A gentle and loving send-up of Disney

Rating: 10/10 (21 March 2008)

I loved this in the theater, but loved it even more on DVD. This has been a year of really heavy and depressing films and so I find myself appreciating movies like ONCE, RATATOUILLE, and this one all the more. Mind you, I'm not knocking the serious movies this year. There have been so many of them, though, that movies like this which are so perfectly crafted to be happy and positive movies stand out and are quite welcome.
The cast of course is great and I'm one of those who truly loved Amy Adams and am looking forward to seeing more from her.
Most of all, though, I loved all the subtle (and some not so subtle) allusions to the world of Disney. For instance, the bus driver's Mickey Mouse ear hairstyle was priceless. The little remarks about singing in inappropriate circumstances, and everyone in a crowd knowing the song nobody's heard before are little details that added to my overall enjoyment.
I will say one thing about the songs. Although they were good, they were purposeful send-ups of typical Disney songs, and as such, I didn't feel any of them deserved the traditional automatic Oscar for best song that Disney usually gets. I was Happy to see that Oscar go to a more serious and meaningful song.
However, all in all, I consider this movie to be an absolute delight. Yeah, it may be targeted at 12 year old girl children, and I am neither a child nor a female, but I still loved this and suspect you also will.