Ballerina – movie review

A charming victory against-the-odds story set in France, Ballerina concerns a couple of orphan kids.

Félicie (voiced by Elle Fanning) is a wannabe dancer. That is her great passion in life. Victor (Dane DeHaan) wants to become a great inventor. The problem is he is basically a klutz. The pair has also long wanted to escape their mundane existence in an orphanage in Brittany. When Victor shows Félicie an old post card that features the Paris Opera House that becomes her target and through Victor’s hare-brained scheme the duo eventually make good their escape. Once in the City of Light they are inadvertently separated and two threads of the story unfold, although with a strong focus on Félicie. She does, indeed, find what she is looking for, namely the Opera House, but the reception she is given is anything but what she had hoped for, or expected.

He, on the other hand, is engaged in a menial job by the man who is building the Eiffel Tower. You see, that is the time frame we are talking about here, the 1880s, when Gustave Eiffel was constructing not just the Eiffel Tower, but the Statue of Liberty that the French gave the Americans. Félicie and Victor’s lives continue to intersect while the pair is gradually realising their dreams, but not without first doing the hard yards.

Ballerina has a lovely look and feel to it. A colourful palette and engaging soundtrack are among the hallmarks of the film. At times cheeky and irreverent, it also pays homage to the beauty and grandeur of the balletic art form, while playing on the adage that anything is possible if you really put your mind to it and want it badly enough. Based upon an original idea by Eric Summer, who also co-wrote the screenplay and co-directs, the story has heroes and villains, spite and rivalry, ingredients to get the blood pumping.

The best animated features cause you to forget that you are watching a cartoon and there are several scenes where that is the case here. Félicie may be naïve but she is certainly no push over. She and Victor have always hung out together, but now their feelings for one another may be growing in another direction. You also have the equivalent of an Evil Stepmother, in this case the win at all costs mother from hell. The original music by Klaus Badelt is a delight. I must confess that I even shed a tear or two on more than one occasion.

So, Ballerina is animation with heart and soul that is also fun. Rated G, it scores a 7½ out of 10.

Director: Eric Summer, Éric Warin
Cast: (Voices of) Elle Fanning, Dane DeHaan, Maddie Ziegler, Carly Rae Jepson
Release Date: 12 January 2017
Rating: G

Alex First