Charlotte is a 2025 animated musical romantic film produced by Bloxy Animation Productions and released by Universal Pictures. The fifth film produced by the studio, it was directed by Sophia Nicholson and Hannah Lloyd, whom the former co-wrote the story with Harry Stone, from a screenplay by Lilah Greer and produced by Matthias Golden as well as Lauryn Flowers and Aniya Carey, who also composed its musical score with the Broadway-inspired songs written by songwriters Rose Williams and Tilly Young. The voice cast includes Valentina Mcconnell as the titular Charlotte and Dexter Henderson as Aidan, with the supporting cast consisting of Aidyn Holder, Devan Logan, Wade Jimenez, and Milania Steele. Singer Kamryn Saunders providing the title character's singing voice. It follows the titular character, Charlotte (Mcconnell), an outcast, who is angered by the uttermost division in her city, Liberty County, causing her to run away. However, shortly after, she meets the prejudiced and companionable Aidan (Henderson), and the two fall deeply in love with each other.
In early 2021, Sophia Nicholson, who was working as an animator and writer at Bloxy Animation Productions, conceived the idea of Charlotte as a personal project, part of which was inspired by her teenager years. During development, the production team conducted research on teenage isolation, social acceptance, and low self-esteem, as well as discussions with therapists about the concepts. The team created various traits and characteristics to relate to the general audience and portrayed Charlotte and Guest's relationship as a "mature version of childish love," which was originally removed from earlier versions but was re-added, though toned down. The storyboarding process for Charlotte was done on notebooks and paper rather than digital software, per director Lloyd's suggestion. The film's production team included more female workers than males, including animators, designers, and story writers. Production lasted four and a half years, with an estimated budget of $90 million.
Charlotte premiered at the Agora Theater in RoCity, Bloxington Ocean on November 14, 2025, followed by a limited release the following day, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 21. The film received largely positive reviews from critics, who praised the story, animation (particularly the hand-drawn style), themes, music, characters and voice acting (especially those from Mcconnelll and Henderson). It was an extensive commercial success; upon its release, the film topped the box office for five weeks and grossed $709 million worldwide, making it the seventh-highest grossing film of the year and the studio's most successful film to date.
Plot
Divisions among citizens are a major issue, with Guests being the most mistreated. They dismiss a young Guest named Aidan and ban him because of his appearance. Meanwhile, a talented playful young girl, living in a mansion, named Charlotte in Liberty County tries to fit in with everyone else, but is concerned about how they treat her, their activities being crime-related and paint her goals as "ridiculous". With the lack of support from her father and mother, who are involved in a hateful cult, Charlotte isolate herself and dreams for a society, where everyone are treated equally and accepted, no matter who they are ("Who I Am Meant to Be"). One day, as the extreme division in her city worsens, and after being humiliated by a group of people who falsely refer to her as a "drag queen" due to the clothes that she was wearing and attempt to rob her, she flees from home, hoping to make a better life for herself.
Walking down the street and wearing a disguise, Charlotte is upset, seeing how the divisions affected her city in an inappropriate way. After being grabbed and attacked by a person, who mistaken her for a female Bacon, Charlotte punches and run away. Aidan escapes a group of officers, who are trying to take him to Rainbow Prison, and meets a fearful and tearful Charlotte, hiding behind a tree near a highway, who initially does not trust him but agrees to accompany him anyways. Aidan takes her to the center of the forest, where he has built a house and has been living, and introduces her to his pets. Initially, they are aggressive, causing Charlotte to become more afraid. After calming her down and playing childish in a comfortable way, a still-worried Charlotte begins to fall in love with him, but keeps it hidden ("Simmer Down"). Meanwhile, Charlotte's mother and father are perplexed as to where Charlotte has gone, but become concerned after reading a note from her, thus sending their bodyguards to search for her. Aidan confirmed to Charlotte that he has a group of friends who live in a city far and invited her to join him, which she blushes and then cheerfully accepted.
When Charlotte traveled to the outlying city (pack with Bacons, Guests, Skylers and Free Citizens), she pretend to be Aidan's "sidekick" and act serious. However, Charlotte realizes that almost everyone has traits and personalities similar to her own. ("Extraordinary"). Aidan introduces her to the various locations, as well as his friends, Tommy, Amelia and Harry, and Charlotte believes she has found the "perfect home" for herself ("Is this Where I Truly Belong"). However, while on a walk with him, the bodyguards disguised themselves as Bacons and teased to make her uncomfortable. When Charlotte spotted them following her and Aidan, she informed him. However, they rush forward and forcefully grab Charlotte, causing her to panic and flee. The guards then attempt to apprehend Aidan and blame him for harassing a woman, which works, as some people chase after Aidan. Charlotte try to find Aidan, but a male Emo notices her and pressures her to accompany him. Charlotte, terrified, attempts to walk away, but the other becomes suspicious and began yelling at her. Angered, the person begins to attack Charlotte, who screams for help. Aidan hears her and rushes to push the person away before grabbing Charlotte and leaving with her. She began crying and blaming herself for the incident, but Aidan consoled her. ("On the Upside") After hugging him and walking back to a hotel that they had rented, Charlotte wishes for world peace and for everyone to come together and unite, despite the negative views ("Peace"). At the same time, Aidan start to develop feelings for Charlotte.
Aidan devises a plan to tell Charlotte that he loves her, and tells his friends about it. Charlotte, on the other hand, is thinking about the same thing but is more concerned with how he will react ("In Love with Each Other"). Later, after the two showcase each other's talents and goals for the future, Aidan takes her for a walk down the forest, where he reveals his love for her and that he will protect her in the same way that she protects him ("Watch Over You"). After the two kiss each other and leave, Charlotte reflects on her past loneliness and how she feels now that she has someone who loves her and fits in with her personality. Despite having a girl who trusts him as the "love of his life," Aidan believed that he had to be perfect in order for her to accept him, concealing the fact that he was afraid of Charlotte rejecting him and wanting to accept in society. However, the town is suddenly attacked from both sides, and Charlotte and Aidan are separated from one another. Charlotte's parents then reveal that the divisions have become so severe that both sides are declaring "war" on each other.
Voice cast
- Valentina Mcconnel as Charlotte
- Dexter Henderson as Aidan
- Aidyn Holder as Liberty County's mayor
- Arian Hancock as Tommy
- Drew Winters as Harry
- Melissa Atkinson as Amelia
- Devan Logan as Charlotte's father
- Milania Steele as Charlotte's mother
- Wade Jimenez as Aidan's uncle
Production
Development
Sophie Nicholson directed Charlotte as a "personal project"
Charlotte began development in February 2021, following the critical and commercial success of the musical film Cruise (2020). While at her office, animator Sophia Nicholson, reflected on her pre-adolescence and adolescence. Sophia stated that while in high school, she developed feelings for one of her classmates but never spoke to him, and was bullied by several people because of her appearance and childish behavior, leading to her developing social anxiety. Later that month, after writing notes from her high school years and developing the outline of the story for her first feature film, which she had planned for a long time to be a romantic story, Nicholson pitched the idea to Bloxy Animation Productions and Universal Pictures as a "personal project" and a "love letter to anyone who deal with teenage isolation and anxiety". By April of that year, the film had been green-lit, and Sophia Nicholson began working on several story treatments, which were done through a series of paper notes and written down on a whiteboard in her office during the early stages of development.
Originally intending to direct the film by herself, Sophia eventually considered having another female director work on the film with her, where she choose Hannah Lloyd to join with her. When creating the first half of the film, the directors wanted to highlight the problems in "today's world," such as major social and political divisions in the country, and developed the plot to have the character dealing with "these types of challenges all at the same time," showcasing the mental toll it can have on a person, particularly those who were young. Charlotte was originally written as young as twelve and was intended to be a ballad dancer in earlier versions, but due to age differences between the two characters, with Aidan being seventeen years old in one version and wanting Charlotte to be a "very mature person" and "have a realistic dream", Charlotte's age was increased by five years and her position was changed to a singer to match her skills in performing the songs.
Research and writing
Lilah Greer and the production team brainstormed various reasons why Charlotte would flee her city in the film, which included bullying, violence, and feeling different compared to others. However, Lloyd then proposed an idea during the film's storyboard stages, where Charlotte experiences loneliness and not fitting in with social groups, giving a "clear reason" for Charlotte's decision. To get an understanding of the characters' traits and personalities, the team spoke with various therapists about teenage isolation and social acceptance for the "core" of Charlotte and Aidan, respectively. Directors Sophia Nicholson and Hannah Lloyd met several times to discuss how the production team would handle the two protagonists' characteristics, which was described by some as "multiplex". In the midst of production, the studio invited an estimated 100-200 teenagers and women who had dealt with or were dealing with teenage isolation, social anxiety, and low self-esteem to help develop the concept further and to make the protagonists relate to a general audience; the team recorded tapes of each individual to use as a reference to add new traits (such as strengths and values) for Charlotte and Aidan.
Nicholson, Stone, and Greer developed the character's romantic relationship as "youthful," but they eventually decided to scrap the idea because it did not fit on what the two were "suppose to represent" and was "too awkward"; test screenings of earlier versions played a significant role, as both children and adults questioned the two's behavior. However, after seeing concept art and early storyboards revealing Charlotte and Aidan "dressed like cats" and "acting like animals in a discriminating and methodical, yet funny way," producers Lauryn Flowers and Aniya Carey asked the directors to keep some of the elements to make the relationship of the protagonists "very charming" with the purpose to "find a healthy equilibrium". Nicholson expressed the concept as "childish love," but aimed to do so as "mature as possible". After the first eight test screenings with test animations and complete storyboards featuring the "childish love, but mature" relationship, executives and the studio approved the film, and storyboarding began. Unlike the previous four films, which were storyboarded using digital software and under the idea of Sophia Nicholson, the storyboarding process was done instead on notebooks and white paper using pencils and pens, with a photo of them sent to Tristen Saunders, Javier Parks, and Rowan Foreman for editing.
Originally, a scene during the trip sequence featured Charlotte getting a hickey after Aidan kissed her, but the production team decided to cut it due to pacing issues. Greer, who storyboarded the scene during development, described it as "endearing" and "delightful". An early proposal was for Charlotte to envision herself and Aidan marrying before having children, but this was later dropped. The plot originally included a third-act breakup between Charlotte and Aidan, but due to story issues, the idea was abandoned. Nicholson stated that the production team tried "everything to make it work," but nothing worked, and after a story reel, director Harry Stone, who worked as a story writer, recommended scrapping the scene to avoid further writing issues. In an earlier version, which included both Aidan and Charlotte's backstories, the latter was set to have a dog that was unexpectedly taken away from her by her parents and eventually put down due to them going through major life changes and financial hardships, causing Charlotte to become overprotective and emotional upon seeing Aidan's dog in both the earlier and final versions. However, after test screenings that left children "sobbing uncontrollably" and parents believing that the scene was "way too dark" for the film, despite the team's efforts to tone it down, it was decided to be cut, though some parts were kept.
In one version, Charlotte and Aidan visited a "fancy-like" town where the latter's uncle, who were separated when he was younger, lived with them exploring the area, similar to the final version. To improve the script while remaining true to the two main characters, the team created three new characters who were Aidan's friends, with similar backstories and treatment. To avoid having them all have the same characteristics, the production team experiments with different personalities such as being creative, curious, loyal, humble, and efficient. Lloyd was initially concerned that without a good idea to make them relevant, Aidan's friends would become "useless" to the plot and receive insufficient development.
The title character, Charlotte, was originally intended to be a "overly emotional, yet warmhearted and affectionate" female who was designed to match the style that girls frequently wear, including streetwear, bobo-chic, and cottagecare, and had features such as sneakers and cocktail dresses. But, Flowers believed that the production team was aiming for a "pretty woman that looks like she came from the 1930s or 1950s" and focused on a much more "modern look" of a teenager without being "overstylized"; animator Tom Atkinson pitched the idea of having a pink flower on top of Charlotte's hair. Her characteristics, while remaining unchanged from the original version, were partially altered as a result of later studies and researches between man and woman; her personality was to include a level of fear and unease, particularly when being judged by others and upon meeting Aidan; the directors expanded both Charlotte's mental and behavioral traits, which included self-discovery, independence and body image.
When creating Charlotte, the production team initially planned to include a trait in which she loved animals, primarily dogs and cats, "so much that she would faint at the sight of one." However, after the characters were rewritten to become "more fully fledged," while keeping some of the elements from the original idea, Charlotte's love of pets was toned down to "simply enjoy them for the cuteness and that feeling of being comforted".
Casting
Valentina McConnell was cast as the film's title character. After reading an article about Charlotte that included a casting call, Mcconnell obtained permission from her parents to attend auditions. The director of the casting call, Lexie Cunningham, stated that Mcconnell was the "perfect choice" for Charlotte because she had "this sense of strong emotions; over-the-moon personality and a voice that is packed with curiously and wonder that was meant to highlight what Charlotte truly was: a young talented girl".
Music
- Main article: Charlotte (soundtrack)
Charlotte's musical numbers was written and composed by songwriters Rose Williams and Tilly Young. Williams and Young began developing the songs in a "Broadway-style" with the former, who had previously worked and written musical numbers for several musicals and was also a lyricist, writing the songs. Early versions included an estimated ten songs, including those that were kept in the final version, but as the script underwent major changes during production, several songs were scrapped to fit the overall story of the film and to create character development for Charlotte and Aidan.
Release
Charlotte premiered on November 14, 2025, at the Agora Theater in RoCity, Bloxington Ocean, followed by a limited release in ten theaters (including Greenville Movie Theater and Rensselaer Theater) the next day, before its official wide release on November 21, 2025, across 4,000 theaters. In March 2024, Universal Pictures announced Charlotte's scheduled theatrical release of November 7, 2025. However, by October of that year, Charlotte was pushed back a week to November 14.
Marketing
Following the announcement of Charlotte, a teaser poster was released on March 28, 2024. On November 21, 2024, the first teaser trailer for Charlotte, which was associated with the theatrical release of Adopt Me (2024), was released, featuring and revealing a first look at the film's original song "Who I am Meant to Be". Later that year, the trailer was linked to the ongoing runs of The Stories, Northbound, The Great Robloxian War, and Shadow in the Pines. The second trailer was released on April 7, 2025, followed by the final and third trailer on October 13 of that same year.
Home media
Originally set for a May release, Charlotte was released in the United States on the streaming service RoStudios on June 21, 2026, followed by its debut on RBO Max on June 23 of that year. The film was then made available on DVD on July 4, 2026.
Reception
Box office
Charlotte grossed $335 million domestically and $375 million internationally for a worldwide total of $709 million.
Analysts projected Charlotte to gross an estimated $100–120 million during its opening weekend, becoming the studio's second-highest box office debut since Adopt Me (2024). Charlotte opened for its limited release in the United States on November 15, 2025, playing in ten selected theaters. In its first week of its debut, the film grossed $4 million between November 15 and 20 of that year. After receiving an appalling $13 million from Thursday night previews, estimates were raised to $130–140 million, and after a strong opening on its first day during its wide release, earning $19 million, the box office estimates were again raised to $140–150 million. Eventually, on its first weekend, the film grossed $76.8 million domestically and $71.9 million internationally for a worldwide total of $148.7 million, receiving $184 million in combined box office receipts, becoming the studio's best opening since Foster (2019). On its second weekend, which was the Thanksgiving holiday, and due to positive word-of-mouth, Charlotte ended up experiencing a drop of only 12%, gaining $130.8 million, with $83 million of those in the United States, raising the total to $314.8 million worldwide.
For its third weekend, sustaining another larger drop of 23%, Charlotte earned $82.3 million, yet remained in first place and barely reached $400 million by that point. In its fourth weekend, Charlotte collected $74 million worldwide, earning more domestically with a total of $52 million compared to its international box office totals of only $22 million. For its fifth weekend, between December 19 and 21, Charlotte received a total of $61.2 million, a drop of around 17.2 percent, continuing to top the box office in first place, reaching the half-billion mark, and surpassing the box office totals of the studio's three animated films, including Foster. However, because of the release of 12-10-23 (2025), despite the Christmas holiday, Charlotte received $41.6 million, with earnings in the United States being $19 million, and fell to second place. For the weekend of January 2–4, 2026, Charlotte collected $37.4 million. Throughout the eighth and ninth weekends, the film received $31.4 million and $25 million, respectively. On its tenth weekend, Charlotte earned $19.2 million, dropping to third place. By its eleventh weekend, Charlotte only received $8.8 million, suffering from its worst drop of 54%. However, due to the film's massive success at the box office, estimates expected the film to end its run with barely $700 million. The film reached the milestone by the following week, earning $6 million worldwide, for a total of $701 million, becoming the studio's best-performing film to date.
See also
- Charlotte - a person; unrelated to the 2025 animated film.