New Disney Hexed Trailer Takes Fans to a World of Witches

Disney Hexed has been one of the studio's toughest sells in years, but this morning the conversation around it flipped. A second full trailer for the witch-world adventure dropped on October 12, and fans who were cold on the first look are suddenly calling the film something special. For a studio that has spent the better part of a decade absorbing criticism over its live-action remakes and sequel-heavy slate, the about-face is a big deal, and the new footage shows why.

The trailer centers on Billie Doe, an impulsive and unconventional teenage girl voiced by Hailee Steinfeld, whose secret magical abilities were kept dormant by her cautious mother Alice, voiced by Rashida Jones. Alice is revealed as a former witch who hid her daughter from the magical world after a magic bird tried to snatch baby Billie, fitting her with a power-suppressing gem. When teen Billie accidentally rips open a portal, she is hurtled out of suburbia into Hexe, a vast and unruly world of witches, and her mother has no choice but to follow her in.

Waiting on the other side is a stacked voice cast. Two-time Academy Award winner Jodie Foster plays Queen Celeste, the sinister ruler holding onto power over Hexe. Walton Goggins voices Beef Roger Crummchuk, a reclusive three-eyed magical cat who becomes Billie's reluctant mentor, a character first shown at Disney's D23 expo in September. Seven-time Emmy winner Tracey Ullman voices Ms. Quill, an enchanted feather quill, and Stephen Fry plays Elias Quire, a magical journal. The trailer is cut to Paramore's "Ain't It Fun," a deliberate step up in energy after the first trailer's use of Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen," according to coverage of the new footage.

The team behind the magic

Disney Hexed is Walt Disney Animation Studios' 65th animated feature, and notably its first original, non-sequel film in three years. It is directed by Fawn Veerasunthorn, who co-directed 2023's Wish, and Jason Hand, a veteran of Moana 2, with Josie Trinidad as co-director and Roy Conli and Yvett Merino producing. That pedigree matters: after a run of follow-ups and reimaginings, this is the studio betting on an original world again, and the marketing rollout shows it. The surly cat Beef was first revealed at Disney's D23 expo in September, the teaser trailer followed, and now the second full trailer has arrived six weeks before opening day, a cadence built to turn curiosity into a Thanksgiving tradition.

"A wonderfully strange phenomenon is happening all around Billie, something she can't explain. She's someone who has felt miscast in her own life, and it takes leaving her normal world behind and entering a hidden world of wild, unhinged magic to begin to understand herself," Veerasunthorn said in a statement released with the trailer, as reported by coverage of the launch. Co-director Jason Hand added that "Hexe is a place where Billie begins to feel seen for the first time in her life," describing a journey of self-discovery that uncovers long-held family secrets.

Why this trailer landed differently

The first trailer left a chunk of the audience unsure what Disney Hexed was actually about, and the new cut answers that directly: a mother-daughter story set inside a magic system with rules, stakes and a villain. The fan reaction on social media turned noticeably warmer within hours of the drop, with viewers praising the animation, the cast and the story clarity. After years in which Disney's animated announcements were met with shrugs, a trailer that moves the needle counts as news on its own.

The comparison now hanging over the film is the one Disney always faces: can it stand next to Frozen and Moana? That is the bar for a Thanksgiving-week Disney original, and Hexed is planted squarely in that slot, opening exclusively in theaters on November 25. The studio is clearly confident enough to put real marketing muscle behind it. An exclusive look at the film is set to air during tonight's Monday Night Football matchup between the Bills and the Rams, and maquettes and concept art are already on display in The Magic of Disney Animation at Disney's Hollywood Studios, according to parks coverage. For more film coverage, see our movies section, and for a look at how another recent trailer landed, check out our take on the Ebenezer trailer.

The counterpoint is worth stating plainly. A good second trailer is not a good movie, and the first trailer's lukewarm reception showed that goodwill for the Disney brand is not automatic anymore. Originals are also a harder sell than sequels: audiences show up for characters they already know, and Hexed has to build that attachment from scratch between now and late November. What the new Disney Hexed footage does prove is that the raw material is there: a strange world with its own rules, a genuine emotional hook between a mother and daughter who have been hiding from who they are, and a cat with three eyes who steals every scene he wanders into. Whether that adds up to Disney's next defining original is the question the next six weeks will answer.