Disney Shares 30 Minutes Of ‘Hexed’ Footage, Revealing A Playful World Of Witchcraft, Impressive Magic VFX, And A Standout Sidekick Or Two

TURIN, Italy — Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Oscar-winning producer Yvett Merino gave an extensive look at the studio’s upcoming original feature, Hexed, at Italy’s View Conference this week, screening more than 30 minutes of footage and introducing the film’s characters, magical world, and creative team.

Hexed is directed by Disney story veterans Fawn Veerasunthorn and Jason Hand, with Josie Trinidad as co-director. Merino produces alongside Roy Conli, with a screenplay by Disney chief creative officer Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller.

The presentation came as work on the feature neared completion, with some screened material still awaiting final polish and music.

“We are finishing up post actually this week,” Merino confirmed. “I believe today they’re finishing their final sound check.”

The footage, which included extended sequences and early animation tests, revealed a playful, visually ambitious fantasy adventure packed with eccentric characters, inventive magic, and physical comedy. It also suggested Disney has another potentially memorable scene-stealing sidekick, or two, on its hands.

Merino, whose three decades at Disney have included work on the Encanto, Moana, and Zootopia properties, said the studio’s latest heroine stands apart from those who came before her.

“These are characters who are real and wonderful and beautifully, beautifully flawed, as we all are as humans,” she said. “The same is true for our wonderful heroine in Hexed, as she is unique and unmatched by any other Disney heroine that I have ever worked on before.”

A New Kind Of Disney Heroine

Hexed follows Billie Doe, a rebellious 16-year-old who discovers extraordinary magical powers, sending her into a hidden world of witches, wizards, and enchanted objects.

“Billie is 16 years old. She’s opinionated and scrappy, and she feels stuck in the world of rules and limitations,” Merino explained. Voiced by Hailee Steinfeld, Billie is also, according to Merino, Disney’s first heroine in combat boots.

Her mother, Alice, voiced by Rashida Jones, is a cautious single parent whose ordinary existence conceals some extraordinary secrets.

“At the heart of our story is a mother and daughter who must work through some issues to lift each other up and unlock their true potential,” Merino said.

The presentation began with a hand-drawn prologue animated by Tyler Pacana that felt purely Disney. With its 2D storybook aesthetic, distinct from the rest of the CG film, and narrated exposition establishing the origins of its magical world, the sequence immediately recalls the openings of Disney classics like Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella.

The sequence explains the origins of the film’s magical realm, established by witches and wizards escaping persecution, and introduces Billie as a baby whose uncontrolled powers put her in danger when a pair of fantastically animated ravens try to abduct her through a portal she accidentally creates.

“Seeing her daughter in harm’s way, this changes the way Alice parents Billie forever,” Merino explained.

Alice gives her daughter a bracelet that appears protective but actually suppresses her magic.

“This notion of limitation and inability to achieve her full potential will define their relationship and is the emotional core of our story.”

Fifteen years later, Billie struggles with school uniforms, her mother’s rules, and an environment where she feels she doesn’t belong. Her rebellious streak is established through an entertaining episode involving the unauthorized liberation of a rival school’s owl mascot and a stolen car.

A Magical World Of Color

After discovering her powers, Billie enters Hexe, a hidden magical realm whose vibrant design contrasts sharply with the drab world she leaves behind.

The footage showed a fantastical city populated by witches, talking objects, magical creatures, and architecture that seems unconcerned with physics. The magic effects were particularly impressive and likely among the film’s most arresting qualities, with colorful, energetic spells producing elaborate transformations and chaotic results.

Merino credited production designer Lorelay Bové, who held the same position on Encanto, with establishing the film’s visual identity.

“She really wanted to create a world, when we go into this world of Hexe, that we have never seen before,” Merino said during the audience Q&A.

Before Billie enters Hexe, “the colors are muted and a little off,” she explained. Once inside, the palette changes dramatically.

“[Bové] has this great ability to bring all of these beautiful colors together that you would never really put together and bring them all together in a beautiful way.”

The film’s magical rules also provide opportunities for comedy. Billie learns spellcasting through a three-step process involving intention, ignition, and “witchification,” but her attempts to master the technique rarely go as planned.

An Evil Witch Queen And A Scene-Stealing Familiar

Billie’s arrival in Hexe attracts the attention of Queen Celeste, a powerful witch voiced by two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster, making her animation debut.

“Here is Queen Celeste, a true royal baddie,” Merino announced.

Celeste has spent years preparing to complete a magical spell left unfinished by Hexe’s founder, and has no intention of allowing a teenager to interfere.

“This is a rare ability in Hexe. And the only other person that can fly here is the Queen. And the Queen does not like competition,” Merino explained of Billie’s newly discovered powers of flight.

The enthusiastic audience was all in by this point, but the presentation’s clearest standout was yet to come: Beef Roger Crummchuk, an eccentric, three-eyed, shapeshifting cat voiced by Walton Goggins.

When Hexe’s magical authorities arrest Alice, Billie seeks out Beef Roger, an old acquaintance of her mother who might teach her the magical ropes while springing Alice from the clink.

Their first meeting in a filthy swamp drew some of the day’s most enthusiastic audience reactions. Beef Roger is irritable, suspicious of visitors, and determined to be left alone. He’s like a shapeshifting Yoda, equally reluctant to help and perhaps even grumpier. His unusual anatomy, three eyes, occasional extra limbs, and a body that stretches from housecat-sized to several feet long, make him especially visually entertaining.

“That’s Beef Roger Crummchuk, a three-eyed recluse who doesn’t stick his elongated neck out for anyone,” Merino explained.

Beef Roger is a familiar, a magical companion who insists such creatures are equal partners to witches and wizards, not pets. He also has a complicated history with Alice, his former partner in conjuring, who abandoned him when she left Hexe.

“Eventually, and very reluctantly, Billie is able to convince him to help her,” Merino said. “And together, they head out on the road to rescue her mom.”

“Beef is a tough-love kind of teacher, and Billie is a terrible student,” Merino laughed.

Joining them is Bucket, an enchanted cauldron with the personality and loyalty of an excitable dog.

“A loyal dog-like cauldron who will be Billie’s companion and guide,” Merino explained. “Think Magic Carpet in Aladdin kind of character.”

The comparison is spot-on. Like Carpet, Bucket communicates entirely through movement and physical performance, and the animation, including an early test shown during the presentation, suggests another potential audience favorite.

Mothers And Daughters

Although the footage emphasized comedy, adventure, and spectacle, Merino repeatedly returned to Billie and Alice’s relationship as the film’s emotional foundation.

Alice’s attempts to protect her daughter have inadvertently prevented Billie from discovering who she is. Meanwhile, Billie must confront the realization that her mother has an entire history she knows nothing about and, however misguidedly, has always had her best interests at heart.

“The key to Billie being able to reach her full potential may come from her ability to unlock her family secret,” Merino said. “And a big part of that may have something to do with her mom.”

Merino sees the story as an opportunity to explore how children’s understanding of their parents changes as they grow older.

“As a daughter who is fortunate enough to also become a mother, I really love the opportunity to tell a story that makes us curious about the side of our mothers that we never thought to ask,” she said. “The joy, the mischief, the mistakes, and how a big part of who we are started long before we were ever born.”

“I went from being maybe a rebellious teenager to raising teenagers of my own. I’ve now seen both sides, and I’m here to tell you the struggle is real, and we think it’s pretty universal.”

This week’s extended preview offered an encouraging look at Disney’s latest original feature. Its colorful world, inventive magic, energetic comedy, and eccentric supporting cast suggest a film with plenty of personality, while the mother-daughter relationship provides a grounded emotional throughline.

Whether those alchemical elements come together into a worthy enchantment remains to be seen, but the footage makes a persuasive case that Hexed aims to have a great deal of fun with audiences when it opens November 25.