Disney has given the first look at Hexed, its new original animated feature, and set the film for release on Nov. 25. The studio unveiled footage from the movie in Las Vegas at CinemaCon, introducing a teenage lead named Billie Doe and the secret world of magic that begins to open around her.
Hailee Steinfeld voices Billie, while Rashida Jones plays her Type-A mother, a casting pairing that anchors the film around a family discovery rather than a grand quest. The footage showed Billie being put through what looked like a personality test, or maybe an interrogation, by a book and quill that spoke in British accents before inviting her into “a world of magic and wonder.”
Josie Trinidad and Jason Hand direct Hexed, with Roy Conli and Juan Pablo Reyes Lancaster-Jones producing and Jared Bush executive producing. The film follows a teenager and her mother as they realize what makes the girl unusual may actually be magical powers, a premise that keeps the story close to home even as it reaches into fantasy.
That balance is the point of Disney’s latest original animated feature. The studio is leaning on a familiar emotional center — a mother, a daughter and the awkward business of understanding each other — while adding the hook of hidden magic, and the CinemaCon footage makes clear the film is aiming for both warmth and spectacle.
With Hexed due in theaters on Nov. 25, the next thing to watch is whether Disney can turn that setup into a holiday release with enough novelty to stand out. For now, the first look answers the basic question: the unusual girl at the center of the story is not just different, she may be magical.
