Also called Ballerina. Young Felicie escapes from her orphanage and lucks into a spot at a prestigious Parisian ballet school, where she has a chance to dance in The Nutcracker if she controls her innate rebelliousness and learns a few techniques.

It’s hardly original. All the usual inspirational sentiments are here: follow your dream, hard work, believe in yourself, etc. But they’re all wrapped up in a relatively inoffensive (for the princess genre), easygoing and mostly entertaining package for little girls.

But go with them for no other reason than to admire the beautiful motion-capture techniques as the little hopefuls strut their stuff.  Beef: The filmmakers should have stuck with Tchaikovsky at the climax rather than the powerpop drivel they used.The voices in the English version (be careful) are by Elle Fanning, Dane DeHaan and Carly Rae Jepson, with Mel Brooks throwing in a voice cameo. (89 min)

The voices in the English version (be careful) are by Elle Fanning, Dane DeHaan and Carly Rae Jepson, with Mel Brooks throwing in a voice cameo. (89 min)