You’re a Witch, Billie
A lot has been said on Disney’s teaser trailer for their upcoming coming of age magical isekai animated movie Hexed.
Those who saying are it’s look generic and derivative. It looks like it was made by AI or to meant to be watched on a hand-held device. It’s too like Harry Potter meets Alice in Wonderland. That it’s too much like Disney own canceled show The Owl House. That we were robbed due to changing the main character from a younger boy to a teenaged girl named Billie. And that Billie’s characterization is too much like other characters in turns of looks and personality. That her character type is played out. That Hexed is Disney at its safest.
And Yes that May all be True!
Not 100% about The Owl House because I haven’t seen that show aside from a trailer but it looks like a ton of fun but the premise is very similar which could intentional or not. Misfit-types who go to a magical world are a dime-a-dozen. Honestly it hard to tell what Hexed really is from teaser trailer which is a preview of a preview.
Plot/Character Types…Again and Again
Having watched some of Disney recent teasers it seems like they try and offer some snippet of the movie while concealing much of the plot and character motivations. All we know of Hexed is that Hexed is about a world of witches, Billie is not like other girls, and has magic. Inferences that can be made is that her bracelet was negating her magic and magic has something to do with her mother.
The trouble isn’t so much that this plot has been done before. It’s what the teaser trailer showcases is uninspired. It almost seems like Disney wanted their own version of Harry Potter so they had a story about a boy with hidden magic abilities and goes into a magical world. However they didn’t want to be directly compared so the made the main character a teenage girls. And what do you know everything is likening it too Harry Potter anyway.
Personally I don’t really care about the change. Many site Elio’s performance at the box-office as the reason behind the change. Typically, not always, when female characters don’t fit in they lean into it. A witchy alt-girl who isn’t like other girls and seems unbothered with her loner status is a tough character to get behind as main character in under three minutes. Male characters who are outcasts typically want belonging. Again this is not always the case but it helps with feeling empathy towards the characters.
Unfortunately the trailer presents Billie as not very likable. And her doing that smug mugging smile that Disney likes to do these days isn’t helping. Is it possible that Billie is masking her pain of social isolation? Yes! Does that come off in the trailer? No!
Put a Pointy Hat on it for Vibes
So if the teaser isn’t really highlighting characters then it should showcase the setting. This teaser showcases her high-school which is a yawn and some of the Magical World of Hexe. The only denizens of Hexe that we meet are Ms. Quill, an enchanted Feather quill pen and Elias Quire, a magical journal. So throw Beauty and the Beast into the mix of inspiration. And these two are defiantly Beauty and the Beast 2017 by way of design.
The world of Hexe isn’t really showcased aside looking mostly like every other generic fantasy setting, a quaint medieval town with witch hats on everything – chimneys, lanterns, really anything that can have a pointy hat has a pointy.
I think the only this that looks less than generic is the moss covered eyeballs.
Who Wrote this? Really who has a writing credit on this?
So we have a premise with a character who doesn’t seem likable and a run-of-mill fantasy settling. Of course the teaser trailer might have done this movie no favors. What I do find an interesting, puzzling and maybe even a little concerning is that there are no screenwriters credited. As of writing this post the writers are being kept under wraps. Apparently due to WGA screenwriting credit system the standing rule is that a writer must have contributed at least 33% to the final script. We do know that Hexed has undergo a lot of revisions so they might not as of yet a writer who contributed at least 33% toward Hexed script which does not insipid confidence. And also why Ms.Quill’s name is just what she is and Elias Quire’s name is a pun. Or if the Frozen 2 documentary-series is anything to go by maybe as now there is no final script.
There is a screenwriter credit that appears in older sources. The screenwriter is Allison Moore. She might have worked on the earlier version. Moore or any writer isn’t listed in Hexed’s crew on IMDB. IMDB isn’t the best source to go off of but Hexed credits other departments so it seems legitimate that reworks have renders the movie unable to credit screenwriters. If the they do I will add them but at the time of the teaser’s drop there wasn’t any mentioned. Not reassuring.
Not Much of a Tease
So the teaser didn’t go a good job showcasing a compelling likable character or an interesting setting or magic. Ultimately this movie feels a lot like Wish in that referning Dinsey’s older work to curry a feeling of notaglia.
Also someone said the floating head looked like Olaf and now I can’t unsee it.
*As Early July there is no writing credits. There is a credited storyboard artist
