The children’s fantasy film “Princess Halle and the Jester” releases through Vision Films on Apple TV and Prime Video on May 21. Fans of “Harry Potter,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” and classic Disney princesses will find all of their favorite storytelling elements in this all ages feature. Director Chris Lombardi, a graduate of the New York Film Academy and a long-time resident of Louisville, produced the film between Louisville and Nashville. Lombardi is a father himself and wanted to tell a story for children and tweens that conjures the same kind of movie magic he grew up with.
The production makes use of the kind of advanced visual effects that have until recently only been available to “big studios with nine-digit budgets.” Shot on locations across Kentucky and Tennessee — one of which was a large garage — “Princess Halle and the Jester” was then produced with 1,300 visual effects shots to bring its fantasy world to life.
Lombardi’s special effects budget was only $100,000. For scale, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” another fantasy adventure film with extensive use of green screen, had an official production budget of $180 million. Considering the difference in funding, “Princess Halle and the Jester” succeeds in creating a storybook world that is convincingly tactile. Although almost 95 percent of the film was created with green screen technology, Lombardi and Vision Films assure audiences that generative AI was not a part of the process.
The visual design of “Princess Halle and the Jester” recalls the “Princess Bride” at times, and “Shrek” at others, grounding it in the tradition of Medieval-informed adventure stories set in European-influenced locations. A story populated by a purple dragon, green goblins, and a kindhearted princess will appeal to children as young as five years.
“Princess Halle and the Jester”
Unrated
71 minutes
“Princess Halle and the Jester” is streaming on Apple TV and Prime Video.
This article appears in May 8-21, 2024.