When it comes to my comfort animated shows, best believe Ballerina is among the list. I can't begin to count the number of times I've watched this particular cartoon but one thing I'm sure of, is that every of those times, I was always reminded of exactly why I loved this show and why I shouldn't stop loving the show.
Yesterday, this show was aired on my Tv, and I was happy I got to watch it again. This time as well, I was reminded of why this is one of my comfort shows. This was a really really good animation and I enjoyed every bit of it.
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Ballerina is a 2016 animated movie, starring Elle Fanning and Dane Dehaan. The movie follows the story of two kids, Felicity and Victor who escape from an orphanage to follow their dreams. They sneak their way into a carriage and later find themselves in Paris. Getting there, Felicity is taken in by a lady, to help as a cleaner and Victor sneaks his way into a garage and begins to work there. They work at their respective places and things continue to go well for them as friends until Felicity steals someone else's identity to audition as a ballerina and begins to meet new people.
I loved this movie for many reasons. But the main reason of course, was the plot. Doing something because you want to do it and not because circumstances or other forces pushed you into doing it. Felicity danced because she loved it. So even when she didn't have anybody to train her as a dancer, she was passionate about it and would go to any length to achieve that which she loves.
The plot of this movie did not portray the main characters as completely good, and I liked that. Felicity stole the admission into the institution mainly as a form of revenge. That is not something we see in cartoons so frequently. The main characters are rarely portrayed as flawed. Exhibiting flaws are usually meant for the supporting characters. So, one of the things I loved about this animated show is the fact that the main characters exhibited more realistic feelings like jealousy and it even touched on themes like revenge.
Felicity and Victor's friendship was another of the things I loved. They were the type of friends that no matter how distant they were, they had each other's backs. I loved to see Victor covering up for Felicity at different moments in the movie. My favourite character was Victor. He was very fun to watch. He liked Felicity but the lass was too busy getting familiar with her new life in Paris that she did him dirty. I liked Victor. I liked his poor attempts at being funny and many other things too.
I also liked Felicity. She was too flawed for me to not like her. She let herself get carried away, she deceived herself, she did the wrong things. But above everything, she had this fierce determination to be a ballerina and I think that was what I liked the most about her. Her passion for dancing. She wasn't good at it but her determination and love for the act made her who she was.
What's a good animation without sweet melodies thrown in here and there? The songs were perfect. It wasn't too much because yeah, Felicity is a dancer and not a singer but the songs were thrown in when necessary. And I loved it. Do I know most of them word for word? Yes.
This show was a perfect blend of humour, emotions and beautifully scripted dialogues.
The only thing I'll have liked to change in this movie is the supporting characters back stories. Some parts of their story wasn't explained in depth. If those two loved each other earlier on, what happened between them that only made them come back together when our main characters now existed? If this was explained better, I feel the show would have had a better flow. But I still don't mind. I enjoyed watching this show just the way it was.
I'll rate this movie an 8/10. It has the ability to make you giggle, blush and even laugh out loud. It is an amazing animation that is suitable for viewers of all ages. I'll absolutely recommend.
Thanks for reading.