Disney released the trailer for “Hexed” on Tuesday, an upcoming animated film about a misunderstood quirky middle schooler who discovers she’s a witch.
The plot is familiar. But stories that have been told many times before can be interesting and valuable, if they’re told in beautiful language and images. See: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty. Of course, the source material for these films — European fairy tale — was much stronger than the source material for “Hexed,” which, like most modern Disney films, appears to be derived from the fantasies of neurotic 30-somethings still recovering from feeling rejected by their fifth-grade peers.
As one X user observed, “this is like the fifth time disney has made the exact same film in less than a decade[.]”
“Hexed” is predictably ugly. The characters are composed of ovals and tubes which contract and expand for comedic or dramatic effect. The characters aren’t fully fledged “bean mouths,” a reference to the CalArts style popularized by shows like “Steven Universe,” but they aren’t too far off.
Some social media users speculated that the film was made with the use of artificial intelligence tools. I admit that I wondered this myself — the trailer for “Hexed” refuses to linger on a scene, instead effectively summarizing the movie in a series of frantic clips. Then again, that might just be how Disney promotes their films. The trailer for “Frozen,” released in 2013, also features quick cuts between shots and scenes. I err on the side of “Hexed” not being animated with much, if any, AI tools, and just being bad.
If anything, the accusations of AI use suggest that Disney’s product is no longer distinguishable from “slop.” One does get the sense that “Hexed” is a movie made of other movies, clumsily cobbled together to produce a whole which is less than the sum of its parts.
Then, there’s the matter of composition. A colleague pointed out that the vast majority of shots in the trailer feature a centered focal point. This is likely intended to make the movie friendly for TikTok and Instagram reels and Facebook reels and YouTube Shorts.
One X user reformatted the aspect ratio of the “Hexed” trailer to be vertical. Basically nothing of substance was lost, indicating that the trailer either coincidentally works perfectly as a Tiktok video, or was designed with that aspect ratio in mind.
“Hexed” is generic from top to bottom. Worse, it’s ugly. It might still be a box office hit, on account of it being a wish fulfillment fantasy which appeals to outcast little girls.
Like what you’re reading? If so, please consider subscribing to State of the Day or sharing this with a friend. You’d be supporting this newsletter and helping keep independent journalism alive.
If you are already a paid subscriber, make sure to join the conversation in our subscribers-only chat below.
Asking for a friend: if one is already boycotting Disney, is there a way I...I mean one...can do it twice? Silver lining: Disney shares are up 8.5% over the last 10 years. The S&P 500 is up 268%. Hating your customers may have a cost.