Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie (), also titled Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie in some territories, is a 2023 French animated musical romantic superhero film directed, co-written, and scored by Jeremy Zag. It is an adaptation of the animated television series Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir, and follows two Parisian teenagers, Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste, who transform into the superheroes Ladybug and Cat Noir, respectively, to protect Paris from supervillains led by Hawk Moth.
The film was announced in 2018, but production began in 2019, with confirmation that the plot would explore the origins of the franchise. Jeremy Zag was confirmed as director and co-wrote the screenplay with Bettina Lopez Mendoza. Zag also served as a producer through ZAG, Inc., alongside Mediawan, under the Awakening Production banner; SND also served as distributor. The film was animated by Mediawan's ON Animation Studios in Montreal, Canada. On a budget of €80 million, it is currently the second most expensive French film ever made.
Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie premiered at the Grand Rex on 11 June 2023, and was released in France on 5 July 2023, by SND. Internationally, it was released theatrically from the same date onwards in select regions, and was released on 28 July 2023 on Netflix in others. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the animation, soundtrack, and action sequences, but criticized the simplistic screenplay, humor and story. It grossed $40.1 million worldwide. While performing well in some European countries due to the popularity of the franchise, it was considered a box-office disappointment in France.
Plot Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a clumsy, socially awkward teenager living in Paris, goes to school trying to avoid being noticed. Despite sparking a friendship with another student, Alya Césaire, Marinette finds herself desperately attempting to avoid the wrath of a rich, bratty girl, Chloé Bourgeois. While attempting to escape, Marinette runs into a boy named Adrien Agreste and starts crushing on him. Adrien has become incredibly emotionally distant from others because of his mother, Emilie Agreste's, recent passing. Similarly wracked by her death, Adrien's fashion designer father, Gabriel Agreste, uses the Butterfly Miraculous, a magical jewel, to become Hawk Moth and creates chaos in hopes of luring out the holders of the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous. Since those two Miraculous combined possess a "power stronger than death", Gabriel hopes to use them to bring his wife back.
Hawk Moth's appearance is sensed by Wang Fu, the guardian of the Miracle Box, who chooses to release the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous, only for them to fly away. Fu chases after the Ladybug Miraculous and runs into the street in the process, nearly being hit by an oncoming bus, but is saved by Marinette, who is still running away from Chloé. Fu realizes that Marinette deserves the Miraculous, watching as it flies into her bag. Marinette ducks into an empty shop in an alley and meets Tikki, the Kwami of Creation, while her polar opposite, Plagg, the Kwami of Destruction, makes his way to Adrien.
Tikki explains the situation to Marinette, who is initially reluctant to become a superhero due to her lack of self-confidence and innate clumsiness. Tikki eventually forcibly transforms her into the hero Ladybug, and she quickly runs into Adrien, who has now used his Miraculous to become Cat Noir. Both clumsily work together to fight the Gargoyle, an "akumatized" villain created by Hawk Moth from the negative emotions of a heartbroken Paris civilian whose marriage proposal was rejected by his girlfriend. The battle ends when the Gargoyle is hit by a train, with Cat Noir also nearly being hit. Ladybug saves him, resulting in him developing a crush on her. Following the fight, Fu approaches the pair and stresses the importance of them working together.
Marinette initially refuses to continue being Ladybug, but Hawk Moth recruits more villains to cause havoc. Gathering the courage to fight, Marinette transforms once again and defeats them alongside Cat Noir.
After defeating all of the akumatized villains Hawk Moth has sent their way, the two superheroes build the confidence to ask out their respective crush; Marinette confesses her feelings to Adrien, whilst Cat Noir confesses his love to Ladybug. Being unaware of their true identities, neither confession goes well, damaging their teamwork. While hurt by his rejection, Adrien lashes out at his father for being neglectful.
Desperate, Gabriel becomes Hawk Moth once more and akumatizes himself and begins wreaking havoc on Paris, prompting Ladybug and Cat Noir to go into action, though not as a united team. The heroes are overwhelmed, and Ladybug has her earrings taken, but Marinette manages to briefly power through to save Cat Noir from Hawk Moth. When Cat Noir's mask is damaged, a horrified Hawk Moth discovers that Adrien is Cat Noir and renounces his Miraculous powers. Gabriel explains himself to Adrien and tearfully repents, realizing that the "power stronger than death" was referring to love. Seeing him remorseful for his actions, Adrien forgives his father and reconciles with him, while Marinette reclaims her earrings and returns the Butterfly Miraculous to Fu. Ladybug is then able to utilize the full extent of her power of creation using love and repairs all the damage done to Paris. Gabriel is exposed publicly as Hawk Moth and arrested while Marinette returns to her family.
Weeks pass and the day of the Winter Ball arrives. Marinette arrives in a beautiful dress much to the crowd's pleasure. She finds Adrien, revealing that she knows his identity, having seen his reconciliation during the fight, and reveals her identity as well. They then share a first kiss.
At the Agreste Mansion, Nathalie Sancoeur, the Agrestes' assistant, enters a hidden room in Gabriel's office. Inside is the body of Emilie, who is wearing the Peacock Miraculous. A voice-over from Gabriel instructs her to keep it a secret.
Voice cast
Original French cast Anouck Hautbois as Marinette Dupain-Cheng / Ladybug Lou provides Marinette's singing voice, replacing Hautbois, who does her own singing in the series. Benjamin Bollen as Adrien Agreste / Cat Noir Elliott provides Adrien's singing voice, replacing Bollen, who does his own singing in the series. Antoine Tomé as Gabriel Agreste / Papillon Marie Nonnenmacher as Tikki, Sabrina Raincomprix, Juleka Couffaine, and Alix Kubdel Cerise Calixte provides Tikki's singing voice Thierry Kazazian as Plagg and the Monster Fanny Bloc as Alya Césaire Alexandre Nguyen as Nino Lahiffe and Lê Chiến Kim Marie Chevalot as Chloé Bourgeois and Nathalie Sancoeur Martial Le Minoux as Tom Dupain, Max Kanté, and Nooroo Gilbert Lévy as Master Wang Fu and Denis Damoclès Jessie Lambotte as Sabine Cheng Flora Kaprielian as the Magician Franck Tordjman as Nathaniel Kurtzberg and Ivan Bruel Jeanne Chartier as Émilie Agreste
English cast Cristina Vee as Marinette Dupain-Cheng / Ladybug Lou also provides Marinette's singing voice in the English dub, replacing Vee, who does her singing in the series. Bryce Papenbrook as Adrien Agreste / Cat Noir Drew Ryan Scott provides Adrien's singing voice, replacing Papenbrook, who does his own singing in the series. Keith Silverstein as Gabriel Agreste / Hawk Moth Mela Lee as Tikki Max Mittelman as Plagg and Ivan Bruel Sabrina Weisz as Nathalie Sancoeur and Nadja Chamack Carrie Keranen as Alya Césaire Zeno Robinson as Nino Lahiffe and Max Kanté Selah Victor as Chloé Bourgeois Cassandra Lee Morris as Sabrina Raincomprix. Lee Morris reprises her role from Seasons 2-3 of the series and replaces Lauren Landa from the series. Christopher Corey Smith as Tom Dupain and Raymond / the Gargoyle Anne Yatco as Sabine Cheng Paul St. Peter as Wang Fu Kira Buckland as Alix Kubdel Jessica Gee as Mylène Haprèle Grant George as Lê Chiến Kim Shelby Young as the Magician Colleen O'Shaughnessey as Emilie Agreste Ezra Weisz as Vincent and Simon Grimault. Weisz replaces Matt Mercer as Vincent from the series. Reba Buhr as Juleka Couffaine and Rose Lavillant (uncredited) Andrew Russell as Luka Couffaine (uncredited) Michael Sinterniklaas as Nathaniel Kurtzberg (uncredited) Lauren Amante as Nooroo. Amante replaces Benjamin Diskin, who voices Nooroo in the series.
Production Development The film was first announced by Jeremy Zag during the Miraculous panel at the ComiKon İstanbul on 29 September 2018. The film was originally set to be released in 2021. On 5 December 2018, Zag confirmed that its plot will be a mix between an origin story and the television series storyline. Finishing the fourth and fifth seasons of the series before the movie was a priority for the studio. The following day, during a panel at Comic Con Experience 2018, Zag said that the film will be a musical with feature music composed by himself.
On 16 May 2019, during Cannes Film Festival, it was announced that the movie would be titled Ladybug & Cat Noir Awakening and that production was underway. On 5 October 2019, a short animated tease featuring Ladybug was put up on Zag's Instagram. On 12 February 2020, it was announced that Fantawild was one of the studios helping create and animate the film. In March 2022, the editing of the movie was completed.https://twitter.com/MLNewsWorld/status/1504098469719740417
In April 2022, it was announced that the movie was made with a budget of €80 million, making it the second most expensive French film ever made behind the 2017 film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.
Animation Animation is provided by Mediawan's subsidiary ON Animation Studios in Montreal, Canada. Additional animation, lighting, and compositing were provided by Dwarf Animation Studio in France.
Choreography and visualization The film's choreography and visualization team consisted of Shannon Holtzapffel and Cameron Sonerson. According to Animation Magazine, they developed live-action video reference for the musical and action sequences before translating the material into CG blocking for the animation team. Ladybug's movement language drew on ballet and jazz, with posing, posture and line informing the character's performance.
Music
During the 2018 Comic Con Experience, Jeremy Zag announced that the film was a musical and featured music composed by himself. Australian filmmaker Michael Gracey joined the film as executive producer to help develop the musical aspect. British songwriter Chris Read also joined the team to co-write the lyrics.
The film's soundtrack was released on 30 June 2023 by Muzeek One under the TF1 Musique label. "Plus forts ensemble" () by Lou and Elliott was released as the album's lead single on 9 June 2023. The music video was released on 21 June 2023. A second single, "Courage en moi" () by Lou, was released on 21 July, followed by a music video on 23 July. A separate film score album was released on 5 July 2023 by Muzeek One.
A showcase with Ladybug and Cat Noir's singing voices, Lou and Elliott, was organized at the Salon Gustave Eiffel on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower on 28 June 2023 to promote the soundtrack. Another showcase was organized at the 2023 Japan Expo on 14 July.
Foreign language versions of the album were released on 5 July 2023, alongside the score album. In the English version, Lou reprises Marinette's singing voice, with Drew Ryan Scott providing the singing voice for Cat Noir, Mela Lee for Tikki, and Keith Silverstein for Gabriel Agreste. The English version of "Si je croyais en moi", titled "If I Believed in Me", was released as a promotional single on 28 July 2023, to promote the film release on Netflix in English-speaking territories. The English version of the soundtrack was distributed by Lakeshore Records.
Additionally, "Careless Whisper" by Wham! is featured in the film and plays twice.
Marketing