Characters from the classics make cameo appearances in this computer-generated survey of fairy-tale history (2001)—a movie whose story may be even more innovative than the superreal solidity of the animated characters. Only after an ogre rescues a princess does suspense become an issue; while magic—or its undoing—is often what prevents fairy tales from resulting in interspecies love, this romantic fantasy complicates the roles of beauty and beast, making it hard to guess what form a sensitive resolution will take. Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson directed.

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