The Magical Riddle

The Magical Riddle is a 1999 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Fox Animation Studios and released by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Phil Anderson (in his directorial debut) and written by Bob Tzudiker, Noni White, Tab Murphy, and John August, and stars the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Michael J. Fox, Robin Williams, Julia Roberts, Patrick Stewart, Jeremy Irons, Wayne Knight, and Jodi Benson. The film follows an teenage girl, who meets a young boy, where the boy takes the girl to a magical island filled with colorful creatures, where a evil wizard threatens to conquer the entirety of the island, so the girl and her magical friends are willing to go on a huge journey to find 6 riddles in order to defeat the wizard.

The film was released into theatres on October 22, 1999, and it received positive reviews from critics who praised the film for its animation and music, although some compared it unfavorably to the animated musicals of the Disney Renaissance era. On its $60 million budget, it grossed $149 million, making it the highest-grossing film from Fox Animation Studios. It received nominations for several awards, including for Best Original Song at the 72nd Academy Awards. The success of The Magical Riddle spawned other media, including a TV series of the same name that aired on Fox Kids from 2000 to 2002, video games, books, toys, clothes and more. The film received a 3D re-release, in October 2012.

Plot
Coming soon!

Voice cast

 * Reese Witherspoon as Natalie Richmond, a 16-year old teenage girl who must find six magical riddles to defeat Roland.
 * Ben Stiller as Sean, a young boy who lives in the magical island and helps Natalie, and later falls in love with her.
 * Robin Williams as Mr. Grubby, a colorful and magical creature that helps Natalie and her friends.
 * Jodi Benson as Princess Abigail, the princess of the magical island who helps Natalie on her adventure.
 * Jeremy Irons as Roland, a menacing wizard who threatens to destroy the magical island with a scepter powered by all six magical riddles.
 * Julia Roberts
 * Wayne Knight
 * Patrick Stewart
 * Demi Moore as Kate Richmond, Natalie's mother.
 * James Woods as Bill Richmond, Natalie's father.
 * Catherine Cavadini as Amber Muniz, a popular student who picks on Natalie all the time at school.

Additional Voices

 * Jack Angel
 * Bob Bergen
 * Rodger Bumpass
 * Jennifer Darling
 * Paul Eiding
 * Bill Farmer
 * Anne Lockhart
 * Sherry Lynn
 * Danny Mann
 * Ryan Marshall
 * Mickie McGowan
 * Phil Proctor
 * Jan Rabson

Production
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Development
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Casting
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Animation
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Music
The film's original soundtrack was released by Reprise Records on October 19, 1999. The songs for the film were composed by Stephen Schwartz and lyricist Tim Rice, while the score was composed by James Horner.

Release
The Magical Riddle was originally slated for May 1999, but was pushed to October 1999 to give the production team more time to finish the film, with Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace taking over its original slot.

In 2012, The Magical Riddle was converted to 3D for a limited theatrical re-issue starting on October 19, 2012.

Marketing
The film was accompanied by a promotional campaign by Burger King.

Home media
The Magical Riddle was released on VHS and DVD on April 4, 2000. The DVD release included an audio commentary by Phil Anderson, a 22-minute making-of documentary, a gallery of concept art, storyboards, test footage, trailers, deleted scenes, and DVD-ROM features. A 10th anniversary edition was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 20, 2009, by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Critical response
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Box office
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Main
To see the main transcript of the film, click here.

Trailers
To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here.