Many Disney Princess movies have come and gone, some leaving more of an impact than others. However, there is one animated/live-action hybrid movie that manages to use the formula of a princess movie and uses it to tell a funny and romantic story while also poking fun and honoring stereotypes that made the Disney princess formula a success in many stories beforehand. I’m talking about the 2007 smash hit known as Enchanted, a movie with an all-star cast and a great slew of talent involved to make something that is familiar but also unique at the same time. I’ve seen this movie so many times and cannot stress enough how excellent this film is. However, what is it about this Disney film that manages to spark feelings of joy and whimsy that made it a new classic in the making?
In an animated cartoony land of Andalasia, Giselle (Amy Adams) finds herself rescued from danger by a prince named Edward (James Marsden). They both decide to get married the following day. This comes to the dismay of Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon), who does not want to lose her throne to her stepson’s marriage so she disguises herself as an old hag and banishes Gisselle to live-action modern-day New York City. Meanwhile, A divorce Lawyer named Robert (Patrick Dempsy) and her daughter Morgon bump into Gisselle roaming the streets in her princess dress and take pity on her for being so clueless and reluctantly allow her to stay the night at their home. Robert attempts to help Giselle get home, but Giselle’s outlook on her cartoony world might make things even crazier as she tries to get used to her new environment and even learn something about true love. Meanwhile, Edward and Giselle's chipmunk friend Pip arrive in New York City to try to find Giselle and bring her home to Andalasia. However, Queen Narissa has many tricks up her sleeve, including seducing Nathaniel (Timothy Spall) into making sure Edward and Pip fail in finding Giselle.
The story works with what it's given and turns a simple premise into an exciting and engaging one. Now, the kind of premise this movie introduces has been introduced previously. Cartoon characters in the real world have been done several times in film history. (Ex: Rodger Rabbit, Space Jam) Many overused plot ideas this story introduces have been popular in many live-action family movies. Yet the way Enchanted tells its story almost feels like you’re hearing this type of narrative for the first time, which is not always easy. As mentioned before, it takes the most well-known story elements from other Disney princess films by not only honoring the legacy of the movies that came before but also poking fun at the past tropes in a funny but polite way. There are many references and nods to past and present Disney tropes and movie scenes, which almost makes the film feel like an honor to Disney History. Think of it as a friendlier version of Shrek, where that movie made flat-out rejects the past tropes of Disney films, Enchanted pokes fun in the way of saying, “yeah, we know these tropes didn’t age the best, but they did make us what we are today, so in some ways, they are just as effective now as they were back then” that’s the attitude this movie has and thanks to some special line delivery and a lot of raw emotion, It turns what could have been a quick cash in for modern pop culture references and completely ditches that in favor of a story with heart humor and timelessness despite the period the film takes place in.
The characters are all perfectly cast, and I could not even imagine anybody else playing these well-defined and well-acted roles. This movie has many big names, many of which come from other successful features and shows. The big star is Amy Adams, who has to act as this kind of Snow White/ Ariel persona and show how she changes from a naive fairytale princess to a more grounded human being when understanding true love. Patrick Dempsy is fantastic as Robert as he has to work off of Gisselle’s fairytale princess attitude which can lead to hilarious and romantic results. Even Idina Menzel makes an appearance, and you’d think it would be to give her songs to sing, seeing as she’s a talented singer. At the same time, that is not the case, her character as Nancy is very entertaining and quite surprising, seeing she has little material to work with in general The movie isn’t just about the main characters; the side characters are just as fun and impossible to resist such as James Marsden as witty as the dimwitted but dashing prince Edward, the clumsy but also very charming Timothy Spall as Nathaniel, Gissells chipmunk friend Pip, who loses his ability to talk in the real world and has the most physical comedy moments out of all the characters. and Susan Sarandon kills it as Queen Narissa, a combination of all past female Disney villains. These are great actors given great characters to play and each one of them shines immensly whenever any of them is on screen.
The animation doesn’t last very long in this movie, but it is beautiful with its rich colored backgrounds and lovely fairytale scenery. The actual 2D Hand Drawn animation was not done by Walt Disney Animation Studios but instead by a smaller company called James Baxter Animation as it set on mimicking the style of Disney classics of old. The director Kevin Lima described the animation as cramming as much classic Disney fairytale imagery as possible, and it succeeds at doing that, even if the animation style is slightly different than something from the Walt Disney Animation Studios would do in the past. It’s short-lived, but this kind of animation makes me wish Disney would consider doing a 2D animated feature for a full-length movie. Once we get to the live-action cinematography, you will see the city streets of New York in Times Square or Central Park during Daytime, even with most of the film being in live-action. The film is shot to feel like an animated Disney movie, especially in its song numbers which are so extravagant and wondrously choreographed. One of my favorite scenes is the ballroom sequence which brings together a lovely musical number and an epic battle scene with Narissa in the Woolworth building. It combines many of the climaxes of Disney’s past fairytales in a fresh and lovely way. This is what a tremendous hybrid movie should do, taking advantage of both mediums and using them to their fullest potential to create an experience to impress the audience. Enchanted is one of the prime examples of a great Animation and Live Action experience.
The music is downright amazing as it is composed by frequent Disney collaborator Alan Menken who has scored movies such as The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast with songs written by Stephen Schwartz, who has created songs for movies like The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Prince of Eygpt. Everything about the score works perfectly as background music and catchy musical numbers. They pay homage to the classic Disney songs of the past while injecting a new modern touch to create something fresh and new. My personal favorite songs are “That’s How You Know,” “So Close,” and even the Carrie Underwood-covered song “Ever Ever After.” This may be some of the best music I’ve ever heard in any Disney movie since Tarzan, and given the number of memorable tunes from the Disney company, that is saying a lot.
This movie holds up just as much now as it did back then. It could have been so easy to make this a modern cash grab with product placement galore and no respect for any audience intelligence. What we got, though, was a totally fresh and charming take on the Disney Princess formula with a lot of heart and humor, Masterful Animation and Cinemotogrpy, and a soundtrack with plenty of memorable songs and beautiful compositions. This hybrid Disney movie honors the company's past success while delivering a new story that has something for everyone. I love this movie to death and have seen it many times over the decade and a half, It's a true testament to how far Disney has come with their storytelling, and it’s a great movie to show any die-hard Disney fan, both young, old and the young at heart.
(Final Grade: A+)