Ella Enchanted (2004)

Ella is under a spell to be constantly obedient, a fact she must hide from her new step-family in order to protect the prince of the land, her friend for whom she's falling.

Director:

Tommy O'Haver

Writers:

Laurie Craig (screenplay), Karen McCullah Lutz (screenplay),

Stars:

Anne Hathaway, Hugh Dancy, Cary Elwes

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anne Hathaway	...	Ella
Hugh Dancy	...	Char
Cary Elwes	...	Edgar
Aidan McArdle	...	Slannen
Joanna Lumley	...	Dame Olga
Lucy Punch	...	Hattie
Jennifer Higham	...	Olive
Minnie Driver	...	Mandy
Eric Idle	...	Narrator
Steve Coogan	...	Heston (voice)
Jimi Mistry	...	Benny
Vivica A. Fox	...	Lucinda
Parminder Nagra	...	Areida
Jim Carter	...	Nish
Patrick Bergin	...	Sir Peter

Storyline

Based on Gail Carson Levine's award winning novel, this is the story of Ella, a young woman who was given a "gift" of obedience by a fairy named Lucinda. Anything anyone tells her to do, she must obey. When her mother passes away, Ella is cared for by her thoughtless and greedy father who remarries a loathsome woman with two treacherous daughters. This modern-day, fantasy Cinderella features fairies, ogres and elves...as well as a hero in the guise of Prince Charmont, whom Ella falls in love with. Unlike Cinderella though, Ella must depend on herself and her intelligence to get her through her troubles and find Lucinda in order for her "curse" to be broken!

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Plot Keywords:

fairy | prince | ogre | cinderella | curse | 

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Taglines:

Get enchanted

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some crude humor and language

Details

Official Sites:

Miramax Official Facebook

Country:

USA Ireland UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 April 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ella

Filming Locations:

Ardmore Studios, Herbert Road, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£107,730 (UK) (17 December 2004)

Gross:

£535,758 (UK) (31 December 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax Films, Jane Startz Productions, Blessington Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first song Ella sings, "Somebody to Love" was not the original song choice. Tommy O'Haver had discovered that Anne Hathaway didn't have very good chemistry with their first choice, a more classical "fairy-tale" song. O'Haver and Hathaway were relaxing when she starting singing along and dancing to the song that was currently playing: Queen's "Somebody to Love". They both decided that "this was it".

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Goofs

While Ella's family shown seated together in tight shoots, they are not seen in pans of the crowd in the hall.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: Fairy tales tell, as their labels imply / Stories of magic, of creatures that fly / With giants and dragons and ogres and elves / And inanimate objects that speak for themselves / There's romance and danger and plotting of schemes / There's good guys and bad guys and some guys in-between / A fairy tale also reveals some sort of truth / The perils of choices we make in our youth./ But our story today is different in theme./ For our hero had no choice or so it would seem./ It starts ...

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Crazy Credits

The cityscape of the Miramax logo dissolves into the cityscape of the medieval city in the movie.

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Connections

Spoofs Star Wars (1977)

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Soundtracks

"Let Me Entertain You"
Written by Stephen Sondheim and Jule Styne
Produced and Arranged by Shaun Davey
Performed by The Cast

User Reviews

A cute fantasy

Boy, I'm glad I saw this movie before reading the comments here. I found this film to be delightfully funny and sweet. sure it's utter predictable but so what? Yes, in the 'fractured fairy tale' department it's a far cry from the genius of Princess Bride or Shrek, but it's an entertaining enough 90 minutes. The effects are decent (they can't all be Lord of the Rings perfect) and I found myself laughing frequently.

I'm certainly glad I was completely unaware that this was based on a book as most of the negative comments here seem to be from people who complain about changes. I can say, that not knowing the original, this story flowed just fine. Certainly, if one were to over-analyze the plot one could come up with innumerable ideas based on the idea 'if she must always obey, why doesn't this happen?' but that's not really the point here is it? it's a fairy tale for young girls. My partner's 18 year old little sister (who made me watch this as I never would have on my own) loved it, and I had to admit that I liked it enough to give it a thumbs up 7 out of 10 rating.