Enchanted

Review By: Rocco Passafuime
RoccoPassafuime@TheCinemaSource.com

Disney is legendary for its word-class animated movies, but none have gotten both the level of artistic and commercial clout as its “princess” fairy tale films. There is little doubt that much of the catalyst of Disney’s brief renaissance in the early 1990’s was mostly on “princess”-centered fare, particularly targeting the underserved, but loyal female audience.

However, the ascent of political correctness, plus a possible need to widen its lucratively large demographic with male audiences, caused the studio’s in-house animation studio to completely falter by the end of the decade. However, now Disney has resurfaced with its first fairy tale movie in over fifteen years, albeit with a modern twist, in the stunning animation/live-action mix Enchanted, now available on DVD.

In the animated world of Andalasia, Giselle is a beautiful young maiden who’s about to be wed to the charming, if rather lunkheaded Prince Edward (James Marsden). However, Edward’s stepmother, the wicked Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon), is determined to keep her crown from Giselle.

Disguised as an ugly old beggar woman, Narissa pushes Giselle into a well, where she ends up being transported into the very real world of Times Square in Manhattan, a land where “there are no ‘happily ever after’s’”. When Edward discovers Giselle is missing, he follows her, along with her trusty chipmunk friend Pip and his trusted advisor Nathanial (Timothy Spall), who has been dispatched secretly by Narissa to keep them from ever reuniting again.

Meanwhile, the confused Giselle encounters divorce attorney Robert (Patrick Dempsey) and his daughter Morgan (Rachel Covey). A cynic, he’s divorced himself and struggles to find the nerve to propose to his longtime girlfriend Nancy (Idina Menzel). However, as he attempts to help Giselle find her prince and return home to Andalasia, Robert soon discovers that fairy tales may actually do come true.

Enchanted is undoubtedly one of the best ideas to come out of the usually creatively-lacking Disney studio in a long time. The script from Bill Kelly hits every note perfectly, creating a part-pastiche, part-spoof, part-homage, part post-modern fairy tale, and part-romantic comedy.

Adding to this are fantastically gorgeous animated segments, which not only it spoofs and composite the Disney fairy tale formula perfectly, but some of the most genuinely fun and inspired storytelling to come out of a Disney animated work of any kind in a long time. The songs are a bit marred by Steven Schwartz’s sometimes awkward and obvious lyrics, but benefit overall from renaissance-era composer Alan Menkin’s delightful and pitch-perfect music.

However, the real jewel of the film is the cast, each playing their roles with both humorously and genuinely. In particular is lead Amy Adams who manages to play the Disney princess archetype absolutely flawlessly.

The DVD’s picture quality is in the 2:35:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio, with the sound quality in Dolby Digital Surround 5.1. The DVD is also packed with special features.

The first is “Fantasy Comes To Life”, which features ...