It’s ballerina porn for little girls (and maybe a few little boys too), one with the worst possible message for anyone who dreams of the physically-demanding life wearing the tutu. In a wildly anachronistic late 1880s France, orphan Felicie (voice of Elle Fanning) runs away to a Disney-esque Parisland, where she lies and cheats her way into a ballet school at the prestigious Paris Opera; a soaring pop song celebrates this as a triumph of her ambitions. Later, she will be cast in a production of The Nutcracker (which would not debut until 1892—in Russia) and will perform without benefit of a single rehearsal. She really really wants to be a dancer, you see, and she has heart, so it’s all good. Who needs years of practice when you’ve got passion? This cheesy French/Canadian cartoon features animation like mid-2000s videogame cut scenes, an obnoxious score, corny “humor” and cringe-worthy dialogue. Oh, and there’s also the chase sequence up and around the under-construction Statue of Liberty (which was already in New York at this point), because that’s always a part of ballet’s artistic process. By MaryAnn Johanson