The Red Shoes is not among Golden Films' best(Thumbelina, The Little Mermaid, Pinocchio) but it's not among their worst either(Tarzan of the Apes, Hercules, The Jungle King). I for one though still find it charming in many ways. The animation is above average, some of the character designs are a tad rough-around-the-edges but not in a distractingly bad way. The colours though look lovely and the background art is simple but clean. The music is also great, the beginning theme is very gypsy-dance like and the music accompanying the ballet dancing is beautiful, taking me back when I saw my first ballet when I was 6. The dancing is a little simpler than it is in real life(of course), but is every bit as graceful and elegant to look at and matches with the music just as well. The story is sweet and has a lot of heart, while the dialogue has the right balance of not too childish and not too sophisticated. The characters move the story along nicely, Shari is a very engaging protagonist, and the voice acting is decent. To conclude, charming and well worth looking out for. 9/10 Bethany Cox
