Enchanted (2007)

A classic Disney fairytale collides with modern-day New York City in a story about a fairytale princess who is sent to our world by an evil queen. Soon after her arrival, Princess Giselle begins to change her views on life and love after meeting a handsome lawyer. Can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world?

Director:

Kevin Lima

Writer:

Bill Kelly

Stars:

Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 26 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Amy Adams	...	Giselle
Patrick Dempsey	...	Robert Philip
James Marsden	...	Prince Edward
Timothy Spall	...	Nathaniel
Idina Menzel	...	Nancy Tremaine
Rachel Covey	...	Morgan Philip
Susan Sarandon	...	Queen Narissa
Julie Andrews	...	The Narrator (voice)
Jeff Bennett	...	Pip in Andalasia (voice)
Kevin Lima	...	Pip in New York (voice)
Emma Rose Lima	...	Bluebird / Fawn / Rapunzel (voice)
Teala Dunn	...	Bunny (voice)
Fred Tatasciore	...	Troll (voice)
Courtney Williams	...	Sunglass Street Vendor
William Huntley	...	Grumpy

Storyline

The beautiful princess Giselle is banished by an evil queen from her magical, musical animated land and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan. Shocked by this strange new environment that doesn't operate on a "happily ever after" basis, Giselle is now adrift in a chaotic world badly in need of enchantment. But when Giselle begins to fall in love with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer who has come to her aid - even though she is already promised to a perfect fairy tale prince back home - she has to wonder: Can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world?

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Plot Keywords:

love | prince | fairy tale | lawyer | city | 

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Taglines:

This fairytale princess is about to meet a real Prince Charming.

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some scary images and mild innuendo

Details

Official Sites:

Disney [fr] Disney [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 November 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Encantada

Filming Locations:

875 Third Avenue, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$85,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£2,547,975 (UK) (14 December 2007)

Gross:

$127,706,877 (USA) (7 March 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures, Josephson Entertainment, Andalasia Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

HIDDEN MICKEY: The bus driver's hair is shaped like Mickey Mouse's ears, as well as the green pepper slices on the pizza Robert and Giselle are served at the Bella Notte restaurant.

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Goofs

When Giselle is knocking on the Castle billboard, there is a camera shot from Robert's point of view. In the shot, one can see up part of Giselle's hoop dress, under which are the dangling leather straps of her safety harness.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: Once upon a time, in a magical kingdom known as Andalasia, there lived an evil queen. Selfish and cruel, she lived in fear that one day her stepson would marry and she would lose her throne forever. And so she did all in her power to prevent the prince from ever meeting the one special maiden with whom he would share true love's kiss.

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits after the title on the book is shown.

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Connections

References Sleeping Beauty (1959)

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Soundtracks

"Lament"
Written by Oliver Wallace

User Reviews

An enjoyable romp.

This is really the definition of "light entertainment," and seriously, I am still smiling about it now. After getting in the way of an Evil Queen, a fairytale princess is cast into an alternate reality--the real world as we know it--and must survive there until her rescue by her Prince Charming. Hmm! From the trailer I saw, my guess was that "Enchanted" was a one-joke show, a series of gags about how fairytale magic falls on its face in the real world. That Disney has managed to squeeze at least four or five good jokes out of the idea, and mixed in a few sprinkles of profundity on top of that, is something of an achievement. As a romp, it works fairly well, and it delivered quite a lot more than I was expecting.

This is a risky film to make, and Disney gets points for having the guts to unleash this oddity on the holiday season. It's a fun film that isn't afraid to go, occasionally, in weird and startling directions.

The intersection of the two worlds--the world of faith and magic, and the world of disillusionment and hard reality--creates the expected comedic drama at first. Then the two opposing realities begin to influence and change each other in unsettling and stimulating ways that may surprise the audience. The ideas aren't fully developed, but a crucial detail was attended to at the wrap-up that satisfied me--the main characters succeed mainly because they are able to grow beyond their previous conceptions of themselves.

Along the way of telling this story, we get to see a very challenging film production featuring two distinct worlds and their accompanying designs, and the intermingling of these two worlds. It's occasionally heavy on visual effects and animated sequences, but the effects are always story-driven and never gratuitous--a surprising enough thing nowadays that it's worth taking note of. Strong film-making skills, with an old-school sensibility, are at work.

My rating gets an extra point for an audacious, overblown MGM-style singing/dancing sequence, the kind that is rarely seen in theatres nowadays. Go see it!