Strange Magic

               For the past several years some of the best new films have been animated.  On the surface these films appear to be only for children, but they certainly aren’t.  Most have clever lines that both adults and kids will find humorous.  They may have different meanings to the two age groups, but both will be laughing.  Then there are the storylines.  They are youthful enough for kids to enjoy but have plenty of serious aspects that keep adults entertained.  Add in music and everyone ends up happy, which is exactly how I felt when I watched Strange Magic.

                It’s pretty bad that even fairies have to worry about getting cheated on.  Marianne (Evan Rachel Wood), the fairy princess, is flying around on her wedding day, singing a love song, when she comes upon her fiancé, Roland (Sam Palladio) kissing another fairy.  Devastated, Marianne calls off the wedding and declares she will never love again.  She sheds all her feminine clothing in exchange for tougher garb, and trains herself to be a fighter.  This is her new life, and even though those around her do not understand it, Marianne is determined that this is how it will stay.

                Roland, in the meantime, is busy figuring out how to get Marianne back.  He doesn’t do this because he actually loves Marianne.  I don’t think that ever crossed his mind except to use it as a weapon.  He’s too busy admiring himself to think about something like love.  No, the real reason Roland wants to marry Marianne is because he wants an army and to become king.  Never did he want to marry Marianne for herself.

                With Marianne’s new found outlook on life, getting back in her good graces is not an easy task.  Roland soon discovers that his usual wily ways are not going to work this time.  He’s going to have to go to more drastic measures to get what he wants.  Those drastic measures, they include a love potion.

                There is one little problem with getting a love potion, though.  The only fairy that can make it is the Sugar Plum Fairy (Kristin Chenoweth) and she has been captured by the Bog King (Alan Cumming) who does not like love.  In fact, Bog would be considered anti-love.  He does not want anyone to have it which is why he is holding onto the Sugar Plum Fairy.  As long as he has her, no one can get her love potion.

                Roland, however, is determined to get that potion.  Not by himself, of course.  He’s not going to put that much energy into it.  Instead, he convinces Sunny (Elijah Kelley), the best friend of Marianne’s sister, Dawn (Meredith Anne Bull), to get the potion for him.  Sunny loves Dawn but hasn’t figured out how to tell her yet, so he agrees to get the potion. 

It takes some work, but Sunny is able to meet with the Sugar Plum Fairy, get her to make the potion, and make it back to his own land without getting caught.  Noticed is another story, as Bog quickly finds out a potion has been made, and he is not happy.  In retaliation, Bog goes to the fairies and kidnaps Dawn.  He declares she will only be returned once they give him the love potion, and not a moment sooner.

Unfortunately for Bog that moment does not come soon enough.  When he kidnaps Dawn, he doesn’t realize she has been exposed to the love potion.  Once back in Bog’s lair, Dawn falls in love with Bog on sight.  Madly in love, Dawn sings her love song over and over to Bog until he locks her up in a cell.  It’s the only way he can get any peace from her singing and even that doesn’t work 100% of the time.

Back with the fairies, Roland has convinced the Fairy King (Alfred Molina) to give him an army in order to save Dawn.  He is using the situation to get exactly what he’s always wanted, and Marianne doesn’t want any part of it.  Instead, she flies on her own to Bog’s lair in attempt to save her sister.  When she arrives, she finds her sister to be safe but that Bog still will not release Dawn without the love potion.  Marianne tries to fight Bog over this, but what happens is they both discover that maybe love isn’t so bad after all.                  

                While there is a lot of great animation out in the world, I must say that the animation for Strange Magic was absolutely gorgeous.  I don’t know if I have ever seen another animated film like it.  It must have taken a ton of time to get all the details done perfectly and the colors just right.  I would have loved to watch how they did that because I think it would have been absolutely fascinating.

                The music throughout the film was fantastic.  Composed of mostly classic rock songs, the music turned the film into a musical.  Instead of saying dialogue, they used well-known songs to express what they were feeling.  It reminded me of how Gnomeo and Juliet was created, another animated film I loved.

                Throughout the movie there were a lot of funny lines and great characters.  I especially liked Bog’s mother, Griselda (Maya Rudolph).  She was hilarious as she paraded every available female in front of her son.  Some were quite interesting creatures, and while it annoyed Bog, it was obvious Griselda only did it out of concern.  She did not like Bog’s stance on love and all her efforts were an attempt to change that so one day Bog would no longer be alone.     

                Another thing I really liked was how Marianne turned from a shallow girl to a strong woman.  In the start of the film she really only cared about Roland’s looks.  By the end, that isn’t even a consideration.  She sees people for who they are and fights for the ones she loves.  Instead of anyone saving her, Marianne is the one doing the saving. 

               I could easily see myself watching this film over and over again. The music alone would make it great to have on as background noise, but I would hate to regulate it to only that. This is a film that needs to be watched, and I have a feeling that this is one of those films where something different will be discovered each and every time.