Director Vicky Jenson has a long enough resume, working on animation franchise films like Ice Age and Shrek. And now she’s back with Spellbound which has the irreverence of Shrek, which is prevalent in films. Princess Ellian (Rachel Zegler’s voice) deals with her Royal parents (Javier Bardem and Nicole Kidman) who are, hopefully temporarily, monsters. One of her solutions is to invite Oracles (Nathan Lane and Tituss Burgess), explaining the monster curse. Part of their meta-explanation is that the curse happened because they entered the Dark Forest of Eternal Darkness. An Oracle says “So dark they named it twice”, making the joke before the viewers get to. Irreverence replaced sincerity decades ago, the jokes understated but easy enough to catch if one is listening. 

The Oracles can’t cure the King and Queen on site and the army gets wind of their transformation, so Elliann has no choice but to go to the forest where the reluctantly helpful Oracles live. During my initial viewing, it seems like the film, despite some irreverent moments, smooths out its edges. However, some might catch these edges the first time, like the fact that the Oracles are gay men. Yes, they’re there to support Ellian, singing songs about being in the dark aka dark thoughts corrupting oneself. I don’t know what it says about me that I’m content at gays relegated to supporting characters. Yes, Spellbound is here to show that characters teach younger generations lessons in a genre that teaches lessons.

What makes Spellbound and other films like it work are the supporting characters. Aside from the Oracles, there’s Minister Bolinar (John Lithgow) who spends the most time with Ellian because her parents can’t. Some are better than others though. I’m referring to the King and Queen, who are nonverbal for the first half of the film. The Forest finally gives them their voice, and yes, viewers can have some fun with both these characters. This is a film where Javier Bardem makes jokes about pee and Nicole Kidman jones on rocks. And then they stop being fun completely and show that they got the curse for fighting each other. Finally, a film for children is addressing divorce but it feels like quite the random plot device. The film is long enough as it is and I understand why they probably cut some opening scenes.

A lot of Spellbound feels like a groundbreaking film as it addresses topics we’ve never seen before, or at least, ones that earlier films should have addressed but haven’t had the guts to until now. The animation design feels basic except that they designed the King and Queen to look family friendly. Other aspects feel like throwbacks though, as composer Alan Menken is just rewriting “Part of Your World”. I also hear some riffs of “Reflection” on one of the songs but hiding it with key changes. Some songs, thankfully, feel more original than others, like the ones that the Oracles sing to Princess Ellian. Same goes for when the King and Queen, well, one has to watch the film to see.

Spellbound comes out in select Canadian theatres and Netflix.