All Reviews

I'm a big fan of your works. The only reason this gets 4 instead of 5 stars is the potential I see to iron out a few things, add a little more depth to the characters to make this movie that much better.

The things that I really enjoyed:
As always, I love your music and the emotion it carries. The theme when the trapdoor appears is great!
I thought the balance of music and dialogue/story was great.
I liked the personalities of each of the characters and how those were worked into the story.
I thought the dialogue was witty at times, there was good humor.
I liked how important dialogue and plot elements were weaved into your songs to carry the story forward.
I really think there is a lot of potential here, and I can't wait to see what this becomes. I didn't get to see Blackbeard, but, based on the songs I did hear, I was disappointed that it didn't get picked up to be experienced by a wider audience. I truly hope this one takes off.

I'm no qualified critic, but here are my suggestions:

I felt there were a few abrupt swings of emotion that seemed a little forced or caught me by surprise and could be eased into through dialogue or visual expressions: the bad fairy's bursts of anger, the farmer's dismissal of Yannik, the king's tirade over his daughters' sneaking out, the eldest daughter's anger at her father and at Yannik's roses, etc.

In contrast, I think there was a good emotional development in the love story between Yannik and December. Some examples: December asking about Yannik's name, a stolen glance between the two as she passed, a brief holding of hands etc. More of this without being forced or obvious would be welcome. I know that the hero and maiden often experience love at first sight, but it's nice when this fairy tale element is supported with little moments that develop more substance to support the feelings of the heart before that happily-ever-after kiss. I also would have liked to see Yannik and December dancing together again when they meet in the fairy world.

When Yannik breaks the roof tile and the bad fairy sends the giants after him, what are the princesses thinking? Do they know he was there? Are they under some spell? Otherwise, why doesn't December react?

Also, it was hard to feel exactly how much of a mess-up Yannik felt like. We understand that he wasn't trusted to help in the harvest, and he also dreamed of being the hero of the harvest and against the dragon. He later screws up with the roses. Clearly he has confidence issues and he might be a bit of a klutz. Perhaps there could be some brief flashback memories or a montage of other well-intentioned failures and screw-ups during his song or woven into his dream to draw us in to the intense desire to succeed that he feels when he decides to harvest the field. This might also help us understand why the farmer doesn't let him help with the harvest and why the other harvesters mock him.

I searched for a synopsis of the original fairy tale on wikipedia and found a few details that might be woven into your story without disrupting anything else. For example, there are 3 groves of trees in the fairy world (silver, gold, and diamonds) that are passed on the way to the fairy world palace that could easily be part of the scenery without needing to be explained. In the tale, the soldier who discovers the princesses' secret takes a branch from each and a golden goblet from the palace as evidence. You could incorporate this plot element with Yannik similarly taking a sample of each to show to Bob or the King as evidence and they could be depicted as initially not believing him. These and other possible elements from the original tale would be welcome Easter Eggs to those who know the Grimm story.

The king was quirky and not all there. It is easy to see that he keeps a tight rein on his daughters when his guards catch them at the tavern. When the maid finds worn out shoes, it seems like the uproar over the mystery is a little premature. In the original story, they mystery is such a big deal because the daughters' shoes are repeatedly ruined and worn out. I would have liked to have seen some more time pass by, perhaps several days, while the daughters disappear and go dancing. During the gossip song, it would be natural to show the maid finding worn out shoes several times and taking them to the king before Sir Doyle is brought in. The guards could be shown during this song trying to peek in the princess' room, not finding anything amiss, and then the princesses pulling out a petal once the guards had left. You could also show Iggy somehow thwarting the guards' attempt to spy on the princesses. At this point, we still would not have seen anything of the fairy world other than the princesses going through the trapdoor. You could also show the flower with slowly disappearing petals. Then Sir Doyle could be brought in, Yannik could follow them into the fairy world and the mystery could be revealed to the audience. This would necessitate a rewrite of some of the dialogue from the bad fairy welcoming them again to the dance party rather than implying this is simply their 2nd visit. All of this would convey the vastness of the mystery that is baffling the king, Sir Doyle, and the entire court before Yannik (like the soldier in the classic tale) is able to solve it. This would also give added excitement to the scene where Yannik declares to Bob and Franc that he knows where they've been disappearing to.

In the end, when Franc converts the other fairies back to the good, it might be a little more believable if there had been some doubt or concern expressed earlier among their ranks questioning the morality of their entrapment/enslavement of those from whom they were sucking happiness. I like Franc's loyalty to a fairy code that might be hinted at in the actions and responses of the other fairies who are only on the evil side because of the strong leadership and inspiration of the bad fairy (who should have a name, did I miss it?).

I like that the giants are dumb and dimwitted. But they end up seeming like the Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters: threatening, but not very scary or evil--kind of misguided and deserving of empathy. Their nature makes it hard to bring out the action and intensity of a final battle that often makes movies so appealing. In Ghostbusters, the end sequence was infused with that action/climactic feeling when the Marshmallow Man caught fire and transformed from a soft, fluffy, dumb giant into an angry, fiery fiend. There might be other fantasy creatures (dragons and such) that could be a part of the final battle without having to make the giants more evil. This would also allow Yannik the chance to play out his dream fantasy of conquering a dragon while struggling to free the princesses. Also, to solidify Yannik as December's knight in shining armor, he might be the one to catch her instead of Franc when the giant is falling over.

In summary, I think there is great potential here. I think animation is a great way to go. I've missed the traditional fairy tale animation that has been replaced by formulaic computer-animated features that are full of humor but lack that magic and music that we all love from classic Disney. There is a stark, obvious contrast in movie quality from the PBS/Wonderworks Narnia movies to the recent Disney remakes and from the old, animated Lord of the Rings films to Peter Jackson's acclaimed trilogy. You can walk into any Walmart and find animated knock-offs of Disney's latest movies for $3 rather than forking out $20 for the real deal. And you can tell the difference in quality that was lost in saving $17. The Swan Princess was a movie that fell somewhere between these two extremes that was lower budget and didn't get the Disney label, but it was very well done and well-received. Your movie doesn't have to be a Disney, but I would feel let down if yours fell among the knock-offs in quality. I would also hope that yours could trump the Barbie 12 dancing princesses movie I had to endure with my little girl... that wasn't horrible, but definitely painful as a man and a father! As one who is always trying to introduce others to your works and to share that feeling I get as I listen, I would hope for your movie to be at least on par with the Swan Princess in quality and reception. I'm rooting for this one!

I really like the premise - the 12 Princesses story is less familiar, so there's a lot of room for interpretation. The dialogue seems thin - even for a children's movie, it seems obvious (during a lot of the movie I found myself saying the punchlines in my head before the characters spoke). The bad fairy is a good character, but I grew tired of the repeated "nincompoop" comment (I understand the intention, but it fell flat for me).

The short resolution is fine - it works well with an animated feature - but I think the exposition could be tightened up to allow more character development for the king, Doyle, Bob, and Frank. I don't know if I'm supposed to identify with January or not. The characters still seem a bit thin - there is room to develop them.

I enjoyed watching - it needs a little more work before it would make my DVD collection.

I loved it - and my little girl sat and watched the entire thing on my laptop! In storyboard form no less! I know she would love to see it as an actual movie, and so would I. She was enthralled. The music was beautiful and captivating.

Although the story-board version is limited, it showed a lot of potential.

I am thoroughly impressed. This movie could very easily be made into a commercial production. The songs were very well done, and the storyline moved quickly enough to keep me interested. In a full scale production, you could probably heighten the drama of the final climax with more elaborate chase/danger scenes. It seemed to wrap up rather quickly, and the boy became a hero too easily, I thought. But that's a quibble, and that can be planned out in more detail before the final product is released. There was some good humor in here too. Good job with everything!

This seems to be professionally done, which is likely why so many people find it impressive, but this exact type of animated film has been done so many times that I'm honestly surprised that anyone still cares.

The music and songs are excellent. I'm guessing this would comprise the lion's share of the appeal for most people. The script is well done, if generic and a little rough in places. The story pacing is excellent, though to be honest, the story itself is so overly familiar and rehashed that I find it extremely difficult to give it my attention. The word tedious comes to mind. I strongly dislike the character designs, but they're so bland that I'm assuming the final product will be much different once the film is actually animated.

In all, there's a good chance that this will be made into a movie and be successful enough to make it's money. Wholesome it is, but wholesomeness need be neither reheated nor vapid. Movies like this decline the art of animation, rather than elevate it.

Emotion is a little over the top for the characters that are angry. The story didn't develop Yannick's short comings enough to have him sent away at the start of the story. BUT, the music is great and the dialog is interesting. My little 3 year old grandchild will LOVE this and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I applaud the use of this particular fairy tale because it is not as well known as many others. However, I think part of the what makes the original story work so well is the mystery surrounding where the princesses go night after night after night. I'd like to see this incorporated into the story. It's also hard to tell just from the story board, but do the princesses actually interact with any of their peers in the land of the fairies? Or do the princesses really have fun just dancing with themselves? Surely they are lonely and would want to connect with people their own age. It's magic, after all, so why can't they dance with princes in fairy land, instead of having a bunch of male clones hanging around in the background?
I'm also not so sure about this Bad Fairy idea, but I suppose it provides a good-vs-evil plot line that kids these days have come to expect. And it also makes room for the character of Franc, who is wonderful.
To my way of thinking, the strengths of this piece are the music, which is great on its own, but also fits smoothly and unobtrusively with the story and dialogue, and some very good characters, most notably Franc.

I enjoyed this very much. I think with a little more work, it will be one of those greats that all ages can enjoy. It still seems a little rough which I expected, it being a storyboard. I thought the dialogue needed some more fleshing out. At points, it seemed to be more of a children's show style, which may have been what you were going for. With some refinement of the dialogue to appeal to all audiences, I think this would be a fantastic family movie sure to captivate everyone.
The story is great. I love the premise. My recommendation would be more with the flow of the story. The beginning was the biggest thing that I noticed. It's seven minutes into the movie before you get into the story involving the princesses and the main title. I think the flashback and title would be best put at the beginning before Yannick is introduced in his dream sequence. The beautiful music during that will enchant anyone listening to it and onto the story right from the beginning, leaving them wanting more of it. With it the way it is, it just seemed jumpy and you got quickly confused as to what was going on in the story. I would think that what you were going for was to stay away with what I will call the "Disney way" of starting out a fairy tale, but the only way I can think of doing that is to have Yannick told or introduced to the story after being kicked off the farm, which then would require changes to how the story unfolds, and I don't think you need to change that. The story was also a little disjointed in why the princesses were locked away. It seems that they are not supposed to be out from the get go, yet no explanation as to why it was so unique in how they got out that time and then not later in the story.
I like the idea of this being an animated film and think it will do great as one.
Great work as always! Keep them coming!

I saw an earlier version of this production and loved it. This one expands on the original and makes is even more charming. The smart repartée between Franc and Ben, the sweet musical soliloquy, the stylized characters all combine to keep viewers riveted, both young and old.