At a presentation event at the Festa del Cinema di Roma for Alice nella Città, we had the opportunity to glimpse a few preview sequences of Hexe: The Realm of the Witches, the new film from the Walt Disney Animation Studios, slated to hit theaters on November 26. Our guide was producer Yvett Merino, just before the official Italian trailer was unveiled with the voice cast chosen for our edition: Isabella Ferrari, Claudia Pandolfi, and Mariasole Pollio, respectively the Witch Queen Celeste, Alice, and her daughter Billie. What do we know so far?
Hexe: The Realm of the Witches, what we saw in the footage at the Rome Festival
We had already crossed paths with producer Yvett Merino during Zootropolis 2, now a seasoned veteran of the Walt Disney Animation Studios, following a career of thirty years, essentially equating to her entire professional life, since she joined the company right after college. Hexe: The Realm of the Witches is the 65th feature film from the studio, a small milestone that further fueled Yvett’s passion for the mission she felt was hers from the start: telling stories with believable characters, even those with flaws, just like all of us. What have the studio’s 700 artists and technicians been working on this time? The project is directed by Jason Hand and Fawn Veerasunthorn with Josie Trinidad, and centers on sixteen-year-old Billie, a possibly rebellious soul since birth: we saw her in a flashback conjure a magical portal unknowingly, so much so that her mother Alice decided to protect her, forcing her to wear a bracelet that, unbeknownst to the girl, dampens her magical abilities. There is tension in the unspoken words between Billie and Alice, but the girl soon discovers what her witch’s destiny is, when in a particularly chaotic moment, in a school bathroom, she loses the bracelet… unleashing the pandemonium. We then saw an extended version of a trailer scene, where Billie, incredulous yet thrilled, takes her first steps into the newly discovered World of Witches. Naturally, no true Disney cartoon would be complete without a worthy villain in that role: in this case it’s Celeste, the Witch Queen who fears Billie’s sudden appearance in their realm. The girl can fly… and theoretically only the Queen, the leader chosen by a prophecy, should be able to do so…
At the end of the footage, the Italian voice cast for the film was revealed, having joined the dubbing studio only a few days earlier with director Massimiliano Manfredi, now a longtime staple for Disney productions. Celeste will be voiced by Isabella Ferrari, honored to follow in the footsteps of the original Jodie Foster, and linked to the Disney world not only as a young girl (as is the case for many) but especially as a mother: performing a Disney villain means entering this world through the main door. Claudia Pandolfi takes on the role of Alice, the protective mother, a presence that Claudia teased with: “It could not be any farther from me!“… and from there the acting challenge begins. Mariasole Pollio finds herself on the big screen again in the position of being another “daughter” of Claudia Pandolfi, after Se son rose di Pieraccioni, but beyond the honor and the great technical challenge that dubbing represents, she is first and foremost proud to share the effort with two actresses she admires on a personal level as well.
Amid professionalism, warmth, and a classic Disney female-centered story, Hexe: The Realm of the Witches seems, in short, well on its way to integrating into a historic tradition. For now, we can say we greatly appreciated the studio’s customized logo for the film, where the Mickey Mouse from Steamboat Willie becomes appropriately the one from Fantasia… staying on theme!
Here below on the red carpet are Isabella Ferrari, Yvett Merino, Mariasole Pollio, and Claudia Pandolfi.
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