IMAGINE being a fairy tale princess and your parents are transformed into hideous monsters because of a curse.
You have to race against time to help find the antidote lest they will remain monsters forever.
COLOURFUL
This is the plight of teen princess Ellian, the heroine of Netflix's newest animated movie 'Spellbound', which premieres on Nov 22.
With the help of several colourful characters, both human and magical in her kingdom, Ellian steels herself for an adventure of a lifetime to restore the cursed King Solon and Queen Ellsmere to their normal selves.
A Netflix film from Skydance Animation, 'Spellbound' is written by Lauren Hynek and Elizabeth Martin and Julia Miranda and produced by John Lasseter, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Bruce Anderson. Directed by Vicky Jenson ('Shrek'), the film features an original score from Alan Menken ('Beauty and the Beast') with lyrics by Glenn Slater ('Tangled').
MAGICAL
Set in the magical kingdom of Lumbria, 'Spellbound' chronicles the adventures of teenager Ellian (Rachel Zegler), the only child of Queen Ellsmere (Nicole Kidman) and King Solon (Javier Bardem).
Ellian just wants to be carefree, flying her pet gryphon in the skies above her kingdom with her best friends.
But inside her family's castle, Ellian has two big problems keeping her on the ground — her parents.
MYSTERIOUS
The king and queen have been transformed by a mysterious spell into unruly, impulsive monsters.
Baffled by this disruptive turn of events, Ellian and her advisers, Ministers Nazara (Jenifer Lewis) and Bolinar (John Lithgow), have kept the secret from their citizens and neighbouring kingdoms for a year.
Together, they have ruled covertly to keep the peace and the lives of her destructive parents safe.
Desperate to go back to how things were, Ellian seeks the counsel of Oracles Sunny and Luno (Tituss Burgess and Nathan Lane), who set her off on a quest to the enchanted Lake of Light where she might be able to break the spell.
QUEST
'Spellbound' is an epic quest set within a fairy tale land that happens to be rooted in experiences common to modern families.
In a recent online interview, Zegler said voicing her first major animated movie role was a fascinating and memorable challenge.
"It was a huge shift because I went from being able to control everything about my performance, besides the edit, to only the vocal control of what my performance was," she said.
TRUST
Zegler added that she placed a lot of trust in director Vicky Jenson and the animators to "bring her performance to life".
"They watched videos of my face and tried to match the expressions of Ellian with mine, and they did an incredible job."
Zegler said: "I remember before I sat down to see it for the first time, I was surprised to see how different Ellian was from me in terms of physical appearance.
"Vicky really helped me let go of any fear or anxiety surrounding that."
JOURNEY
Describing her involvement in 'Spellbound' as a five-year journey, Zegler said: "I started out doing scratch vocals for Alan during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"I recorded songs created by Alan for his team to listen to and decide whether or not to use for the film."
VOICE
At first, Zegler was not Princess Ellian but just her singing voice.
"I had 'West Side Story' under my belt and after seeing my performance they trusted me.
"Soon I got the part and I was delighted."
PASSIONATE
In a statement, Jenson said it was a delight to work with Zegler.
"Rachel is very passionate and focused in what she does.
"She is an actress and singer who absorbs new ideas and brings life to them.
"She was great at understanding what her lines are trying to do and makes sure that her story was comes loud and clear through the music."
CHARACTER
Zegler has always wanted to join an animated movie voice project as the main character.
She grew up watching animated movies from Disney and Pixar and counts Beauty And The Beast, Finding Nemo and Shrek as her favourites.
"What's great about these animated movies is they deal with difficult subjects in a fun way," she said.
Zegler loves her character Ellian as the princess is strong, brave and mature for her age.
"She is a good only child who loves her parents and wants to save them," she said.
ALONE
Ellian however does not stand alone, as there have been many strong-minded animated princesses who have stood out over the years.
"I feel a kinship with Rapunzel of 'Tangled', as she is a great survivor."
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