‘Spellbound’ Director Reacts to Backlash Over Divorce Message

Acclaimed animation director Vicky Jenson (Shrek) tackles tough themes of divorce and broken homes in Spellbound, a CGI adventure about a teenage princess, Ellian (Rachel Zegler), whose bickering royal parents (Javier Bardem, Nicole Kidman) have been transformed into unruly monsters. The new Netflix film cleverly uses fairy tale elements to address how children’s feelings are often ignored when adult relationships are irrevocably broken. Reviews from conservative and far-right audiences have been slamming the film for its discussion of divorce. One user on Rotten Tomatoes called Spellbound, “a moronic ploy to help normalize divorce to children. Don’t normalize divorce. It’s not normal.” Jenson pointedly responds:

Basically: Grow up. “Everybody responded really well to the intentions of the movie [but] there was always sort of a nervousness about that ending,” added Jenson. Spellbound is the second feature film from Skydance Animation; 2022’s Luck was the first, but Spellbound had been in development for many years. “I’ve been on it almost the longest. I think I’m employee number one at Skydance Animation. It was for this movie, so I came on technically seven years ago,” explained Jenson. The finished product is finally out for audiences to see; Spellbound debuted on Netflix on Nov. 22, 2024. It’s a global chart-topper and has been a great success, pushback be damned.

‘Spellbound’ Was Always About a Child Dealing with Divorce

Despite any backlash from hyper-traditionalist conservatives, Jenson was adamant that “staying true to that ending was really important, we’re not like Parent Trap.” The director wanted a realistic depiction of how separation affects families:

“That was always the story. [Ellian] doesn’t know why her parents are monsters. It’s told through her point of view, and she thinks, ‘Well, I could fix this.’ A lot of kids feel like somehow it might be their fault, or they could fix it. There are different kinds of families. If there’s love in the family, it’s still family, even if you don’t live together. Nobody wanted to change that ending. They just didn’t know how they could market it or get people to come see it. It’s really great that Netflix was definitely brave enough to do it, and that more people will be able to see it.”

Related

Every Original Movie Coming to Netflix in December 2024

Whether viewers want to be inspired, thrilled, or embrace all the holiday feels, Netflix has something for everyone next month.

It’s an extremely important message to send to children. While rates of divorce have been dropping for the past two decades while marriage rates have remained relatively stagnant, there are still millions of children with divorced parents. Telling them that “divorce is wrong” frames their lives in a negative way — you are telling them that they are not normal, that something is bad about their family.

As Tolstoy wrote, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” and let’s face it: most families are not happy. It is usually much healthier for parents to divorce instead of forcing each other to live together in their bitterness, anger, and sadness, which will ultimately be much worse for their children. Having a film like Spellbound detail the facts of divorce in a warm, compassionate, and entertaining way is extremely important and much more realistic than most animated movies. It’s not like the film is going to cause divorces, so what are people mad about? That it might comfort a child? Shame on them.

Watch Spellbound

Spellbound follows the adventures of Ellian, the tenacious young daughter of the rulers of Lumbria who must go on a daring quest to save her family and kingdom after a mysterious spell transforms her parents into monsters. Spellbound is directed by Vicky Jenson (Shrek) with original score from EGOT-winning composer Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast) and lyrics by Glenn Slater (Tangled). A Netflix Film from Skydance Animation, Spellbound boasts an all-star voice cast led by Rachel Zegler, John Lithgow, Jenifer Lewis, Nathan Lane, Tituss Burgess, With Javier Bardem, And Nicole Kidman. Spellbound is written by Lauren Hynek & Elizabeth Martin and Julia Miranda and produced by John Lasseter, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and  Bruce Anderson for Skydance Animation.

Release Date

November 22, 2024

Director

Vicky Jenson

Cast

Rachel Zegler , Miguel Bernardeau , Giovanna Bush , Dennis Stowe , Jenifer Lewis , Dee Bradley Baker , Susan Fitzer , Nicole Kidman , Javier Bardem , John Lithgow , Olga Merediz , Rich Moore , Nathan Lane , Tituss Burgess , John Ratzenberger , Vicky Jenson , Angela Grovey , Jessica Molaskey , Isabelle McCalla

Runtime

109 Minutes

Writers

Vicky Jenson , Lauren Hynek , Elizabeth Martin

Studio(s)

Skydance Animation

Expand