29 Jun Spellbound (2024)
The Divorce Cartoon
There’s one excellent element of this that gives it a two. Whoever designed the blocking/ staging is someone I want to meet again. The way the scenes are ‘shot’, mostly just beyond what a camera can do, and the way the aggressive editing brings spatial awareness is first class, rare, engaging.
But holy cow what a stinker otherwise! This is a conventional quest story. It has conventional characters and tropes. It has slightly more clever than usual visual situations. The girl could have worked if she had been quirkier.
My understanding is that a lot of A listers worked in this. The idea must have been that the very best would launch this studio. But no one coordinated them. Maybe no one could, given their presumed confidence. I suppose that was supposed to be Lasseter. But their penalty of inheriting his stench did not pay off. At least this time.
If you don’t know, the evil magic in this story is from the King and Queen of a land having a bad marriage. The helpful sorcerers are a gay couple. The easily fooled general is butch. The healing golden liquid is held by four stone hands.
Posted in 2025
Ted’s Evaluation — 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
No Comments