Snow White Redux

Rating: 8/10 (30 March 2008)

Snow White being one of my favourite films ever I felt I had to see this parody of it and themselves by Disney, nor was I disappointed. It's probably the best piece of non-violent non-heavy entertainment made in the last 10 years, updating Disney's roster of fairytale films with a bit of gentle mocking, respectful homage and a touch of worldly cynicism and getting away with it.
In cartoonland a beautiful girl is transported out of the way to the real world by evil Queen desperate that her stepson Prince shouldn't have the chance to marry her and thus become King. However he and a chipmunk follow her to bring her back while a friendly young girl and her father Patrick Dempsey look after her  to my daughter he was the most enchanting thing about Enchanted! Chaos is brought to the streets of New York as well as smiles to the faces of all of the denizens of Central Park participating in a spectacular song. Does Love conquer Cynicism or does Love conquer Singing in the streets? There's some nice songs , some smooth dancing, clever referencing and witty dialogue along the way to savour. You know you're in the modern film world however when the cartoon chipmunk inadvertently dumps - once upon a time Disney's animators used to spare us such crudities. Be sure too that you know your Snow White, Cinderella, Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty And The Beast et al - even King Kong - to get the most from this. The ending was a bit hurried  but just like Snow White's was!
Ultimately it's a refreshingly entertaining little film and cheerfully indifferent as to whether it has any faults or not.