The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands

“The main idea of the movie is a confrontation between magic and the technical progress. We’ve managed to create a visually pleasant world where magic intertwines with technologies. A huge city teems with all kinds of steam carriages, airships, submarines, automatic cleaning machines, and other gadgets. That forced us to develop a lot of technological ideas to achieve what we wanted."

— Director Robert Lence[4]

In December 2017, Vladimir Nikolaev, general producer of Wizart revealed the studio was working on the fourth installment of The Snow Queen franchise.[5] Wizart collaborated with American animation veteran Robert Lence. Previously, Lence has worked as a script writer, animator, and story board consultant for major studios including Dinsey, Pixar, and Dreamworks.[6] Lence became a director alongside co-director Aleksey Tsitsilin. For the first time in Russian animation history, Hollywood collaborated with the Russian film industry.[7]

Both Tsitsilin and Lence reciprocated their skills for the movie. Tsitsilin noted Lence gave the film more comedic output that is usually present in American animated movies, while Lence remarked, "It was also nice to see them incorporate things in the film that are particular to their own culture and sensibilities. Because they do indeed have such a rich history of film making and storytelling in their country. And likewise, I learned a great deal from them as well." Lence also pointed out, despite the geographic and language barrier between Hollywood and Russia they were able to find common ground. Lence continued, "It’s those revelatory crossover moments in the course of creating the story, where we came to a shared understanding of what is funny, heartfelt, or entertaining. We realized that we can both learn from each other's cultures and differences, and celebrate what each of our cultures has to bring to the table."[8]

The work for the movie lasted two years. The movie had children as the target audience alongside messages that foster kindness by using actions guided by the heart and good thoughts.[9] At the March 2018 FILMART Asian Film Market in Hong Kong, preliminary content of the movie was presented.[10] On 12 September 2018, at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, a trilateral liaison between the Russian Export Center, Wizart, and the company from China-HY Media/Cayie International Media Group was signed. Andrey Slepnev, General Director of the REC and executive producer of Wizart Yuri Moskvin attended the forum.

The signing became one of the first times, China became a joint partner in producing a Russian animated movie. The CEO of the company Lisha Nin remarked the plan will bring the Russian animation industry within great export potential to China.[11][12][13]

In November 2017, at the American Film Market, Wizart presented the materials for The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands. Presenters remarked the film will be a fusion of technology and magic that hearkens back to the central theme of man vs nature. Robert Lence explained how the film will be a creative melting pot of steampunk genre through the use of technology like airships, submarines, and steam carriages intertwined with the polar fairy tale setting of the franchise based on the Andersenian plot.[14][15][16] Co-director Alexsey Tsitsilin emphasized the film will also feature fundamental themes such as friendship, kindness, forgiveness, and perseverance[17] saying, "The movie answers the question, ‘Should we really treat people united by some common feature bad if only one of them did something wrong?" The movie will explore this theme around the realm of collective punishment and whether it is a rightful means of justice.[8]

The concept is explored in the film, when a decree to imprison all magicians in an ice portal because they don't fit scientific, technical definitions is imposed on the land with mostly everyone affected except the character Gerda.[18] The film described the ramifications that arise when science converges with magic. In the film, the character King Harald represents the clan of scientists and technology while the character Gerda represents the clan of magic and fairy tales. The film is a description of the cultural phenomena that is released when seemingly incompatible establishments intersect and cross each other's path. The script's use of diametrically opposite clans of magicians and technocrats were applauded by reviews, as if the story came out of a 20th-century Bulgakov novel.[19][20]

The conflict is explored within the context of science colliding with magic presented by new characters such as King Harald.[17] The conflict parallels mankind's rationalism in the Industrial Revolution in contrast to the spiritual enlightenment found in schools of thought such as Transcendentalism, and Naturalism.[21][22] Another theme developed was reconciliation seen in the finale when unexpected enemies find common ground to help solve the crisis of the fairy world.[21] The script was developed to accommodate all the friends and foes of the past series.[18]

The film was slated to finished by the end of 2018. Central Partnership and Soyuzmultfilm distributed the film to Russia and neighboring countries.[23][24] Soyuzmultfilm returned to produce a Snow Queen adaptation ever since its 1957 film by Lev Atamanov that has earned a place in Russian animation classics.[25] A well known Russian cast gave voice to the characters. Lina Ivanova (Hermione Granger-Harry Potter) voiced Gerda. Alfida the pirate was voiced by legendary Russian gymnast Lyasan Utiasheva. Celebrity stage and screen actress Irina Bezrukova voiced Gerda and Kai's mother, Una. Nadezhda Angarskaya voiced Lilit. Vladimir Zaystev (Sherlock Holmes-Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows) voiced King Harald.[26][27] Polish actresses Agata Kulesza and Natalia Szroeder also lend voices for the localized dub.[28] Brazil voice cast included popular actress and singer Larissa Manoela, João Côrtes(pt), and Igor Jansen.[29]

The feature film is considerably different from its prequels due to its sophisticated artwork on technology. Due to the film's story line, Wizart expanded the fairy tale universe to a megalopolis where retrofuturistic inventions are the norm.[30] Animators increased the quality of the film to showcase real-life depiction of the elements such as clouds, lava and water. Special effects of the reflections of the sun on the sea waves were developed.[31][17][32] At the AFM presentation, animators explained how they created a cloud system. First the layout department models the cloud, adds geometry with polygonal modeling tools, and stages the shot. Next, the effects department uses volume processing tools to generate complex shapes. 3D noise displacement and smoothing algorithms are employed in this process. Finally, OpenVDB library created by DreamWorks efficiently formats the data.[24]

Animators had to hone their skills especially in the areas of dialogue and actions when it came to interactions between Gerda and the Snow Queen, because they were the only characters in the story capable of communicating with each other. Animators unlocked new areas of artistry that featured aerial chases with zeppelins featured in the City of Pirates attack.[24] Technical animator as well as the writer for the movie, Andrey Korenkov remarked the airship chases were difficult to animate due to its large-scale geometry, and the different factors that go with the action such as sails, explosions, cloth, and wind dynamics. Those shots were a test for all departments.[33]

The original score was composed by Fabrizio Mancinelli who had worked on a number of projects for Disney including Growing up with Nine Old Men (directed by Theodore Thomas) and comedy film Scappo a Casa. With Mancinelli's original score, the music for the soundtrack was recorded by the Budapest Scoring.[34][35] The theme song is "The Best Adventure" sung by Fabrizio Mancinelli and Jessica Kline. Russian singer Yulia Iva who has worked for projects such as Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid gave voice to the theme song "The Best Adventure."[28]

At the 2017 AFM, Wizart secured distribution in South Korea, Turkey, and Poland. In May 2018, at the Marché du Film in Cannes, Wizart showcased the first footage of its film for a global audience. The film pre-sold to Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia (Acme Film), Poland (Kino Świat(pl)), former Yugoslavia (Blitz), the Czech Republic and Slovakia (CinemArt(cs)).[36] The franchise also returned to Bulgaria via Pro Films, where previously, The Snow Queen 3 was the most successful independent theatrical animation release for an independent animation studio.[37][31] In June 2018, a teaser was released at the Sochi film festival[38] and a trailer was released in October 2018.[39][24] Line Friends Corporation distributed the film in South Korea. The movie went to Mongolia as Digital Content agreed to distribute the film.[40]

Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia were the first to view Mirrorlands on 21 December 2018. Promotional marketing between H&M and Orange commenced for the opening in those regions. The film was released on 27 December 2018 in Slovakia and Czech Republic. The city of Voronezh (Wizart headquarters) in Russia had a special premiere before the anticipated release domestically.[32] There was also a premiere in Moscow on December 23, 2018. The main domestic release in Russia began on 1 January 2019.[41] Central Partnership and Soyuzmultfilm distributed the movie in Russia. Later in the month, the film opened in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, and Montenegro via Blitz.[28]

The film was released in Germany and Austria during February 2019. Mirrorlands was the first film in the franchise to be released theatrically in Germany, as opposed to VOD. Peppermint Enterprises handled distribution for Germany.[42][43] In March 2019, the film was released in Bulgaria.[44] The film was presented at the Shanghai International Film Festival on 26 June 2019 and then slated for release in China on 2 August 2019.[45][46] In September 2019, Wizart negotiated with distributing partners at the Toronto International Film Festival.[47] Wizart also became the first to present a Russian animated film at a New York film festival by joining the Niagara Falls International Film Festival. Mirrorlands also presented at Montreal's Animaze fest, where it had its Canadian premiere on 1 September 2019.[47]

Wizart signed a deal with Universal Pictures Video France and KLB SAS for distribution across France and the principalities of Andorra and Monaco, and French-speaking territories of Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Africa in 2019.[48] Galeria Distribuidora distributed the movie in Brazil in November 2019. On 8 November 2019, the film released in Indonesia.[49] On 28 November 2019, the theatrical release of the feature occurred in Uruguay and Argentina. Paraguay will also feature the movie in December 2019.[29] The film premiered Vietnam via CJ CGV Company in December 2019.[28][50] In the same month, Line Friends Corporation distributed the movie In South Korea.[51] In 2020, Rai Gulp, Italy's largest children's TV channel, agreed to air the The Snow Queen series including Mirrorlands.[52] The film was presented at the Kinderfilmfest at Kassel, Germany in 2019.[53]

In 2020, Russia held its own film festival Key Buyers Event: Digital Edition, the world's first virtual content market. There Wizart negotiated with UK, India, and Africa distributors. The film distributors such as Signature Entertainment, one of Britain's leading distributors, agreed to release the film to the cinemas in both Britain and Ireland on 7 August 2020 with promotional theatrical trailers released.[54][55] Miraj Group of India also were present in the virtual event who negotiated the rights to the movie for release.[56][57]

In 2020, America and Canada will have the opportunity to view The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands. Vertical Entertainment, the international film distributor will arrange the opening of film on 18 December 2020. Vertical Entertainment who has previously arranged and distributed the prequels to The Snow Queen series, has managed to release the film just in time for the holidays.[58] The format opening will be theater with additional Video on Demand such as iTunes and Google Play outlets providing support for a digital release.[59]

The film is released as Blu-Ray and DVD in Russia through the company of GoldDisk.[60] The film was released in official Blu-Ray and DVD in English on 23 November 2020 by Signature Entertainment.[61][62]

KinoKultura review by Olga Blackledge stated the international appeal of The Snow Queen franchise is undeniable as it has been shown in over 150 countries. Furthermore, there was a statement about the film's overall secret formula for success, "So what is its secret? The franchise in general, and Mirrorlands in particular, have been praised for its technological mastery which is consistently growing. Even with a relatively low budget, Wizart Animation manages to create world-class animation."[7] InterMedia gave the movie an acclaimed 5/5 stars, stating the movie's script is akin to the stories of Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov.[19] Editorial board at Tlum reviewed the film is a treat for the children audience. They said: "The film really has a lot of special effects: the clouds are alive, the burning lava is like real, the sea waves are about to splash out from the screen, the fabulous beauty of the scenery, especially the mountain lake hidden in the rocks, is breathtaking. This is a great step forward for Russian animation."[63]

German critics of Die Schneekönigin: Im Spiegelland (The Snow Queen: In The Mirror Country) included Film-Rezensionen's review of 5/10 who was much more favorable with the film's theme of reconciliation. The review stated, "The conciliatory note is, of course, extremely nice as the Snow Queen tries to get away from the usual black-and-white drawing that prevails in such animated films."[14] Spielfilm also reviewed the film with 3/5 stars:

The fact that Alfida's ship and the King's fleet of pursuers fly through the air, carried by a shark-shaped zeppelin or balloons, is one of the most appealing visual ideas in the film. Even in the genre of superhero movies this turbulent story is historical. Thematically and creatively, the film impresses with an enormous wealth of ideas. They tried to bring almost too many different elements together. The landscapes with their gorges, through which the airships fly, the blue mirror country, but also the Old Town, in which Gerda lives, are beautifully drawn backdrops. Overall, the packed film is quite appealing.[64]

Moviebreak finds Mirrorlands is the perfect alternative to Frozen II, as both were released in 2019. The review was surprised by the output, because Wizart has proven it "gained self-confidence" in building a series from a fairy tale. The review liked the movie's message of reconciliation and animation stating, "With plenty of action, some suspense, and the theme of reconciliation, the fourth part of the 'Snow Queen' series also surprises and reveals entertainment for the very little ones among us. Although there are again narrative weaknesses and a quite simple plot, the strengthened visual power as well as the ambivalent characters can convince. Even non-connoisseurs of the series will not do much wrong here and can enjoy a fast-paced fairy tale on the big screen."[65]

Reviews found the character development of Gerda exemplary as she becomes a superhero girl. Moviebreak stated, "This then also benefits the finale, where not only Gerda can finally triumph as a fighting girl and no longer needs to be saved" and Italian review from der Zweifel stated: "Everything goes for the better and the girl eventually discovers that she is the most powerful magician in the village turning into a kind of superhero." der Zweifel also touched upon the innovative plot's idea of the struggle between technology vs. magic has "great potential" that parallels modern society's importance on rationalism contingent upon "what is seen" or "technological" as opposed to what "the sense of spiritual and magical that man has always sought and developed spontaneously."[21]

French critic from Avoir-Alire remarked at its visuals:

"Despite a limited plot, the franchise of Wizart Animation tends increasingly to the development of a very recognizable universe of its own: impeccable graphics, saturated colors, friendly characters, sustained rhythm. Young spectators should appreciate it. A simple story, no surprise, saved by a dazzling staging. The scenery is quite remarkable; the enchanting, icy blue color makes all the aesthetics of the film."[66]

Spanish video critic from Buen Cine gave the movie 4 stars.[67] LePop from Brazil stated, "With a plot that tries to rescue the golden times of Fairy Tales, The Frozen Kingdom: The Land of Mirrors can please children and also fathers, mothers and other family members who like this style of narrative."[68] A Czech review from Červený Koberec approved of the movie's plot: "the belief that even bad people can make amends makes The Snow Queen special compared to other fairy tales." The review also stated, "The creators are still coming up with at least new ideas" that didn't have any superfluous elements like "unnecessary jokes and political innuendo."[69]

Chris Hunneysett reviews gave the movie 3 stars stating the movie's landscapes were particularly noteworthy through its "epic sweep of the adventure on a journey of honey hued vistas: featuring lava lakes, giant rock monsters, and sky pirates." In-depth, the animators added intricate details to the landscapes as well: "However there’s a surprisingly intricate styling to the charming cityscapes, which feature robot-like street sweepers and trolley trams, and it’s full of slapstick silliness with mischievous and cute critters."[70]

Irish newspaper Sunday Independent, remarked the film is reminiscent of a Cold War film. With a final rating of 4 stars, the review stated, "To save the day, she(Gerda) will team up with the Snow Queen for an elaborate adventure populated with a robust array of characters and top-drawer fantasy animation. Parents really can't go wrong here."[71]

The budget spent on the film was $6 million.[7] During the premieres in Poland and Slovenia the cartoon took second place in rentals overtaking major overseas competitors. The movie became the first Russian film to receive $1 million at the international box office in 2019.[72] In Russia the collections in total amounted to $5.1 million. By the end of 2019 box office results, the animated movie became the most popular Russian animated film at the foreign box office. The fourth part took the second place of the highest-grossing domestic films releases abroad in 2019 with first place going to the feature film Going Vertical.[73]

The cartoon picked off where it left off as a prequel in Bulgaria as it set new records. According to general director Emil Simeonov of the distribution company Pro Films, Mirrorlands became the best foreign independent animation venture in Bulgaria in retrospect of 25 years that earned more than 100 thousand levs (the currency in Bulgaria) topping DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon-3 at premiere weekend. Fees for the fourth part of the franchise exceeded $2.5 million outside of Russia.[74][75] The film was a major Russian release in France.[76] Overall, currently the film has collected a total of $10 million.[3]

Wizart animators reflected back to their origins as they released a free game for Android and iOS platforms based on The Snow Queen series. Wizart founded in 2007 as a gaming studio has lived up to its early year goals by creating a game on the basis of The Snow Queen franchise in 2020.[90] Snow Queen: Frozen Fun Run. Endless Runner Games features a runner (arcade) where the players can choose Gerda, Kai, Orm, or any other hero who need to overcome obstacles and escape from the main enemy-the North Wind.[91]

After the release of The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands,The Snow Queen series became an animated tetralogy series presented by Wizart. For the first time in The Snow Queen series history, the viewership of the film surpassed 17,000,000 viewers in over 80 countries.[59] From its debut original The Snow Queen released in 2012, today Wizart has transformed the series into an animation series classic that has caught the attention of ordinary viewers to critics alike.[92]

Modern animation has witnessed a revival of The Snow Queen adaptations with Wizart presenting the movie in 3D art within the context of a comedy, fantasy, family film. Animation in Russia had to overcome a few hurdles to become a recognizable brand in the industry today.[93] However, The Snow Queen series and other products are helping not only Russian animation but worldwide animation as a whole. The fairy tale is well known to young viewers and their parents in many countries. Therefore, the project was in demand by international buyers at the markets in Cannes and Toronto, Shanghai and Santa Monica. International distributor partners and audiences alike are helping the studio's products gain acceptance, as the series has been released worldwide to over 150 countries and translated into 30 languages.[94][95]