We were all twelve years old once, and like many kids, I was also obsessed with fairy tales. I used to believe in a magical, imaginary world where spells and charms were real, and I dreamed of becoming part of those worlds. Whether it was being a magical dwarf or transforming into a mermaid, these dreams were always alive in my mind. But when we meet Ada, the twelve-year-old protagonist in Netflix’s new movie Kleks Academy, she’s not like other kids her age. Ada is different. She doesn’t believe in magic or have a sense of imagination. To her, fairy tales are just weird stories made up to brainwash children who are too scared to face reality. You might think that maybe she’s been exposed to too much technology, with mobile phones and computers providing endless entertainment. But that’s not the case. Ada could have been like the rest of the kids, but her family situation makes her different. As we get to know her through the movie, we learn why she feels this way. Despite her skepticism, Ada gets the chance to enter the magical realm of Kleks Academy, run by the enigmatic Professor Ambrose Kleks. At first, she dismisses it all as nonsense. But then something changes, and she decides to attend. Why? That’s what we explore in this character analysis of Ada. In Kleks Academy, Ada’s journey from being a non-believer to someone who embraces magic is captivating.
Spoilers Ahead
Why did Ada hesitate to go to Academy?
Ada, a twelve-year-old teenager living in the city of New York, was always seen skating around on her scooter with an iPad in hand. She was making a documentary for her father, hoping to catch him up on important events in her life, like her twelfth birthday. Why? Because her father had been missing in action for as long as Ada could remember. She missed him terribly and always wished he’d come back home, but he never did. It broke her heart. Over time, Ada became a hopeless kid who had lost touch with her imagination. I felt for her because, even though she desperately wanted to believe her father would return, it just never happened. How could she not lose all hope? Her mother was also obsessed with her father’s whereabouts, constantly worrying about where he might be. Ada often felt overlooked because her mom was so focused on finding her dad. This situation had taken away her childhood and turned her into a stone-like, emotionless creature, very grounded in reality and far removed from the imaginative world other kids enjoyed.
We have seen Ada even admit in one scene in the movie that, though she knew her so-called friends would show up to celebrate her birthday, she didn’t consider them true friends. She could predict it all but chose to pretend to be surprised to make the other kids feel good. While Ada was busy being a mature pre-teen, something extraordinary happened. She noticed someone at her window—Prince Matthew, a bird-human-like magical creature. Ada was shocked and wondered why this weird-looking creature was at her window. Then she received an invitation from him to study at Kleks Academy, a magical, imaginary land taught by Ambrose Kleks. Ada had never heard of this place before. A magical, imaginary land that existed in reality? That couldn’t be right. But when her mother told her that both she and Ada’s father had been students at Kleks Academy and had fallen in love there, Ada thought this place might bring her father back. Maybe he had been there all this time, and she just didn’t know it until now. She realized she’d never find out unless she went—both about the magical world and her father. So, Ada chose to believe and finally went to Kleks Academy, casting spells and charms and holding Prince Matthew’s hand.
What happened to Albert?
When Ada arrived in the magical land, she realized that, unlike the other kids her age who were thrilled to see mermaids and unicorns, she wasn’t interested in those things at all. Her imagination seemed to have been lost, and she felt different from the others. The only kid she truly connected with was a boy named Albert. He was blond, mischievous, and quiet, just like her. Neither of them got excited about seeing dwarfs or magical trees that could sing and dance. Naturally, they became kindred spirits. As Ada spent more time at the academy, she began to understand why she was really there. It wasn’t just about finding her father. The real reason was to save the academy from the vengeful Wolfurs, who were planning to attack. Ada realized that if she was truly like her father, she could save the academy by embracing empathy, an emotion she was currently lacking. She could win over even her worst enemy and save the academy by harnessing empathy. This magical land, which let imagination fly, couldn’t just go to waste. The reason the Wolfurs wanted to attack Kleks Academy was tied to Prince Matthew. He used to be a human prince but accidentally killed the Wolfur king. To hide his true identity, he turned into a bird. So to seek revenge, the Wolfurs planned to attack the academy to show their dominance and turn the magical land into one of vengeance and retribution. Ada knew she had a lot of responsibility and needed to protect the land. But little did she know, there was a traitor among them—Snag, one of the Wolfurs, who was sent to gather information about Matthew.
When Snag passed this information to the Wolfurs, Ada tried to talk her out of it. She told Snag she didn’t have to become a vengeful creature like the others and could choose kindness. This showed that, even though Ada pretended to be emotionless, she had a lot of empathy within her, even for her enemies. However, it was too late. The Wolfurs started their attack by capturing the professor and Prince Matthew. In the meantime, Ada noticed her friend Albert was missing. She was scared; she could have escaped, but she chose to find him first. It shows she was a true risk-taker, willing to do anything for her friend. When she found Albert, he was trapped behind an iceberg, about to drown. She jumped into the icy water to save him. Despite hating the academy’s song, she told him to sing it because she wanted his last thoughts to be happy memories of their adventure at the academy, where they first became friends. Sadly, Albert drowned in the icy water. This tragic event taught Ada something crucial. If she didn’t show courage and empathy and face her fears, everyone would be lost—the professor, Prince Matthew, and all her other peers. There would be no more magical land. How could kids be kids without this escape into their imagination? Ada knew she had to save Kleks Academy now. It was no longer just a personal mission to find her father; it was much more than that.
So, by now, you know that Ada mastered the art of empathy and even spread it to her enemies. At the end of the movie, she faces her fear and talks to Vincent, the leader of the Wolfurs. She asked him to let Matthew go and become human again. Ada wanted Vincent to understand that the cycle of revenge would never end unless he forgave Matthew for killing the Wolfur king. She knew that killing Matthew or terrorizing the people at Kleks Academy wouldn’t bring Vincent the peace he wanted. How did she manage to do that? Actually, after talking to him, Ada realized Vincent was a kind Wolfur forced to become vengeful because of the stereotype that Wolfurs are always seeking revenge. He just wanted to fit into that image, even though it wasn’t who he truly was. Ada understood his side of the story because she had suffered from emotional numbness until she came to the academy. She learned to empathize with people by believing in magic and the power of imagination. Because of this understanding, Ada saved the academy. She helped Prince Matthew turn back into a human and saved her professor, “Uncle” Ambrose Kleks, as she got to know that he was like a brother and friend to her father. Even though she didn’t find her father, she found herself—her childlike wonder, her emotions, and her power of imagination. Through this, she was able to write the ending of her own fairy tale.
