Behind the scenes, Enchanted was a long time coming. From its original pitch, through many rewrites and cast changes, it was 10 years before it would finally hit screens at the end of 2007.
Starring a relatively unknown Amy Adams as Princess Giselle (a role originally planned for either Kate Hudson or Reece Witherspoon) Enchanted is a tongue-in-cheek deconstruction of Disney cliches. The beautiful and loveable princess falls into a well and finds herself in modern-day New York City.
Getting some help from a cynical divorce lawyer and his daughter, Giselle learns that the real world isn't exactly what she had expected it to be. While she learns to adapt, she also inspires the people around her to care a little more.
ANNA: I love all the outfits! It's also really clever how many not-to-subtle hints there are to other Disney movies.
IRVYNE: You could write a book on how many references there are. Some of them are obvious, some of them are very subtle. When the Wicked Queen is in the elevator and she moves her skirt to reveal the unconscious damsel, the motion she does is straight out of Sleeping Beauty. It walks a fine line between showing reverence to the source material and taking the mickey out of it. (No pun intended! HA!)
HAKU: I noticed that the film has already aged because it's got old-style T.V.s
PASCAL: And old phones!
IRVYNE: I find it very interesting how it links the beautiful fairy-tale world where everything is perfect with the everyday real world where life sucks. And yet, it doesn't end up preaching that one way is right and one is wrong. Giselle teaches people to be kind, but she learns some real life lessons as well; lessons that she never got while living her happy sheltered life in Andalasia. People need some magic in their life, but they also need some reality.
HAKU: The big Central Park scene is really cool. Although I would have loved to have seen how the crowd disperses after the song.
IRVYNE: Yeah. There might have been a really awkward moment there!
PASCAL: I love Patrick Dempsey's reaction. He's like, "Oh no. Here she goes again."
HAKU: Susan Sarandon's good fun as well. Her voice is perfect for a role like this.
IRVYNE: I think she must have been given permission to go as over-the-top as she pleased. She looks like she's enjoying herself! Having said that, she's not actually on-screen for more than a couple of minutes. And speaking of over-the-top, Corny Collins... eh... James Marsden, is really funny as well! He's got a very expressive face!
PASCAL: He's such a nuffy. I love it.
IRVYNE: Does anyone else find it weird that Idina Menzel is one of the only characters in this movie who doesn't sing...? Maybe she was going to sing some songs in the sequel that never appeared.
HAKU: I don't feel like the animation is as good as we've come to expect from traditional Disney films. It's good, but it looks a bit rushed or something.
IRVYNE: Interestingly, the animation was outsourced because, of course, Disney had shut down all of their hand-drawn studios. So they called on one of their ex-animators James Baxter, who had opened up his own studio, and the animation was done by them.
HAKU: Menken and Schwartz's songs are pretty good.
IRVYNE: Yeah. They're good, but I don't find they're as memorable as the best Menken songs.
PASCAL: I love Enchanted. It's definitely... DEFINITELY... better than Chicken Little.
IRVYNE: HA! I can remember when I first saw it, I wondered if it would go down in history as a real Disney classic, one for the ages. It's certainly original and quirky enough, and it did well at the box-office. It seems to have been relatively forgotten in the 8 years since its release though. You can't meet Giselle at the Disney parks for example, but that's difficult because the children would be able to immediately recognise that it's not Amy Adams. I enjoy Enchanted, but it's not on the shelf alongside my all-time favourites.
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