First shot of animation: A scroll unrolls on a table, illustrating the exposition.

When Disney acquired Lucasfilm, that included a mostly-finished animated jukebox musical about fairies and a love potion. What a curious little film it is.

It has all the hallmarks of a movie that could use a few less drafts and years of development. The opening exposition is given three different ways in consecutive scenes. Once it gets where it’s going it’s good, but trips over itself to get there that it’s hard to still be invested at that point.

And then there’s the big fault: it’s terrible as a musical. Every song with “love” in the title makes an appearance. Yes, it’s a lot. And with no apparent thought to what songs can or should do in a musical. All the worst faults of the jukebox musical form on display. For reference, compare Moulin Rouge (the 2001 film) with Moulin Rouge (the recent stage adaptation). If people only sang under the potion’s influence, or you just cut half a random, that would be something. Content dictates form.

But yes, the middle but is good! It’s funny, it’s got heart. The texture work is incredibly realistic in ways that animation left behind for impressionism and idealism. At its best, it’s a good children’s story well executed, which describes some of the best movies in this series. And, as a Lucasfilm production, it’s absolutely full of little freaks and critters. The mushroom men, the imp, all these tiny guys own.

Surely the fairy king looking like George Lucas, and all the hot babes ending up with funny-looking weirdos isn’t worth commenting on. Surely.