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“Sirocco and the Kingdom of Winds” is an award-winning, France-produced ‘psychedelic fantasy’ animated feature, directed by Benoît Chieux, with English-dubbed voices by Briauna James, Tallula Dinsmore, Élia St-Pierre, Lucinda Davis, Terrence Scammell, Marcel Jeannin, Wyatt Bowen and Bruce Dinsmore, releasing August 11, 2024 in theaters:

“…’Juliette’ and her sister ‘Carmen’ find an enchanted toy and get swept away into the ‘Kingdom of the Winds’.

“They are transformed into cats and find themselves in a fantastical new world full of flying divas, technicolor dragons and other mind-melting creations.

“But when Juliette causes an incident that draws the ire of the local inhabitants, followed by the ‘Mayor’ sentencing Carmen to marry his son as punishment…

“…the sister find a way to escape, with the help of ‘Sirocco’ the wizard…”

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There’s something about a film focusing on a young, aspiring ballerina in the late 1800s that makes it easy to understand why this animated effort didn’t have the marketing push normally associated with the ventures that come out of the animation behemoths. Leap! is a movie focusing on the struggle of dreams, highlighted by picturesque (and/or dark) scenes of gaslit Paris with the incomplete Eiffel Tower in the background. There aren’t a lot of toys to sell here.

It makes you wish for a different world, like that recent commercial that imagines the day when we celebrate scientists and have their pictures on trading cards.

Felicie (Elle Fanning) is an orphan who lives out her days in a dreary orphanage with her best friend, Victor (Dane DeHaan). She dances the days away while plotting with Victor to escape. She dreams of joining a ballet company in Paris,...

Generations apart, but connected by chutzpah and talent, Mel Brooks and Kate McKinnon have two of the most signature voices in comedy. Now, try to identify their characters in “Leap!,” the latest mediocrity for children from the Weinstein Company.

Either they were both so ashamed by the humorless script that they masked their voices well, or it’s impossible to imagine either one in the movie’s shockingly lifeless version of 1880s Paris. Directed by Eric Summer and Éric Warin from a script by Summer, Laurent Zeitoun, and Carol Noble, this filmmaking-by-committee approach ensured “Leap!” got tugged in a million different directions — and none of them good. The movie is weighed down by too many secondary characters, which only serve to dissipate their flickering charms. No one in the film, even our heroine, gets more than a hint of backstory as the single-minded plot careens toward its predictable conclusion.

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Chicago – One of the rites of passage for most girls in the U.S.(and elsewhere, I presume) is ballet lessons. Usually it lasts for a very short time, but some girls-to-women keep pursuing it, and may even become prima ballerinas. A new animated film named “Leap!” is dedicated to that spirit.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

The headline is a lyric quote from “A Chorus Line” and their magnificent song “At the Ballet,” about the longing and destiny of dance. There is a bit of that in “Leap!,” but mostly it deals with the usual plucky-orphan-sticking-it-to-the-man and becoming a ballerina against all odds. And since it works at a kid’s level, the story is nothing to write home about. But the choreography is the thing in this one, as the animators used the exquisite movements of ballerinas and reproduced them in cartoon characters. For every little girl who has taken the dance stage,...

After playing an aspiring model in Nicolas Winding Refn’s salacious “The Neon Demon,” Elle Fanning will next bring her talents to the world of ballet in the animated “Leap!” Fanning voices the heroine of the Weinstein Company’s upcoming film: an 11-year-old orphan who arrives in 1870s Paris and enters a school for ballerinas in hopes of starring in “The Nutcracker.” Watch the first trailer below.

Read More: ‘The Beguiled’: Kirsten Dunst Shares Photo With Elle Fanning From Last Day on Sofia Coppola’s Set

“I’m gonna be everything I wanna be,” her Félicie proudly declares in the opening moments. Her friend Victor (Dane DeHaan) has aspirations of his own, as he hopes to become an inventor; one imagines the film won’t stray too far from convention and end in crushing disappointment for the two young dreamers.

Read More: Elle Fanning Is a Friendly Femme Fatale...

Created in 1992, The Legend of White Fang is an animated series that’s based on the White Fang book by Jack London. The show tells the story of 12-year-old Wendy Scott and her wild canine friend, White Fang.

When Wendy saves the animal's life, her action prompts the beginning of a unique and lasting friendship. Episodes feature the duo as they traverse the rugged and mystical Yukon together during the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890's. White Fang, part husky and part wolf, is the hero of the story, as he and Wendy clash head on with the booming growth of civilization. Along the way, they meet their share of gold miners, con men, thieves, Indians, otter poachers, and avalanches.

Series voice actors include: Mark Hellman (White Fang), Patricia Rodriguez (Wendy), Terrence Scammell (Weedon/Alex), Pierre Lenoir (Sgt. Oakes), Neil Shee (Raven Moon),...