Starlight

Starlight is a 2002 animated fantasy film based on the french fairytale of the same name, animated and produced by Robert Animation Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

Plot
Centuries ago, there lived the two kingdoms, Madeleine & Henriette, that was in an ongoing battle. The kingdom of Madeleine was humble and serene land while Henriette was more regal and rich. The king and queen of Madeleine, Quincy and Helen, have a son named Prince Erwin, who is a bit of a klutz but is very brave and loyal as he defends his home, family, and loved ones. But as the years went on, Madeleine fell into more despair as Henriette gained more power and control. Erwin stood up and continued to build on the village’s defenses as he grew older. But he was so caught up with it to a point he lost touch in reality. This worried his family since he was inching closer to the throne and hasn’t found a suitor to rule alongside him. They tried giving him some candidates, but he denied them saying he will decide who he wants when he finds her. That is until he comes across the castle maid, Starlight. The two had spend plenty of time getting to know each other and they grew closer together. Starlight was a single child who parents forced her to get a job and a husband to provide for them, but she said she’ll marry someone when she finds the right guy. Erwin tells her that he knows how she feels. Quincy & Helen caught onto Erwin & Starlight’s relationship and assumed that she wanted to use him because her parents are kind of scoundrels. Starlight explains that they’re not like them and they give her a chance.

On the day of Erwin’s 20th birthday, Quincy and Helen hold a party at the castle inviting everyone including Starlight and her family. But as the party was underway, Starlight notices her parents as they sneak their way into the higher levels of the castle. She follows them to see them going through Quincy and Helen’s stuff. She shouts at them to stop doing that or they’ll get caught. But a guard catches them, but Whitney and Frank run out of the room with the jewelry and Starlight tries to chase them down until they bump into Quincy. Furious, he calls the guard to take them away, but Whitney and Frank manage to escape but leave a frozen Starlight. She tries to explain to Quincy that she had nothing to do with this, but he doesn’t’ listen. She’s then imprisoned in the tower where she cannot escape. But while she’s being sent to her cell, her white cat, Ermine, follows her to the tower, where she waits for everyone to leave to sneak in. As Quincy returns, Erwin asked what happened and he doesn’t feel in the mood to discuss it. But Erwin starts to realize Starlight isn’t here. Quincy tries to hide what happened, but failed. He then tries to explain what happened, but Erwin refuses to believe she had anything to do with it, especially since her parents were involved. Quincy does promise him that she’s be alright and nothing bad will happen to her. He reluctantly takes his word for it.

As Starlight cripples away in depression, she looks back at all the times her parents mistreated her and blames them for ruining her life, wishing she had parents who treated her like she was their own. But she then hears someone say that she doesn’t deserve to be treated like a paperweight. She looks up to see Ermine. Confused, she goes through the bars and explains herself that she came to help her, revealing herself as a fairy. Startled, Starlight asks her what’s even going on. Ermine explains that she wanted to watch over her as she grew older, looking back at the time they first met and the times she comforted her in her worst times. Starlight then asked Ermine how and why she came here. She explains that she had her ways and she’s willing to help her escape the village. Starlight is a bit hesitant because Madeleine is her only home. Ermine then reveals to her that it’s not really her birth home. Starlight was confused and asked her to explain. She then reveals to her that her real family is out there and doesn’t know she’s alive. Intrigued, she asks if she knows anything else, but she tells her that if she wants more information, she should go to them. Starlight agrees to go and Ermine gave her a box she can use in case of an emergency and then assisted in her escape.

After traveling miles and miles, Starlight comes across a group of centaurs as they take refuge in the forest. When they notice her they ask her to state her business. She explains that she’s trying to find her way to Henriette to reunite with her mother. Some say going to Henriette can be suicide as the opposite ends meet between seas and only through war ships. One centaur points out that one ship is heading to there now, but the others tells him that she can’t make it. Starlight, not paying attention to their last conversation, takes her chance to find her way to the ship and prays that she doesn’t get slaughtered. When the centaurs find out she left, a group starts to track down and stop Starlight before it’s too late. By the time she reaches the ship, she tries to quietly get in and find a place no one will notice her in. When the centaurs catch on to her, some go on the ship to find Starlight, but the passengers, including Erwin, get on boards and see the Centaurs totaling the ship. They get them off, but as more come in, the captain quickly orders everyone to get on board and sets off to Henriette.

As time passes by, we see Erwin as he ponders and sulks over Starlight. Some of the shipmates ask if he’s alright, but he constantly answers with he’s fine. They suggest maybe a bite will make him feel more comfortable. Cutting back to a drowsy and bored Starlight, her stomach starts to growl loud and long. She tries to get her mind of it but she starts smelling the scent of cooked food and she follows it into the door. She stops herself before she can go out and tries to resist the temptations. She then gets an idea and looks around for a disguise or something to sneak through and grab something to eat. But as she’s still looking, someone is about to come in and she quickly hides as they enter. She tries to keep really quiet, but her stomach starts to growl again and it draws the shipmate’s attention. As he walks towards her, she tries to get a peek of the shipmate and gets an idea. She grabs a wooden plank and as he looks over, she smacks him in the face with the plank, knocking him unconscious. She then takes his clothes, puts them on herself, and shoves him in a barrel.

As Erwin and the rest of the crew were getting their cuisine, Starlight blent in with the crowd, grabbing her food, and taking it to her place. But before she could leave, some of the shipmates asked where she was going. She tried to sound masculine and said she was going to eat outside for fresher air. Erwin stops her and says that isn’t a good idea and insists she sit over there. She does and starts feeling tense. But before they can chow down, the ship starts to quake. They look out to see a storm brewing. They immediately break through to keep the ship under control and stay on course. Starlight, the last to react, immediately goes back down to barricade and defend herself. But Erwin tries to get her out, telling her she needs to help keep the ship in motion. She doubts herself, but he eventually convinces her to contribute to the cause. They work together to keep the ship from capsizing, but they fail as the ship is struck with lightning and is destroyed, separating everyone off sea.

As Starlight regains consciousness, she finds herself on shore and looks around Erwin or anyone else from the ship. But her search was halted as she discovered a large kingdom over the hills. It was the kingdom of Henriette and all its glory. She ran over to the village, looking for someone to ask for help. But she suddenly saw guards taking Erwin and the shipmates. Without hesitation, she followed them into the backside of Henriette castle, which lead to the entrance of a dungeon. As they entered the door, Starlight quickly tried to get through before they closed it and sneaked through to see what was going on. She spots a silhouette of what looks like the king of Henriette as he cackles at Erwin’s attempt to fight against his people. He assures him that by the time he’s done with him, Madeleine will be no more. But as they go on, one of the guards notices Starlight’s shadow and he decides to go investigate. “INTRUDER!”, he shouts. He pulls Starlight into view and when the king saw her, he turned livid, like he was having a stroke. He immediately ran out, but Starlight broke free of the guards grip and began to chase down the king as he kept running. Eventually, he was out of breath and Starlight caught him. But before anyone could see them, he quickly shushed her up and took her to a quiet room. She asked what the heck that was all about, but the king told her she wasn’t suppose to be here. She said she was looking for her family and she immediately could tell he had evidence to this. He refused to speak of it and told her that if she spoke one word to anyone, especially his daughter. But before he could finish, Starlight realized…he was her grandfather?! She cuts him off saying if he dares to do anything to her, she was gonna expose herself to everyone. “Like they’ll believe you?”, he said. She then responded, “Watch me”, as she was about to exit the room. But he then pulled her and said he would let her stay if she kept quiet. Surprised by his response, she reluctantly accepted the deal but added how he’ll hide her from the crowd. The king, who reveals his name, Floyd, says he’s got this covered. He cleans up Starlight to remove the dirt and soot and applies hair color and foundation to her to prevent any assumptions. She also gives her a maid outfit and tells her that if she’s wants to stay at the castle, she needs to work there.

As was cleaning the rooms, Starlight went into Floyd’s daughter’s bedroom where Ermine was laying on the bed. She greeted Starlight, but she responded by asking who she was talking to. Confused, Ermine claims she’s knows it’s her and that she heard her and Floyd’s conversation. Starlight began to wonder if she’d even wants to meet her mother after seeing her grandfather. Ermine assured her that things would be fine, but before Starlight could reply, she drops a picture frame on the floor. She picks it up and sees a picture of a little girl with a boy. The young girl looked sort of similar to Starlight and as she put it back, she comes across another picture of the two as young adults. As she looks towards them, someone comes in and Starlight quickly puts the picture back. It was the king’s daughter and the girl from the picture. She was wondering what she was doing here and she explains that she’s one of the new maids. The two of them get to know each other with Starlight explaining that she was an orphan who was raised by psychos(without revealing who she really was) and how she left to find her real family. The girl, who reveals her name, Amber, feels empathy for her and comforts her, saying she know how it feels. She looks over her the pictures that Starlight saw earlier and expresses how she lost two people in her life. Her childhood best friend and true love, Romeo. He was an amazing friend to Amber when they were little kids and they stood together for years to come. Over time, Amber and Romeo’s feelings for each other kept growing and they eventually became a couple, much to the dismay of Floyd. However, Floyd sadly at sea, leaving Amber devastated. But before his passing, Amber told him that she was pregnant with his child, and now she had to take care of their baby alone. She consulted her parents and they promised her that they’ll help take care of her and the baby. But when she had the baby, the doctors said that the baby was a stillborn. This traumatized Amber and sent her into a deep depression as it scarred her for life. Starlight, wanting to tell her that she was her daughter, comforted her saying that she was there for her.

Meanwhile, Floyd is spiraling over Starlight’s return and Ermine comes in to his dismay. He calls her out for letting Starlight get to Henriette, but Ermine insists that she did nothing of the sort. He tells her that Starlight needs to go immediately before everyone catches onto how she’s Amber’s daughter. Ermine tells him that she can’t just get rid of her because it’s against her will to use her magic for evil. But he warns her that he is her master and he can have her down just like that. She tells him she’ll try to think of something but she needs more time. As Floyd leaves, Ermine almost goes to Starlight to get her out of here, but as she sees her and Amber bonding, she retracts doing it, but tries to think of something to ensure her safety. She then heads to the dungeon to see someone and maybe find a way out of this. But as she transformed into her fairy self, someone saw her. It was Erwin as she pleaded for freedom. Ermine was hesitant because she didn’t wanna cause anymore trouble after Starlight made it back to Henriette. He then asked her why Starlight was here in the first place. Ermine was then about to told him the story about Starlight.

The next day, it’s Amber’s birthday and everyone is preparing for the celebration including Starlight. But Floyd asks her to take care of the catering. When she finished preparing the banquet and snuck her way to the snack table to grab a bite. But she then saw two familiar people and when she realized who they were, she immediately hid underneath the covers. It was Sandra and Frank. Starlight was about to sneak out of the party and make a run for it, but she accidentally landed in a fountain and all her foundation washed off with everyone staring at her. Sandra and Frank spotted her and tried to chase her down. She managed to lose them, but she then bumped into Floyd looking sinister. Suddenly, Sandra and Frank caught her and were acting worried sick, but Starlight knew they were fakes. Floyd told her she should’ve never came back and that she will be going back to her home. But before they can take her away, Erwin comes in and fights back. He tells Starlight to make a run for it and Ermine follows her. Floyd sees this and chases after them. Starlight runs into the castle and barricades the entrance as she runs into Amber’s room, but she’s not there. She locks the door and Ermine confesses that she summoned Sandra and Frank to Henriette. She tries to explain to an angry Starlight that Floyd forced her to help in keeping Starlight away from Amber and ensuring she never finds out her daughter was alive. Starlight felt betrayed and was now stuck in a rut as Floyd, Sandra, and Frank may be on their way right now. She then remembers the box Ermine gave her and proceeds to open it. But when she opened it, she was surrounded by a dark haze that casted a spell on Starlight. Floyd, Sandra, and Frank catch Starlight and proceed to approach her. But when Starlight turned around, they were horrified to see her disfigured and ugly. She warned them to back off and suddenly, Amber and her mother, Julia came in asking what was going on. Floyd quickly tried to play the victim card, told them that Sandra and Frank were kidnapping this girl, and had them taken away. Amber then looked at Starlight and noticed something familiar with her. But Floyd quickly took Starlight away and head down to the dungeon.

When they reached the dungeon, Floyd was about to lock Starlight up. He warned her to stay away from his daughter. She corrected him by saying he said not to reveal who she is to his daughter. He told her he refuses to let anyone else find out about the truth after all this time. Tired of all this secrecy, Starlight shouts at him to tell her why he’s doing this. He then confesses how he’s been keeping her away from her family for 18 years and used Ermine’s magic to ensure she doesn’t return or find out the truth, but that sure backfired. Confused, she then asked him why he didn’t want her and he explains she was Amber’s illegitimate child and that if the public found out about this, her reputation would’ve been ruined and of course, he can’t just let that happen. But he would soon regret revealing that when he heard someone shouting in disbelief. Amber and Julia heard everything. Amber was furious at Floyd from keeping her daughter away from her all these years and make her think she was dead. Floyd tried to explain he did this for her benefits, but Julia believe it was because he didn’t want to be a laughing stock. She always suspected he only married her just to become ruler, but this was the key that proved the case. Stumped, Floyd tried to get out, but Julia called the guards to take him away and have him beheaded.

Amber was blessed to find out her daughter was alive all these years. She felt the years of sorrow in her heart began to heal. Starlight felt the same as she finally found her real family. Julia considers a celebration of her granddaughter’s return, but Starlight was a bit hesitant because she was still disfigured, Ermine ensured her that she can try to fix it up with the wave of her wand, but when she was about to pull it out, it wasn’t there. Her wand was stolen. They all ran around the castle looking for it, when suddenly…ZAM! Ermine was paralyzed as Floyd zapped her with her wand. He told her that he warned her and now she and everyone else will pay the price. He began to take control and confiscated Julia’s crown and take over as the only ruler of Henriette. Starlight and Erwin tried to fight back, but he just brushed them off. He suddenly transformed Ermine into a beastly white tiger and attack Starlight. She tried to run away, but Ermine was too fast for her. Amber and Erwin tried to keep her of her tail. And after a final confrontation between Starlight and Floyd, she manages to retrieve Ermine’s wand and blast Floyd off as he transformed into glass and shattered against the wall. Ermine transformed back to her original self and proceeded to reverse Starlight’s spell.

Around a few years after the events, Henriette ended their rivalry with Madeleine and combined forces as Starlight and Erwin had triplet daughters and got married. Ermine watched their wedding from the skylight, turned to the audience to say “Oh I love a happily ever after”, and then waves her wand to reveal “The End”

Cast

 * Zoe Saldana as Starlight, a slave girl and maid of Madeleine castle
 * Tina Turner as Ermine, a fairy who takes the form of a cat and helps Starlight
 * John Stamos as Erwin, the prince who falls in love with Starlight
 * Anne Hathaway as Amber, Starlight’s biological mother
 * Sean Connery as Floyd, the king of Henriette and Amber’s father
 * Rosie O'Donnell as Sandra, Starlight’s adoptive mother
 * Randy Quaid as Frank, Starlight’s adoptive father
 * Lauren Bacall as Julia, the queen of Henriette and Amber’s mother
 * Michael Wolf as Romeo, Starlight’s deceased biological father
 * Maurice LaMarche as Quincy, the king of Madeleine and Erwin’s father
 * Angela Lansbury as Helen, the queen of Madeleine and Erwin’s mother
 * Darren Norris & Susan Blakeslee as The Centaurs

Release
The film was released in theaters worldwide on December 20, 2002

Critical Response
The film was well received by audiences for its characters and heart, but mixed for its story and animation. The film received a 71% on Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus stating “Starlight has a heartfelt, if not complicated, story and likable characters, but it feels too much like a Disney wannabe”. The film grossed out $82 million dollars worldwide and was, unfortunately, deemed the studio’s first box-office failure.

Accolades
The film was nominated an Academy Award and Annie Award for Best Animated Feature Film of 2002, but lost both to Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away. Tina Turner would receive a nomination for an Annie Award for Outstanding Voice Acting, but lost to Daveigh Chase for her performance as Lilo from Lilo and Stitch.