This animated adventure stars Rachael Zegler as a princess whose parents (Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem) have been turned into monsters, but they’re not that scary…it is a family film, after all. She sets out to reverse the spell with her purple sidekick (eventually voiced by Jon Lithgow). This film has some top notch cred: It’s directed by Vicky Jenson, who won an Oscar for Shrek, and the songs, some of which are delightful, are composed by longtime Disney team Alan Menkin and Glenn Slater. In addition to the names already mentioned, the cast includes Jenifer Lewis with Nathan Lane & Tituss Burgess providing some enjoyable character comedy as gay-adjacent oracles. The film starts with spunky energy and frolics along until about halfway, when it spends too much time with emotional ballads about finding family. Visually, it’s colorful and gorgeous with lovely character animation. Even so, the creativity and energy run out before it’s over, leaving this promising film less so. 
(2 / 5)
