★★½
(G) 89 minutes
Set in Paris and made in Montreal, the computer-animated Ballerina relies on American voice actors, starting with Elle Fanning as the heroine Felicie, who runs away from an orphanage to chase her dream of becoming a ballerina.
![Elle Fanning voices Felicie, whose point of difference is that she dances from the heart.](/web/20170425182912im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/n/7/p/k/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtpeay.png/1484197138356.jpg)
Directors Eric Summer and Eric Warin are noticeably less sentimental than their counterparts at Disney or Pixar. There's no magic in the tale, no helpful fairies or talking animals to help the heroine along her path.
Instead, she must rely on hard work, passion and – when things get desperate – a certain amount of deceit.
![An orphan with big dreams, a 19th-century setting and a pop soundtrack.](/web/20170425182912im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/n/7/p/j/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtpeay.png/1484197138356.jpg)
Also refreshingly un-American is the portrayal of the European class system in realistic – rather than fairy-tale – terms, and the way nearly all the adults have rudeness as a default setting.
"I hate kids, especially orphans," says the mysterious caretaker at the Opera-Ballet (Carly-Rae Jepsen). As things turn out, she's one of the good guys, becoming a reluctant mentor to the heroine and drilling her relentlessly in the manner of The Karate Kid's Mr Miyagi.
In other respects this is the usual kind of highly calculated family entertainment, blending old-world charm and modern edge.
The setting is late 19th century, but the pop soundtrack features Jepson and other contemporary artists, and, as with the recent Sing, the plot takes its cues from reality TV.
![Felicie catches a ride with her slapstick mate Victor, a would-be inventor who becomes an apprentice to the off-screen ...](/web/20170425182912im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/n/7/p/f/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtpeay.png/1484197138356.jpg)
Newly arrived from the provinces, young Felicie bluffs her way into a dance class and quickly finds herself part of a contest. Each day one student is eliminated from the class, and the last girl standing will make her debut in The Nutcracker.
For viewers with no special interest in ballet, other diversions are supplied, including chase sequences, fart jokes and a good many slapstick pratfalls, usually executed by the heroine's best friend Victor (Dane DeHaan), a would-be inventor who becomes an apprentice to the off-screen Gustave Eiffel. I hoped the film might buck convention by having this character not fall in love with Felicie, but evidently the writers couldn't resist adding a romantic triangle to an already overloaded plot.
![The dance sequences are animated using footage of real dancers from the Opera-Ballet for reference.](/web/20170425182912im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/n/7/p/g/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtpeay.png/1484197138356.jpg)
The film's realism extends to the dance sequences themselves, animated using footage of real dancers from the Opera-Ballet for reference. Perhaps for this reason, they're more technically impressive than truly thrilling.
Felicie's strength is meant to be that she dances from the heart – but once she gets her technique up to scratch, there's not much to distinguish her pirouettes from those of her rivals who are just doing what they're told.
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