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Ballerina (2016 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Ballerina' (titled 'Leap!' in the United States) is a 2016 3D computer-animated musical adventure comedy film co-directed by ric Summer and ric Warin and written by Summer, Carol Noble and Laurent Zeitoun. A co-production between Canadian and French companies, the film takes place in 1880s France and follows a poor orphan girl who dreams of becoming a ballerina and gets a chance to audition for the celebrated school of the Paris Opera Ballet.
'Ballerina' stars the voices of Elle Fanning, Dane DeHaan, Maddie Ziegler and Carly Rae Jepsen. The film was released in cinemas in France and the United Kingdom on 12 December 2016, followed by releases in various countries over the following several months, including Canada on 24 February 2017. The film was released in the United States on 25 August 2017, with the voices of Nat Wolff (who replaced DeHaan), Kate McKinnon and Mel Brooks added. 'Ballerina' received generally mixed reviews from critics, but was a box office success, grossing $106.1 million worldwide against a $30 million budget.
Plot
In the 1880s, eleven-year-old Flicie (Elle Fanning), a poor orphan girl who dreams of becoming a ballerina, but lacks formal training, runs away from her orphanage in rural Brittany with her best friend, Victor (Dane DeHaan), a young inventor. Together they go to Paris, but they soon become separated, and Victor becomes an office boy in Gustave Eiffel's workshop. Flicie finds her way to the Paris Opera, where the guard catches her trespassing. She is rescued by a mysterious cleaner with a limp, Odette (Carly Rae Jepsen), who agrees to let Flicie stay with her until she gets on her feet. Odette works for both the Opera and for the cruel and imperious Rgine Le Haut (Julie Khaner), a wealthy restaurant owner. While helping Odette clean, Flicie spies Regine's daughter, Camille (Maddie Ziegler), practicing ballet. Camille sees Flicie, insults her, and throws Flicie's treasured music box out of the window, breaking it. As Flicie takes it to Victor for repair, she intercepts the postman who brings a letter from the Opera admitting Camille to the celebrated school of the Paris Opera Ballet partly because of her mother's connection. In her anger, Flicie hides the letter and decides to assume Camille's identity to get into the school and pursue her dream.
Odette agrees to mentor Flicie, who later learns that Odette was a former prima ballerina. Flicie finds her training very difficult, but with Camille's letter of acceptance, she manages to take her place at the ballet school. Mrante (Terrence Scammell), the school's exacting choreographer, announces that one of the girls from the class will be chosen to dance the role of Clara in 'The Nutcracker'. He dismisses the worst dancer in class each day. Flicie improves each day and narrowly avoids elimination, but a couple of days before the final elimination, her lie is discovered. Mrante decides to admit Camille into the class, while also letting Flicie stay; although Flicie's infraction was serious, Mrante accidentally saw her dance passionately in a bar that she and Victor visited. The night before the final elimination, Flicie neglects training to go out on a date with Rudi, a handsome boy from the school, which disappoints Odette. Victor sees Flicie with Rudi and becomes jealous; he and Flicie argue. The next day, Flicie is late to the audition and unable to perform well, and so the part of Clara goes to Camille.
Regine sends Flicie back to her orphanage, where she loses her spirit. She has a dream about being an infant in the arms of her late mother, a ballerina, who gave her the music box. She decides to return to Paris to help Odette and apologize to Victor. While cleaning the stage, Flicie encounters Camille, and they engage in a dance battle that is witnessed by all the students, Odette and Mrante. Flicie does a grand jet over a flight of stairs, while Camille cannot. Mrante approaches the two girls and asks them why they dance, to which Camille admits that she dances only because her mother tells her to, while Flicie speaks stirringly of dance as her inheritance and passion. Camille admits that Flicie should dance the role of Clara.
Near Eiffel's workshop, where the Statue of Liberty is being constructed, Flicie invites Victor to the performance. A furiously deranged Rgine arrives and chases Flicie up to the crown of the statue, but Victor saves her with aid from Camille and traps Rgine in the scaffolding. Arriving at the Opera just in time, Flicie dons Odette's special pointe shoes. Flicie kisses Victor on the cheek, and she performs in 'The Nutcracker' alongside the principal ballerina.
Cast
*Elle Fanning as FlicieCalvario, Liz. [https://deadline.com/2017/03/leap-trailer-elle-fanning-nat-wolff-animated-film-1202041710 "'Leap!' Trailer: Elle Fanning and Nat Wolff Dare to Dream in Animated Film"], Deadline.com, March 11, 2017
*Dane DeHaan (Nat Wolff in the American version) as Victor
*Carly Rae Jepsen as Odette
*Maddie Ziegler as Camille Le Haut
*Mel Brooks (American version only) as M. Luteau, the supervisor of the orphanage
*Julie Khaner (Kate McKinnon in the American version) as Rgine Le Haut, Camille's motherSmith, Damon. [http://www.irishnews.com/arts/2016/12/23/news/film-on-your-toes-dreams-do-come-true-in-fantasy-adventure-844140 "Film: On your toes dreams do come true in fantasy adventure"], 'The Irish News', 23 December 2016; and [http://medias.unifrance.org/medias/158/149/169374/presse/ballerina-dossier-de-presse-anglais.pdf 'Ballerina' press kit], Gaumont, Medias.unifrance.org, accessed 23 December 2015
**(McKinnon also voiced the Mother Superior and Flicie's mother in the American version)
*Terrence Scammell as Mrante (American version as Janitor as well)
*Bronwen Mantel as the Mother Superior, the head of the orphanage
There is also a French language version of the film, with the voices of Camille Cottin as Flicie and Malik Bentalha as Victor, that premiered in France on December 14, 2016.Benamon, Sophie. [http://www.lexpress.fr/culture/cinema/ballerina-ou-comment-monter-un-dessin-anime-historique-qui-s-emancipe-des-cliches_1857135.html "'Ballerina', ou comment monter un dessin anim historique qui s'mancipe des clichs"], 'L'Express', December 14, 2016
Production
The film was produced at L'Atelier Animation in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The filmmakers used key frame animation of Aurlie Dupont and Jrmie Blingard, two 'toiles' (star dancers) of the Paris Opera Ballet, to translate realistic dance choreography to the animated film.Tanya. [https://www.voices.com/blog/gaumont-ballerina-movie-motion-capture-3d-animation "Gaumont's 'Ballerina' Bringing Ballet's Etoiles to the Big Screen"], Voices.com, December 6, 2016 Dupont became the 'de facto' choreographer of the film's dance sequences.
Music
The soundtrack album was released internationally by Gaumont on December 12, 2016. The album features both the film's original score composed by Klaus Badelt, and songs from other artists that are used in the film. The film also features songs that are not included in the album, such as "Cut to the Feeling" and "Runaways" by Jepsen and "Suitcase" by Sia.
Soundtrack
Release
The film premiered at the Mon premier Festival on October 19, 2016, and it was released in France and the UK in December 2016.Billington, Alex. [http://www.firstshowing.net/2016/uk-trailer-for-french-animated-film-ballerina-featuring-elle-fanning "UK Trailer for French animated film 'Ballerina'"], FirstShowing.net, 4 October 2016 Numerous releases followed around the world.[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=leap.htm "'Leap!': Foreign"], Box Office Mojo, accessed June 13, 2017 Entertainment One Films
Canada distributed the film in Canada, with the theatrical release beginning on February 24, 2017 in Quebec and March 3, 2017 elsewhere in Canada.
In May 2016, The Weinstein Company acquired distribution rights to the film in the United States. A US release was first scheduled for March 3, 2017, under the title 'Leap!'Milligan, Mercedes. [http://www.animationmagazine.net/features/weinstein-hops-on-ballerina-animation-leap "Weinstein Hops on Ballerina Animation 'Leap!'"], 'Animation Magazine', 23 December 2016 The release was subsequently pushed back to April 21, 2017,D'Alessandro, Anthony. [https://deadline.com/2017/02/carly-rae-jepsen-elle-fanning-dane-dehaan-leap-animated-french-pic-weinstein-co-1201904758/ "Weinstein Co.s Ballerina Animated Pic Leap! Jumps To April"], 'Deadline Hollywood', February 7, 2017, accessed February 9, 2017. followed by additional casting announcements of Wolff, Brooks, and McKinnon. It was then pushed back to August 30 and later moved up to August 25, 2017.
Reception
Box office
According to Box Office Mojo, 'Ballerina' grossed approximately US$106 million worldwide. It opened in France on 14 December 2016 with over half a million admissions, earning 2.2 million (~US$2.4 million) over the course of the weekend. Its French gross eventually reached $14.5 million. In Canada, it earned more than Can$1.5 million during the first 13 days of its theatrical run, $1.1 million of which was made in Quebec. It ultimately grossed a total of Can$3.6 million (~US$2.8 million) in Canada. It was released on 25 August 2017 in the United States, earning $4.7 million over its opening weekend. It grossed $21.9 million in the US, the film's highest-grossing territory.Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the original version of the film holds an approval rating of 75% based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 5.74/10. The critical consensus reads, "'Ballerina' rich setting and beautifully animated dance sequences elevate a solidly crafted all-ages adventure with a surprising amount of colorful flair." On French entertainment information website AlloCin, the film has an average grade of 3.5/5, based on 17 critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the US version of the film, entitled 'Leap!', has an approval rating of 42% based on 62 reviews, with an average rating of 4.86/10. The critical consensus for the US version reads, "From its bland story to its unremarkable animation, 'Leap!' does little to distinguish itself from a long list of like-minded and superior family-friendly alternatives." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score 48 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.Melissa Stewart of 'Insights' magazine of Australia called the film "a heart-warming adventure. ... With the animation capturing the elegance of ballet, it is hard not to be mesmerised by the pirouettes and grand jets. ... [Flicie's] journey will resonate with for anyone who has experienced the sting of failure and trying to figure out how to bounce back. All of this occurs while humour is trickled throughout the movie making it enjoyable for kids and parents alike. ... [T]he themes of fighting for your passion and dreams is timeless."Stewart, Melissa. [http://www.insights.uca.org.au/reviews/when-passion-takes-the-lead "The choreography of dreams"], 'Insights', Uniting Church in Australia, December 12, 2016 Mike McCahill of 'The Guardian' wrote: "It's attentively, attractively designed with a real eye for the light hitting the buildings of a city under construction but a shade more 'Black Swan' in its DNA might have made the happy ending less inevitable and its pep less repetitive."McCahill, Mike. [https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/dec/15/ballerina-review-elle-fanning-animation "Ballerina review pleasantly pirouetting 'toon"], 'The Guardian', December 15, 2016 Matt Zoller Seitz of 'RogerEbert.com' gave the film one and a half out of four stars, criticizing its numerous "3-D animation clichs" which he said spoil the potential of its original premise, stating that "The best thing about ['Leap!'] is its portrayal of the dance world, then and now, as both exhilarating and cruel. ... But [the film] doesn't seem to grasp how special these elements are ... it keeps wasting [Flicie's] time (and ours) with theoretically comic or suspenseful subplots that we've seen done many times before, with considerably more wit and feeling".
References
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