The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Strange Magic
Music · Animation · Family · 2015
A love potion works its devious charms on fairies, elves and the swamp-dwelling Bog King as they all try to possess the potion for themselves.
Movie details
Strange Magic
“Everyone deserves to be loved.”
2015 Music · Animation · Family 1h 39m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
5.8 / 10
13.5K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
19 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
25 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
7.2 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
A love potion works its devious charms on fairies, elves and the swamp-dwelling Bog King as they all try to possess the potion for themselves.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Strange Magic?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Elena and the Secret of Avalor
Fantasy · 2016
In the Kingdom of Avalor, Elena takes Naomi up a mountain to show her favorite view of the kingdom. Elena laments to Naomi how she was trapped in the Amulet of Avalor for forty-one years, and then presents to her a broken wand. She tells her that it was Shuriki's wand and how she would still be trapped in the Amulet if it was not for a brave young Princess: Sofia. Elena then proceeds to tell Naomi the whole story ...
Fantasia
Animation · 1940
Walt Disney's timeless masterpiece is an extravaganza of sight and sound! See the music come to life, hear the pictures burst into song and experience the excitement that is Fantasia over and over again.
Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration
Family · 2022
In honor of the 30th anniversary of the animated classic, this animated and live-action blended special showcases the fan-favorite movie, along with new musical performances, sets and costumes inspired by the classic story.
Barbie: A Fairy Secret
Animation · 2011
Barbie realises that fairies secretly surround everybody. She, along with the help of her friends, Taylor and Carrie, sets out to rescue Ken. He is taken to the secret fairy city, Gloss Angeles.
Cinderella III: A Twist in Time
Animation · 2007
When Lady Tremaine steals the Fairy Godmother's wand and changes history, it's up to Cinderella to restore the timeline and reclaim her prince.
Trolls Band Together
Animation · 2023
When Branch's brother, Floyd, is kidnapped for his musical talents by a pair of nefarious pop-star villains, Branch and Poppy embark on a harrowing and emotional journey to reunite the other brothers and rescue Floyd from a fate even worse than pop-culture obscurity.
Cinderella
Family · 1950
Cinderella has faith her dreams of a better life will come true. With help from her loyal mice friends and a wave of her Fairy Godmother's wand, Cinderella's rags are magically turned into a glorious gown and off she goes to the Royal Ball. But when the clock strikes midnight, the spell is broken, leaving a single glass slipper... the only key to the ultimate fairy-tale ending!
Secret of the Wings
Animation · 2012
Tinkerbell wanders into the forbidden Winter woods and meets Periwinkle. Together they learn the secret of their wings and try to unite the warm fairies and the winter fairies to help Pixie Hollow.
UglyDolls
Animation · 2019
In the adorably different town of Uglyville, weirdness is celebrated, strangeness is special and beauty is embraced as more than meets the eye. After traveling to the other side of a mountain, Moxy and her UglyDoll friends discover Perfection -- a town where more conventional dolls receive training before entering the real world to find the love of a child.
Charming
Animation · 2018
Three fairy tale princesses find themselves engaged to the same guy, Prince Charming.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Gary Rydstrom
Written by
Gary Rydstrom · George Lucas · David Berenbaum · Irene Mecchi
Alan Cumming
Bog King (voice)
Evan Rachel Wood
Marianne (voice)
Sam Palladio
Roland (voice)
Elijah Kelley
Sunny (voice)
Meredith Anne Bull
Dawn (voice)
Kristin Chenoweth
Sugar Plum Fairy (voice)
Maya Rudolph
Griselda (voice)
Court is in session
Put Strange Magic on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.