Enchanted plot details
what's happening in Disney's partly animated movie?
(Source: jimhillmedia.com)
I've been taking a wait-and-see attitude with Disney's upcoming flick Enchanted. As much as I like to see the Mouse House returning to cel animation, I also have the classic male aversion to "chick flicks" (thank goodness my spouse prefers kung fu films to Dirty Dancing), and I wasn't sure about its "fairy tale princess in New York" storyline.
However, it's starting to look like Enchanted is closer to The Princess Bride than to Happily N'Ever After, mainly because Disney is toying with its classic animated movies in some interesting ways. And that's a very good thing.
Here's the basic plot, according to Disney researcher Jim Hill (SPOILER ALERT):
In the animated land of Andalusia (presumably Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali are nowhere to be seen), the beautiful Princess Giselle (played by Amy Adams) and the handsome Prince Edward (James Marsden, also known as Cyclops in X-Men) fall in love and plan to marry.
However, Edward's wicked mother Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) isn't happy about this. Disguising herself as an old crone (shades of Snow White, anyone?), she pushes Giselle into an enchanted well, which is a portal between Andalusia and our world. Which means Giselle ends up a suddenly-flesh-and-blood fairy tale princess in the middle of Times Square.
Thankfully Giselle quickly meets up with divorce attorney Robert Phillips (Grey's Anatomy's Patrick Dempsey) who takes her home to stay with him and his daughter (Rachel Covey). Naturellement, the cynical lawyer finds himself falling for the innocent Giselle and vice versa. Back in Andalusia, Prince Edward discovers the portal, and comes after his beloved Giselle. How will Giselle choose between the world-weary Robert and the dashing Edward? And can Queen Narissa be far behind?
Looking good so far, right? But what really got Hill's pilot light going (and has me perking up as well) is his description of a five minute sequence from the movie.
When a grateful Giselle decides to clean up Robert's filthy Manhattan apartment, she does what any respectable Disney princess would do: she bursts into song. Not just any song, but "The Happy Working Song," one of 5 tunes written for Enchanted by tunesmiths Alan Mencken and Stephen Schwartz.
And just like in Snow White (Enchanted riffs on a number of elements from this classic Disney flick), the local animals willingly pitch in to help our heroine. Being New York City, this means cockroaches, rats and pigeons. Undaunted by her assistants, Giselle sings on, spurring them to greater heights. The image of a horde of rats scrubbing dishes, while our princess rhymes "determined" with "vermin," already looks like an instant classic.
Based on this scene alone, Jim Hill is touting Enchanted as a major blockbuster when it comes out November 21st. With all due respect, I'm not so sure. While it has serious potential, one great scene doth not a great movie make. And while I'm pouring ice cubes on Hill's enthusiasm, remember that The Princess Bride tanked in theatres before getting what it deserved on home video.
Keep in mind that Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie comes out November 2nd, and Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf hits on the 16th. That's a pretty crowded field of animation for Enchanted to stand out from, although it's the only one that large numbers of women would be interested in.
That said Enchanted looks like it could be a worthwhile flick, and not just for women and their pre-teen relatives. Colour me interested.
Fun Fact: Songwriter Alan Mencken (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast) has won so many Best Song Oscars that Hollywood insiders unofficially nicknamed it "The Mencken Award."
