Ballerina (2016 film)

Ballerina
French theatrical poster
Directed by	Éric Summer Éric Warin
Produced by	Laurent Zeitoun Yann Zenou Nicolas Duval Adassovsky André Rouleau Valérie d'Auteuil
Written by	Éric Summer Laurent Zeitoun Carol Noble
Starring	Elle Fanning Dane DeHaan Maddie Ziegler Carly Rae Jepsen
Music by	Klaus Badelt
Cinematography	Jericca Cleland
Edited by	Yvann Thibaudeau
Production companies	Quad Productions Main Journey Caramel Film L'Atelier Animation
Distributed by	Gaumont (France) Entertainment One (Canada)
Release date	19 October 2016 (2016-10-19) (Mon premier Festival) 14 December 2016 (2016-12-14) (France) 24 February 2017 (2017-02-24) (Canada)
Running time	89 minutes[1]
Country	Canada France
Language	English
Budget	$30 million[2]
Box office	$57.5 million[3]

Ballerina, titled Leap! in the United States, is a 2016 English-language^[2] internationally co-produced 3D computer-animated musical adventure comedy film co-directed by Éric Summer and Éric Warin. The screenplay, by Summer, Carol Noble and Laurent Zeitoun, with music by Klaus Badelt, is about 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.

The film stars the voices of Elle Fanning, Dane DeHaan, Maddie Ziegler and Carly Rae Jepsen. It was released in theatres in France and the UK in December 2016, followed by releases in various countries over the following several months, including Canada in February 2017. The film is set to be released in the United States on August 25, 2017, under the title Leap!, with Nat Wolff replacing DeHaan, and Kate McKinnon and Mel Brooks added.

Synopsis

In the 1880s, 11-year-old Félicie (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 beautiful Paris, but they soon become separated, and Victor becomes an office boy in Gustave Eiffel's workshop. Félicie stumbles upon the celebrated school of the Paris Opera Ballet, where the guard catches her trespassing. She is rescued by a mysterious cleaner with a limp, Odette (Carly Rae Jepsen), who agrees to let Félicie stay with her until she gets on her feet. Odette works for Régine Le Haut (Julie Khaner), a wealthy restaurant owner. While helping Odette clean, Félicie spies Regine's daughter, Camillle (Maddie Ziegler), practicing ballet. Camille sees Félicie, insults her, and throws Félicie's music box out of the window, breaking it. As Félicie takes it to Victor for repair, she intercepts the postman who brings a letter from the Opera admitting Camille to the ballet school; in her anger, she takes the letter and decides to assume Camille's identity to get into the Opera and fulfill her dream, while also getting back at Camille.

Odette agrees to mentor Félicie, who later learns that Odette was a former prima ballerina. Félicie finds her training, and making friends at the ballet school among her fellow-students, very difficult. Mérante (Terrence Scammell), the school's exacting choreographer, announces that one of the girls from the class will be chosen to dance Clara in The Nutcracker. He dismisses the worst dancer in class each day. Félicie improves each day and narrowly avoids elimination, but a couple of days before the final elimination, her lie is discovered. Mérante decides to admit Camille into the class, while also letting Félicie stay. The night before the final elimination, she neglects training to go out on a date with Rudi, a handsome boy from the school, which upsets Odette. Victor sees Félicie with Rudi, and he and Félicie argue. The next day, Félicie is unable to perform well, and the part of Clara goes to Camille.

Félicie returns to her orphanage, having lost her spirit. She dreams about when her late mother gave her the music box. She decides to return to Paris to help Odette and apologize to Victor. While cleaning the stage, Félicie encounters Camille, and they engage in a dance battle that is witnessed by all the students, Odette and Mérante. Félicie does a fouetté across a row of stairs, while Camille cannot. Mérante approaches the two girls and asks them why they dance, to which Camille admits that she dances only because her mother tells her to, and says that Félicie should dance Clara. While speaking with Victor at the Eiffel Tower, she meets Régine, who tries to push Félicie off a statue, but Victor saves her with aid from Camille, and they arrive just in time for her performance. Félicie then goes on stage to perform.

Voice cast

• Elle Fanning as Félicie Milliner, an orphan girl with dreams of becoming a ballerina
• Dane DeHaan (Nat Wolff in the American version) as Victor, an aspiring young inventor and Félicie's best friend^[4]
• Maddie Ziegler as Camille Le Haut, Félicie's arrogant rival at the ballet school
• Carly Rae Jepsen as Odette, a mysterious caretaker and former prima ballerina who helps Félicie
• Terrence Scammell as Mérante, a demanding ballet instructor
• Julie Khaner as Régine Le Haut, Camille's rich, sneering mother^[5]
• Mel Brooks (American version only) as M. Luteau, the supervisor of the orphanage where Félicie and Victor lived.^[4]
• Kate McKinnon (American version only) as Camille's sneering mother Régine Le Haut, Mother Superior and Félicie's mother^[6]

There is also a French language version of the film, with the voices of Camille Cottin as Félicie and Malik Bentalha as Victor, that premiered in France on December 14, 2016.^[7]

Production

The film was produced at L'Atelier Animation in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.^[8] The filmmakers used key frame animation of Aurélie Dupont and Jérémie Bélingard, two star dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet, to translate realistic dance choreography to the animated film.^[9] Dupont became the de facto choreographer of the film's dance sequences.^[7]

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.^[10] 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.^[11][6]

Soundtrack

Release

The film premiered at the Mon premier Festival on October 19, 2016,^[12] and it was released in France and the UK in December 2016.^[13][14] Numerous releases followed around the world.^[3] Entertainment One distributed the film in Canada, with the theatrical release beginning on February 24, 2017 in Quebec^[15] and March 3, 2017 elsewhere in Canada.^[16][17]

In May 2016, The Weinstein Company acquired distribution rights to the film in the United States.^[8] A US release was first scheduled for March 3, 2017, under the title Leap!^[18] The release was subsequently pushed back to April 21, 2017,^[19] followed by additional casting announcements of Wolff, Brooks, and McKinnon.^[4][6] It was then pushed back to August 30 and later moved up to August 25, 2017.^[20]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has received a critics' rating of 76%, based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10.^[21] 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 jetés. ... [Félicie'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."^[22] 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."^[23]

References

External links

• Official website
• Ballerina on IMDb