The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda would be an American-Japanese computer-animated fantsy action adventure film directed by Patty Jenkins, with a screenplay written by Jenkins, Jonathan Aibel & Glenn Berger and, and Dean DeBlois from a story by Jenkins, and produced by Bonnie Arnold and Shigeru Miyamoto. Based on the videogame series of the same name by Nintendo, the film would be a co-production between DreamWorks Animation and Nintendo, and would star the voices of Jay Baruchel, Hunter Schafer, Michelle Yeoh, Matk Strong, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Cate Blanchett, and Anthony Hopkins.

Development for an animated The Legend of Zelda film would begin in 2021, with The Legend of Zelda co-creator Shigeru Miyamoto being set to produce the film for DreamWorks Animation, while Jenkins would join the film as writer and director in early 2022. The film's plot would be mainly inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, as Jenkins would feel it would be the perfect source material due to it being the first game in the franchise's chronology. The film would be made with hand-drawn animation, as the filmmakers wanted the animation to "feel like an old storybook come to life". Animation services would be provided by Studio Grackle.

The Legend of Zelda would be released in December 21, 2024, to critical and comercial success. The film would gross 749.3 million dolars over a budget of 198 million, and it would be praised by critics for its direction, animation, screenplay, voice acting, musical score, visual effects, and faithfulness to the source material, with many critics calling it one of the best video game movies of all time. The film would earn an Annie Award nomination for Best Animated Feature and an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects, and would win an Academy Award for Best Original Score.

Synopsis
In the kingdom of Skyloft, knight-in-training Link discovers that destiny holds great plans for him when, after the Princess Zelda becomes lost in the legendary Surface after an attempted kidnapping at the hands of the mysterious Ghirahim, he is suddenly called by the Goddess Sword, which reveals him to be the legendary hero who shall save the world from destruction. with the aid of Zelda, Fi, the sword's spirit and Link's guardian,, and Impa, a Sheikah from the Surface, Link must find the bravery inside himself and master the power of the Triforce of Courage in order to stop Ghirahim from releasing his master: the powerful warlord Demise, who plans to unleash his Demon Realm all over the world.

Cast
Additionally, Josh Brolin would make a vocal cameo as Ganondorf in a post-credits scene. Zelda Williams, who was named after Princess Zelda, would make a cameo as the voice of Zelda's maiden. Pete Docter would provide the vocal effects for the Loftwings, giant birds used by the inhabitants of Skyloft to fly ro different locations.
 * Jay Baruchel as Link, a young knight.in training who is revealed to be the prophesied hero that shall stop Demise, and wielder of the Triforce of Courage
 * Hunter Schafer as Zelda, the Princess of Skyloft who gets lost in the Surface, and wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom. Schafer would say that "Zelda wants to be a great princess, but she can't, until she realizes she has to be different from every kind of princess before her".
 * Michelle Yeoh as Fi, the spirit of the Goddess Sword who becomes Link's mentor and guardian.
 * Tom Vaughan-Lawlor as Ghirahim, a Demon Lord and Demise's apprentice, who plans to use Zelda's shard of the Triforce to released Demise. Vaughan-Lawlor would voice the character "with a style that is playful, but at the same time feeling like a devoted cultists".
 * Mark Strong as Demise, the Demon King and wielder of the Triforce of Power, who was impresioned by the goddess Hylia, and who plans to gather the remaining shards of the Triforce to destroy the world and absorb it with his realm.
 * Cate Blanchett as Impa, an old woman from the Surface who was part of the Sheikah, and who helps Link and Zelda to follow their destinies.
 * Anthony Hopkins as King Harkinan, Zelda's father and the king of Skyloft, who hopes that his daughter may become an even better ruler than him.

Animation
Animation services for the film would be provided by Studio Grackle in their first feature film; the studio had to expand its animation team in order to work on the project. The film notably marks DreamWorks Animation's first hand-drawn animated film since Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas. According to director Patty Jenkins, CG animatiom was originally considered for the film, but it was ultimately agreed the film needed to "feel like an old storybook come to life", so they choose hand-draen animation instead; the producers hired Studio Grackle due to their high-quality animation and their work on the trailer for the videogame Hades.

For their work on the film, animators at Studio Gravkle would studio both the gameplay and cutscenes from multiple games in order to study their movejents and enviroments, so they could use them as "a starting point" from which they could work on how to adalt them to a "cinenatic 2D format", througth they would also incotporate the personalities of the characters' film counterparts in their movements. The studio would also use the experience many of its animators on anime as a basis for the film's action sequences,

Music
Hans Zimmer would compose the film's score, which would feature elements from the video games' scores. Zimmer would say that he would go for "an adaptable approach" for the film's score, in order for the film's themes to adjust to each scene's setting. Zimmer would create a theme for Link that would "sound coward but with an internal bravery" in order to reflect his character arc, while he would compose "a royal theme" for Zelda that would "hold give a hint that can be better than what it is", and would feature elements from "Zelda's Lullaby" that first appeared in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and he would compose a theme for Ghirahim that would reflect that character's mysterious nature, but also can be "threatening and playful".

Additionally, Jónsi would write and perform songs for the film. Jenkins would hire Jonsi to work on the film's songs because she felt "he completly catches both the spirit of adventure and the heart that is inside the film". Jonsi would work closely with Zimmer in order to create a soundtrack "whose songs and score blend with and complement each other completly".

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film would have an approval rating of 89% based on 186 reviews, with an average rating of 8.89/10. The film's critical consensus would read, "An action-packed and heartfelt adventure with a sense of wonder and beatifull visuals, The Legend of Zelda adapts the popular franchise by giving fans and audiences a compelling story with great vocals, resulting in a very enjoyable experience for everybody". On Metacritic, the film would have a weighted rating of 70 out of 100 based on 42 reviews, indicating "generally postive reviews".

Sequel
In February 14, 2025, it would be reported that a sequel to The Legend of Zelda would be in development, with Patty Jenkins set to return as writer and director from the first film, and Shigeru Miyamoto and Bonnie Arnold set to return as producers. During the San Diego Comic-Con, Jenkins would reveal that the film would be titled The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and that most of the first film's cast would reprise their roles, with Josh Brolin also reprising his role as Ganondorf from the film's post-credits scene. Jenkins would say that, while the film would be strongly inspired by the Nintendo GameCube game of the same name, it would be "a more original film than the first one".

Trivia

 * While the video game Skyward Sword would serve as a primary inspiration for the film's plot, several elements would be altered in order for the story to work as a film, such as Link starting with a somewhat fearful personality, Zelda being a princess (a title which she did held in most games), Ghirahim being Demise's apprentice rather than his sword, and the Time Travel elements from the game's story.
 * Director Patty Jenkins would explain that he would remove the Time Travel aspects from the story in order to both prevent the film's plot from becoming too convulted, and in order to further develop Link and Zelda's relationship.
 * This would be the second video game-based film to be co-produced by Nintendo, after Ilumination's The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
 * Ironically, both films would be distribuited by Universal Pictures.
 * Jenkins would describe the film's theme as "discovering that your heart holds everything you need to triumph".
 * Jenkins would be inspired of the idea of a cowardly Link by the concept of bravery being fighting fear, and the fact that Link's personality in the game's is relatively unknown.
 * While most of the film would be done with computer-animation, the prologue would be done with hand-drawn animation provided by Matt Braly.
 * Ghirahim's line after Demise is ressurrected, "My humble personage bows before your grandeur", would be a reference to the film Avengers: Infinity War, in which Tom Vaughan-Lawlor's character in that film said the same line to that film's main antagonist, Thanos. According to Jenkins, the line would be added because she felt "that was the best way to incorporate DreamWorks' pop culture-referencing style while keeping intact the character and the franchise".

To The Legend of Zelda

 * The name of "King Harkinan" would come from the 1989 The Legend of Zelda animated series.
 * The book featured in the opening is strikingky similar tp the real-life Hyrule Historia book released by Nintendo.
 * The prologue would be a near word-for-word adaptation of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword's English prologue, with the screnwriters only partially re-writing it in order to explain certain details to the audience unfamiliar with the original games.
 * Link's dream begins with him waking in a pool of water within a cave, as an homage to the opening of The Legend of Zelda: Breat of the Wild.
 * Link briefly comments he worried somebody locked his Loftwing when he appears late after calling him near the start of the film, which is a nod to what actually happened in Skyward Sword.
 * The swords given to knights upon graduating are given by an old man, a nod to how players receive their first swords in the original Zelda game.
 * After Zelda refuses to accompany Girahim, he respinds "Well, excuse me, princess. But I just can't take no for an answer rkght now", a reference to how Link often said "Well, excuuuuuse me, princess!" in the original Zelda animated series.
 * Before Link jumps off Skyloft to pursue Girahim, he calls for his Loftwing, who dosen't appear until after he jumps. This is a nod to how Loftwings appeared in Skyward Sword.
 * Zelda's horse while living with the Sheikah is modeled after Catherine, Link's horse in the original Zelda cartoon.
 * The scene where Zelda wakes up in her cell is an homage to Link's first scene in wolf form in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
 * During the final battle, Zelda does some fight poses that bring to mind her Sheik identity
 * The designs of the creatures featured in the film would be strongly based on their design in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, as Jenkins would feel "that's the creatures in their most monstrous look yet".

To other DreamWorks properties

 * The sheeps featured in the film would be the same ones from the How to Train Your Dragon franchise.
 * Ghirahim's first scene has him walking througth fire and smoke, with both briefly making him seem to have a demon-like appearance. This is a reference to DuBois first appearance in Madagscar 3: Europe's Most Wanted.
 * Shrek's swamp can be briefly glimpsed during the film's first scene in the surface world.
 * Spirit makes a cameo as a horse running wild througth the forest.
 * She-Ra's sword from DreamWorks' 2018 reboot series appears as one of the swords wielded by the Sheikah.
 * King Julien's crown can be seen among the objects in the Sheikah village.