‘Spellbound’ (2024) Review – The Children’s Guide To Divorce

In Skydance Animation’s latest offering, we are immediately thrust into a world where magic and flying animals exist. We are in the kingdom of Lumbria, and we are following Princess Ellian. It is her 15th birthday, but she’s not having a big party because she wants to “spend more time with her parents.” But of course, there’s a little more to her ruse. It turns out her parents, the King and Queen, are monsters. No, not a metaphor. Literal monsters.

The two were turned over a year ago in the Dark Forest of Eternal Darkness (“so dark they named it twice.”) and the Princess along with her two advisors, Bolinar (John Lithgow) and Nazara (Jenifer Lewis) have been trying to get them back ever since while keeping it a secret from the people of Lumbria and especially The General, who is dead set on seeing the King and Queen.

Spellbound boasts a star-studded cast of A-list talent including Broadway giants like Olga Merediz who plays The General, and Nathan Lane and Tituss Burgess who play the oracles of the Sun and Moon, who deliver much of the comedic relief in the film as well as some signature vocals to one of the songs. Rachel Zegler, once again showcases her incredible vocal talent as our lead princess Ellian. Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem reunite again as a couple as they play our King and Queen. Along with the star-studded voice cast, legendary songwriter and composer Alan Menken joins the fun to write some new original songs for the soundtrack.

Once we meet all our principal characters, the story gets underway and we learn that the only way for the parents to change back is to return to the Dark Forest of Eternal Darkness and enter the pool of light at the top of a mountain. This journey becomes complicated when the monsters accidentally break out and are discovered by the townspeople. What we have then is a rush against time to get the King and Queen back to themselves before the General tracks them down, and they remain stuck as monsters forever. 

The film has all the makings to be a satisfying animation classic, but it does a few things along the way that keep it from that extra step of greatness. For starters, the music is fine. Menken still has the Disney touch to his songs, but here, it doesn’t quite reach the heights of his previous work. Zegler has an amazing voice, which she uses to carry much of the strength of the songs, to the point where a few of them are catchy, but none have the staying power of a Little Mermaid or a Beauty and the Beast. It wouldn’t be so noticeable if Menken weren’t still playing in the motifs that made much of his Disney work so standout. 

The other issue is the underlying story of Spellbound is much less subtle than many animated films these days. In this film, the meaning behind it is very aggressively straightforward. It’s about divorce, specifically being a child of divorce, and how you navigate between two parents whom you love, but who have turned into (literal) monsters towards each other when they’re together. It’s not exactly the most appealing topic for a kids animated film, and while it lacks all the subtlety in the world, it may be the kind of film kids can appreciate more when they’re older and have gone through or know someone who’s gone through a parent’s divorce. 

It helps that the film is a musical as it breaks the story from what could really be a sad and upsetting tone with lively music. Skydance also has some of the strongest animation teams in the business, and they do everything in their power to bring the kingdom of Lumbria to life with dazzling colors. The humor also sticks the landing. There’s a magical switch where Bolinar ends up in the body of Flink, the princesses’ purple pet rat which makes for some cheerful comedic moments.

The lesson here for the kids is that change sometimes happens, and while it will be strange, and different, or maybe even difficult at first, as long as there is love, you’ll get through it. Despite its touchy subject matter, it ends up being an important film for kids to see, even if its execution may be a little too heavy-handed at times. The songs soften the blows and the film finds ways to uplift and charm even in the darkest of dark times.

Spellbound is currently available to stream on Netflix.