when I start to realize what's the story is about and the central theme (spoilers: its about divorce and the child experience to prevent it instead of accepting it), it blows me away. Really like it

[@Twistwim]

In my opinion, I don’t think that the daughter was upset that the parents didn’t say that they loved her. The divorce are her parents came out of nowhere in her eyes because she said earlier when the parents were trying to explain to her that they didn’t want to be together that “ families always fight” and the biggest thing that caused the princess to become distraught enough for the darkness to come over her, was that if her parents “ could fall out of love with each other, then they can fall out of love” with her. And if you’re looking at the movie from the perspective of a child, it makes a lot of sense for that to be the instinctive reaction from a child. throughout the movie at least twice before, when she was watching her parents fight she probably knew deep down that something was wrong and that fighting wouldn’t help, very much a child being in between their parents arguing, but not being able to do anything about it and I both points, it was someone else or something else having to distract the family or get their attention. the first time the darkness comes towards her, the mother notices her distress and gets the father to calm down and the second situation where the darkness gets towards the princess, the princess is looking for a distraction, not trying to be in the middle of their fighting anymore and probably not trying to pay more attention to it because “ families always fight”. So when the darkness comes for her the last time, Not only if she overwhelmed by how much she has had to do in order to keep her family together and to keep her parents safe, but she’s being told that all of her efforts are for nothing because in the end, her family won’t be a family anymore. (Not essentially true, but as a child, you do believe that your families not gonna be together anymore so..) not only is she angry about them, deciding to split up without even thinking about her, but she’s also incredibly sad because she believes that they were happy together, given her flashbacks of her family, especially in the beginning of the movie, everyone is always happy in them so when they said out of the blue that they were not happy together, if possibly felt like they were lying to her. And if they can quickly change their mind about how they feel about each other, they can change their mind about how they feel about her. I really disliked how they did the movie after this because the person making this video isn’t wrong. They did genuinely make it about them saying that they love her and how they didn’t say it enough. There’s a whole song about it and I really dislike that. , I never questioned whether or not my parents loved me even after a divorce, especially since they showed her how loved she is. Although I do like how they didn’t say when they were explaining getting divorced to her “ we fallen out of love with each other” or something like that. That might’ve tied everything together a bit more they said something like that, but they didn’t.

[@justacursedimagewithintern7235]

I beg to differ for the end of that. The resolution wasn’t that her parents didn’t say they loved her enough, the resolution came before that. Her parents who always fought, though even as monsters learned to work with each other when it came to Eliana - I think the big moment was when they came together to pour the light by literally moving mountains to help Eliana that it really emphasized that the family would not be breaking up, and that it wasn’t Eliana’s fault that it broke (and therefore Eliana’s job to fix it) but that Eliana was the only thing they could agree on, that Eliana sees that she is actually holding the family together and that won’t change. I think that’s said pretty safely when she talks to her younger self, who wants to go back to a safety that does not exist anymore. The parents’ song was an apology, not the resolution. The true resolution was Eliana comforting and reassuring her inner-child that Change was not Disaster, it was just Different.

[@awesomej1107]

The one thing outside of John Lasseter’s involvement that bothers me is how this studio’s animation lacks detail. This and Luck look too flat and generic, which if they want to be another Pixar, they clearly don’t have the budget for Pixar quality animation.

[@Nonjola]

I almost fell asleep during this film and couldn't even finish it. It had some creative fantasy ideas about the world, the magic, and the creatures and a very interesting premise, but it was all very poorly and boringly executed.

[@SSlovebird]

I do like the idea of a family film with a message about what it feels like when a child sees their parents going through a divorce, but I don’t think Spellbound handled it very well, because we don’t get any context of seeing the parents and their relationship with their daughter before they turn into monsters, so we don’t get to understand the conflict between the parents and see what led them into turning into monsters. It just starts off at them being monsters, and that doesn’t really give the audience to really care about the stakes in the movie. Also, I hate that they make it seem like conflict is evil and even if parents separate, conflict should never happen, which is a terrible way to convey the mess of dealing with parents going through a divorce.

[@Le_Stamp]

Can’t get over how AI this movie looks at certain points… like how some of the movement and shot composition is, it feels like something I’d see an AI make

[@lydbug6953]

Its a no matter want the children should come first story. While they really are monsters, I do think it is also a metaphor about a child being torn between her parents divorce. She doesn't want to see them upset, so at a young age she played the carer and peacekeeper. Running between both of them trying to figure out what's wrong, while they just destroy everything they have built. She is trying to be the glue to keep her family together even though she's only 15. So when they decide it's over, we can't keep doing this, they have to break up. It is a "Have you even considered how this decision effects me and my life, I am your daughter I am meant to the most important thing to you aren't, why aren't you figuring it out for me?" This is such an important conversation to have. Because afterwards the parent's did figure out how they can work together, without staying together. To save their daughter. As someone who's parents had a messy breakup and then still were horrible and toxic afterwards. (They would argue about who gets the kids... they both wanted us less, as we got in the way of their love lives.) This movie, as okay as it was, made me cry like a baby. This is such an important topic for discussion. That no matter how hurt and upset you are, being civil for the kids even if it's all just face, is everything. Children want to see their parents work together, they'll alway love you both deeply. Will also mean they don't have to pay so much for therapy later in life T_T

[@karlozfox]

I love how you say exactly my thoughts. I think the same 95%. Because the ending made the movie make sense to the annoying bits and the build up for the divorce made wverything make sense. I dont agree that it was last minute it was there from.the start! But we couldnt see it because it is unexpected as a theme. So I'm glad I finished it. Its a 7/10 for me. The setting is superb, and the ending made it worth it, but yeah... cant go any higher than that.

[@spoiledoatmilk]

despite my dislike of rachel z, i enjoyed this movie and the world building. we need more movies where its clear its a passion project and i think this is somewhat on that spectrum

[@omoidashu]

This reminds me of Raya and the Last Dragon, but like a knock off cutesy attempt with music. And the flying cat owls are cute, but I feel it's even a mash up between an owlbear and the jaquins from Elena of Avalor.

[@reicho3034]

Sometimes the songs feel kinda weird? Like, it’s weak on some parts where it should be stronger, but strong on some parts that should be softer. I don’t know, they just aren’t quite hitting it.

[@siaubas1697]

i just noticed that you used tears of the kingdom falling in to the deths melody

[@Kachow-LMcQueen]

Wasn't Lasseter Sir FIRED from Pixar for Sexism,Sexual misconduct, and harrasing? How is he back animating?

[@ggt47]

Ahh,with Zelgar it will definitely popular. Better or worse.

[@_LoadedShotgun_]

i got a ad for it while watching this video

[@olleselin]

Gotta hand to him, he sure took big risks with such balls!

[@Catsafari25]

Re: the first song being weirdly upbeat given how much the princess is going through - that's the whole point, I think. Repeatedly, everyone around her reinforces how sweet and resilient and kind she is, and in the absence of her parents being any of those things, she's forced into that role. It's even foreshadowed (a lil too strongly, maybe) with her assuming she'll be fine in the forest because "[she] has no darkness" because she's gotten really good with repressing it. Imho, her characterisation was a really good show of how kids with divorcing parents sometimes end up repressing their negative emotions, because there's already so much anger that they're constantly on the back foot trying to defuse the situation. There's no room for her to express her own emotions in a safe way

[@EricMontreal22]

Yep, I thought opening that way was actually really clever.,

[@dragonninja3655]

The movie was okay until the end. Wow, what a terrible lesson. Good grief, every kid who sees this is now going to be terrified every time their parents have any kind of fight because they think their parents might get divorced. I would not let my kids watch this movie. And yet it is meant as a kid's movie? This is going to hurt a lot of kids.

[@ChupacabraRex]

My family liked the movie. I found the songs to be fine, although nothing species. I enjoyed the character interactions, I didn't find any character outright unlikable. The plot fufilled it's purpose. My dad didn't like the gay stuff but we still liked the overall film.

[@kauecaliel3265]

I'm giving hope to the movie Ray Gunn, the Brad Bird movie, I bet it's going to be good.

[@whade62000]

OK but the animation looks really good, especially compared to Disney Pixar's and Dreamwork's recent record

[@addydrayton8893]

I thought her watching her parents working together to pour the light made her realize that everything is going to get ok. I really enjoyed it especially because they didn't make the parents get back together.

[@ethejumper6568]

Basically Wish but less awful. ...not really a Compliment for this Movie.

[@Catsafari25]

Also I had to laugh, because during the princess's song number where she feeds her parents, I literally went "they forgot to animate her locking the cages" and then it turned out, nope! That was intentional!

[@123adamhewitt]

The “you have Pixar at home” movie

[@OctagonalSquare]

The human characters all look pretty solid, if a bit like those mobile game ads. But the creatures seems AI generated. They are SO colorful and SO saturated.

[@Lexthefazworker]

The lighting is driving me mad, half the shots look live the video of the characters were just pasted over the background in 2D.

[@idonotknowwhyihaveachannel1031]

I know this movie had a bad person in it, but I liked it due to telling kids having parents that are separated is an ok thing and you don’t see that often in shows or flims

[@kristenrasmussen4135]

I think there was a misunderstanding about the depth they went into for the characters and the symbolism of their journey. The divorce being part of the plot is not a "last minute" decision. It just isn't fed to the audience right away. But the symbolism and metaphors are clear and it knows exactly what it wants to say and how from the getgo. I thought it was a simple but clever way to introduce children to the concept of their beloved parents being divided and angry or the kid's whole life being monitered by prying eyes as your childhood life is drastically uprooted - without being boring, overwhelming, or blunt. I would have liked to see more appreciation for the black spiral being a representation of literally spiraling into a worse state of oneself, or the messaging of the lyrics to all of the songs which tell us how much they are suffering. I had my doubts and some of the scenes were a bit dull, but this movie really surprised me with its originality, subversion, and sincere message.

[@kayden2119]

All these movies are doing are ruining John Lasseter's legacy (which obviously he already did himself). Despite him being a bad person he could always at least hold onto the fact he was a major part of making some of the best animated movies of all time but now he is just making these at best mid movies which makes it seem like he was not the good part of pixar that made those movies so good.

[@jacquelinewright868]

The story reminds me a bit of brave with the parents turning into monsters and needing to break the curse!!!

[@AreesDaOG]

I actually really liked this movie and related a lot to the main character. Though I got a bit jealous how her parents were able to work together and be able to like eachother. Mine would rather kill eachother honestly