Disney Making Fun Of Itself? Wow! Imagine That!

Rating: 9/10 (2 December 2007)

Let me make it immediately clear that I'm not a big fan of Disney films. Most (if not all) of them are overly-schmaltzy, teach kids nothing about the real world, and are so simple a chimp could follow them. But my twin 19-year-olds (boy and a girl) wanted to check out this latest mouseketeer event. It isn't hard to imagine someone of my nature grudgingly slapping down hard-earned cash then grumpily sitting with an overpriced and over-sized box of popcorn, ready to be bored out of my mind and intellectually insulted.
What I got instead was a big shock. I'd obviously seen the ads for the film on television and thought, "Ugh. Another no-brainer." My initial concerns seemed justified as the film started and was quickly assaulted with the 2-dimensional animation we've all seen during early Disney tellings. I sank further into my chair, grumbling, "This is super-lame." But as the film progressed, and the animation gave way to live action characters, I began to realize that Disney was ...poking fun at itself? No. It couldn't be, could it? But yes, they did, and they did it right! This is a melting pot of animation, live-action, and animation within live-action that is seldom seen. That's a nice score for Disney. Added to this is the retelling of old fables that've become part of our movie history. A combination of Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and several other commonly seen films are incorporated into ENCHANTED to give it a familiar yet equally unique story.
Amy Adams (TALLADEGA NIGHTS) stars as Giselle, a soon-to-be princess recently swept off her feet (literally) by Prince Edward (James Marsden, X-MEN); it's noteworthy to mention this all takes place in the early animation portions of the film. But Prince Edward's mother, Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon, ELIZABETHTOWN) doesn't want to give up her queenly title and throws Giselle down a "wishing well" on her wedding day. Giselle anti-magically reemerges near Time's Square in New York (we've now entered the live action portion of the film). Searching high and low for her castle and her future groom, Giselle quickly learns that New York is no fantasy world. Jewelry is stolen off her person by the homeless, her dress quickly becomes soiled, rain drenches her, and no one is saying friendly things or breaking into happy song.
Divorce attorney Robert Philip (Patrick Dempsey, FREEDOM WRITERS) and his eight-year-old daughter Morgan (Rachel Covey) are on their way home via cab when they discover poor Giselle. She (again) literally falls into Robert's lap and he and his daughter feel pity for this seemingly deranged woman and take her home with them to help her find a way home (via cab, subway, etc.). Robert is less than thrilled about having an attractive woman in the house as he is prepared to pop the question to his longtime girlfriend Angie (Samantha Ivers, INSIDE MAN). But Giselle falls asleep on Robert's sofa and he's forced to let her stay the night. Come morning new discoveries await Robert and his daughter. Giselle, who can normally call up all the cute and fuzzy animals of the forest to help her with household chores, decides to do the same here. But her sing-song doesn't bring cuddly rabbits and dainty deer. She's in New York City, and when her enchanting voice reaches the creatures of this land, they come in the form of cockroaches, sewer rats, and pigeons. They still help her clean up Robert's apartment, but when Robert awakens, he finds the invasion of his home by insects and rodents too much and shushes them out of his plush home. He also finds that Giselle has made a new outfit for herself out of his expensive curtains. At wits end, Robert takes Giselle to work and thrusts her needs onto the company secretary who can't find out where her home is let alone who she is.
In the meantime, the now unanimated Prince Edward comes to the real New York City, too, and finds it terribly difficult to locate his lost love. With him comes an assistant of the queen, Nathaniel (Timothy Spall, HARRY POTTER), who's job it is to make sure he and Giselle never meet up. Failing that, he's supposed to give Giselle a poisoned apple (in the tradition of Snow White).
When all fails the queen, she's forced to come to the real world, too, and does so with frightening ferocity. But can even her powers stand against true love's first kiss (a theme that runs throughout the movie)? It isn't necessarily the fairy tale items that grab movie-goers but the failing of those items by those that come from such a land where things exist and are forced into a land where reality is more brutal. The reverse obviously becomes true, too, as those who live a hardened life in the real world come to accept that having a bit of fantasy fun and believing in the unbelievable can have overwhelmingly positive results on your life, love, and your happily ever after.
The movie is funny beyond mention, too, with some perfectly executed scenes (including a dance sequence in Central Park, watching Prince Edward break into song only to be stopped by bicyclists plowing into him, Giselle's continued clothing designs by utilizing various items in Robert's home, Prince Edward believing a television to be a kind of magical looking glass, just to name a few).
The film is touching and, in the end, pretty predictable. But that didn't stop young and old from applauding when the film ended. I even found myself clapping a few times. Wow. Imagine that.