DIRECTORS: Eric Summer, Éric Warin VOICE CAST: Elle
Fanning, Dane DeHaan, Maddie Ziegler, Carly Rae Jepsen SCREENPLAY: Carol Noble, Eric Summer, Laurent Zeitoun PRODUCERS: Valérie d'Auteuil, Nicolas Duval Adassovsky, André Rouleau, Laurent
Zeitoun, Yann Zenou EXECUTIVE
PRODUCER: François-Xavier Aubague ARTISTIC PRODUCER: Guillaume Ivernel LINE
PRODUCER: Laurence Vacher FILM EDITOR: Yvann Thibaudeau GENRE: Animation, Adventure CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jericca
Cleland MUSIC: Klaus Badelt PRODUCTON COMPANIES: Quad Productions, Caramel Film, Main
Journey DISTRIBUTORS: Gaumont
(France), Entertainment One (Canada) COUNTRIES: Canada, France LANGUAGE: English
RUNNING TIME: 89 minutes
Technical assessment:
4
Moral assessment:
4
CINEMA rating:
VA (Viewers of All Ages)
Orphan Félicie (voiced
by Elle Fanning) dreams of becoming a professional ballerina. Encouraged and
accompanied by her best friend and driven by the passion to be a dancer, she
flees from the orphanage in rural Brittany and heads for Paris. When she gets
to Paris, she befriends a caretaker at the Grand Opera House who offers to
train her and give her a place to stay. Félicie manages to secure a place in
the Grand Opera House's ballet school, under a false identity. Under Odette's
tutelage, Félicie emerges as one of the top ballerinas in the school. With
time, however, the truth about her identity must come out.
Ballerina follows the usual fairy tale formula, where the main character moves
from being insignificant to becoming a person whom everyone admires. The way
that the story is told, however, gives the movie a fresh appeal to the audience. While there is not much originality in the figures
even if drawn delicately, the animators’ attention to the details regarding ballet
techniques is quite commendable.
The movie delivers a heartwarming message to all
its viewers that with optimism and determination, one can pursue one’s dream at
all cost. It also highlights the value
of helping those in need and of sharing one’s talent with others in order to
bring out the best in them.
