Enchanted (film)
Enchanted is a 2007 American live-action/animated musical fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Kevin Lima and written by Bill Kelly. Co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Josephson Entertainment, and Right Coast Productions, the film stars Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Idina Menzel and Susan Sarandon, with Julie Andrews as the narrator. It focuses on an archetypal Disney princess-to-be named Giselle exiled from her animated world into the live-action world of New York City.
Enchanted
- Gregory Perler
- Stephen A. Rotter
- October 20, 2007 (London)
- November 21, 2007 (United States)
107 minutes[1]
United States
English
$340.5 million[3]
The film is both a homage to and a self-parody of Disney's animated features, making numerous references to past works through the combination of live-action filmmaking, traditional animation, and computer-generated imagery. It also marks the return of traditional animation to a Disney feature film after the company's decision to move entirely to computer animation in 2004. Composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, who had written songs for previous Disney films, wrote and produced the songs of Enchanted, and Menken also composed the film's score. The animated sequences were produced at James Baxter Animation in Pasadena, while filming of the live-action segments took place around New York City.
Enchanted premiered at the London Film Festival on October 20, 2007, and went into its wide release in the United States on November 21. It was critically well-received, established Adams as a leading lady, and earned more than $340 million worldwide at the box office.[3] It won three Saturn Awards, Best Fantasy Film, Best Actress for Adams and Best Music for Menken. Enchanted also received two nominations at the 65th Golden Globe Awards and three Best Original Song nominations at the 80th Academy Awards. This is the first Walt Disney Pictures film to be distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures after Disney retired the Buena Vista brand from its distribution division. A sequel, Disenchanted, was released on Disney+ on November 18, 2022.
Plot[edit]
In the animated fairy tale kingdom of Andalasia, the corrupt and ruthless Queen Narissa plots to protect her claim to the throne, which she will lose once her stepson, Prince Edward, finds his true love and marries. She enlists her loyal servant Nathaniel to keep Edward distracted by hunting trolls.
Giselle, a young woman, dreams of meeting a prince and experiencing a "happily ever after." She, her chipmunk friend Pip, and animals from the forest work together to make a homemade statue of her true love. Edward hears Giselle singing and sets off to find her. Nathaniel frees a captured troll to kill Giselle, but Edward rescues her. She and Edward are instantly attracted to each other and plan to be married the following day.
Disguised as an old hag, Narissa intercepts Giselle on her way to the wedding and pushes her into a well, where she is transformed into a live-action version of herself and transported to New York City's Times Square in the real world. A frightened Giselle quickly becomes lost.
Meanwhile, Robert Philip, a divorce lawyer, plans to propose to his girlfriend, Nancy. He and his young daughter Morgan encounter Giselle on their way home, and Robert reluctantly allows Giselle to stay in their apartment at the insistence of Morgan, who believes she is a princess.
Pip and Edward embark on a rescue mission to the real world, where they, too, are turned into live-action versions of themselves. Pip, now a real chipmunk, can no longer speak and only communicates through squeaks. Narissa sends Nathaniel to follow and impede Edward. Narissa gives Nathaniel three poisoned apples that will put whoever eats one to sleep until the clock strikes twelve, after which they will die.
Meanwhile, after Giselle summons insects and vermin to clean Robert's apartment, Nancy arrives to take Morgan to school. She meets Giselle and leaves, assuming Robert is unfaithful. He is initially upset, but he spends the day with Giselle, knowing she is vulnerable in the city. She questions Robert about his relationship with Nancy and helps the pair reconcile by sending her flowers and an invitation to a costume ball at the Woolworth Building.
Edward locates Giselle at Robert's apartment. Although he is eager to take her home to Andalasia and marry her, she suggests they should first go on a date and get to know each other better. Giselle promises to return to Andalasia after the ball that night, which Robert and Nancy also attend. Narissa decides to enter the real world and kill Giselle herself after Nathaniel fails twice to poison her.
At the ball, Robert and Giselle dance romantically with each other. Giselle and Edward prepare to depart, but she feels depressed about leaving Robert behind. Narissa appears as the old hag and offers the last poisoned apple to Giselle, promising that it will wipe her memories. She takes a bite and plunges into sleep with mere minutes to live.
Narissa tries escaping with Giselle's body but Edward thwarts her. Realizing that Narissa never cared about him, Nathaniel reveals her plot and apologizes for his previous actions. Robert realizes that true love's kiss is the only force powerful enough to break the apple's curse. Edward's kiss fails to wake Giselle, so he and Nancy prompt Robert to kiss her instead.
When Robert kisses her, she awakens. Infuriated, Narissa transforms into a dragon and takes him hostage. Giselle takes Edward's sword and pursues Narissa to the top of the building to rescue Robert. Pip comes to support Giselle and causes Narissa to fall to her death on the streets below. Robert almost falls as well, but Giselle rescues him, and they share another kiss on the roof.
A happy new life unfolds for everyone, showing Edward and Nancy falling in love and marrying in Andalasia while Nathaniel, who stays in New York, and Pip, who returns to Andalasia, each write autobiographies based on their experiences in the real world. Giselle starts a prevalent fashion design business and then forms a happy family with Robert and Morgan in New York.
Giselle's chipmunk friend Pip is voiced by Jeff Bennett in Andalasia, where he has no trouble expressing himself through speech, while Enchanted director Kevin Lima voices Pip in the real world, where he must communicate through squeaks and charades. Much of Pip's personality were based on Disney sidekicks such as Mushu from Mulan and Timon from The Lion King.[15] The Andalasia cast also includes Lima's daughter Emma Rose Lima as the bluebird and the fawn, Teala Dunn as a bunny and Fred Tatasciore as the troll.[15] Julie Andrews provides the film's narration.[15][16]
Paige O'Hara and Judy Kuhn make cameo appearances as soap opera character Angela and a pregnant woman Edward encounters, respectively.[15] John Rothman and Jodi Benson portray, respectively, Robert's boss Carl and secretary Sam, while Tonya Pinkins and Isiah Whitlock Jr. portray Phoebe and Ethan Banks, a couple whose divorce Robert is mediating.[15] Marlon Saunders and Jon McLaughlin appear as vocalists who sing "That's How You Know" and "So Close", respectively.
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
The initial script of Enchanted, written by Bill Kelly, was bought by Disney's Touchstone Pictures and Sonnenfeld/Josephson Productions for a reported sum of $450,000 in September 1997.[17] The script was written for three years, but it was thought to be unsuitable for Walt Disney Pictures because it was "a racier R-rated movie",[18] inspired by the adult-risque comedy movies in the 1980s and 1990s such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High and American Pie. The first draft of the script had Giselle being mistaken for a stripper when she arrives in New York City.[19] To the frustration of Kelly, the screenplay was rewritten several times, first by Rita Hsiao and then by Todd Alcott.[17] The film was initially scheduled to be released in 2002 with Rob Marshall as director but he withdrew due to "creative differences" between the producers and him.[20] In 2001, director Jon Turteltaub was set to direct the film but he left soon after, later working with Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer on the National Treasure franchise. Adam Shankman became the film's director in 2003, while Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle were hired by Disney to rewrite the script once again.[21] At the time, Disney considered offering the role of Giselle to Kate Hudson or Reese Witherspoon.[17] However, the project did not take off.
On May 25, 2005, Variety reported that Kevin Lima had been hired as director and Bill Kelly had returned to the project to write a new version of the script.[22] Lima worked with Kelly on the script to combine the main plot of Enchanted with the idea of a "loving homage" to Disney's heritage. He created visual storyboard printouts that covered the story of Enchanted from beginning to end, which filled an entire floor of a production building.[23] After Lima showed them to Dick Cook, the chairman of the Walt Disney Studios, he received the green light for the project and a budget of $85 million.[2][14] Lima began designing the world of Andalasia and storyboarding the movie before a cast was chosen to play the characters. After the actors were hired, he was involved in making the final design of the movie, which made sure the animated characters look like their real-life counterparts.[8]
Filming[edit]
Enchanted is the first feature-length Disney live-action/traditional animation hybrid since Disney's Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988, though the traditionally animated characters do not interact in the live-action environment in the same method as they did in Roger Rabbit; however, there are some scenes where live-action characters share the screen with two-dimensional animated characters, for example, a live-action Nathaniel communicating with a cel-drawn Narissa, who is in a cooking pot. The film uses two aspect ratios; it begins in 2.35:1 when the Walt Disney Pictures logo and Enchanted storybook are shown, and then switches to a smaller 1.85:1 aspect ratio for the first animated sequence. The film switches back to 2.35:1 when it becomes live-action and never switches back, even for the remainder of the animated sequences. When this movie was aired on televised networks, the beginning of the movie (minus the Walt Disney Pictures logo and opening credits) was shown in the pillarboxed 4:3 aspect ratio; the remainder of the movie was shown in the 16:9 aspect ratio when it becomes live-action. The fullscreen version uses the 4:3 format during the entire movie, while the open matte version retains the letterboxed 1.85:1 format for the first animated sequence then switches to an open matted 1.85:1 format for the rest of the movie when it switches to live-action. Lima oversaw the direction of both the live-action and animation sequences, which were being produced at the same time [8] Enchanted took almost two years to complete. The animation took about a year to finish while the live-action scenes, which commenced filming on location in New York City during the summer of 2006 and were completed during the animation process, were shot in 72 days.[8]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Enchanted earned $8 million on the day of its release in the United States, placing at #1. It was also placed at #1 on Thanksgiving Day, earning $6.7 million to bring its two-day total to $14.6 million. The film grossed $14.4 million on the following day, bringing its total haul to $29.0 million placing ahead of other contenders. Enchanted made $34.4 million on the Friday-Sunday period in 3,730 theaters for a per-location average of $9,472 and $49.1 million over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday in 3,730 theaters for a per-location average of $13,153.[41] Its earnings over the five-day holiday exceeded projections by $7 million.[55] Ranking as the second-highest Thanksgiving opening after Toy Story 2, which earned $80.1 million over the five-day holiday in 1999, Enchanted is the first film to open at #1 on the Thanksgiving frame in the 21st century.[56]
In its second weekend, Enchanted was also the #1 film, grossing a further $16.4 million at 3,730 locations for a per-theater average of $4,397. It dropped to #2 in its third weekend, with a gross of $10.7 million in 3,520 theaters for a per-theater average of $3,042. It finished its fourth weekend at #4 with a gross of $5.5 million in 3,066 locations for a per-theater average of $1,804. Enchanted earned a gross of $127.8 million in the United States and Canada as well as a total of $340.5 million worldwide.[3] It was the 15th highest-grossing film worldwide released in 2007.[57]
Critical response[edit]
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval of 93% based on 193 reviews, with an average score of 7.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "A smart re-imagining of fairy tale tropes that's sure to delight children and adults, Enchanted features witty dialogue, sharp animation, and a star turn by Amy Adams."[58] Metacritic gave it a rating of 75 out of 100 based on 32 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[59] Rotten Tomatoes ranked the film as the ninth best reviewed film in wide release of 2007 and named it the best family film of 2007.[60][61] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A-" on scale of A to F.[62]
Disney references[edit]
According to director Kevin Lima, "thousands" of references are made to past and future works of Disney in Enchanted,[91] which serve as both a parody of and a "giant love letter to Disney classics".[92] It took almost eight years for Walt Disney Studios to greenlight the production of the film because it "was always quite nervous about the tone in particular".[92] As Lima worked with Bill Kelly, the writer, to inject Disney references to the plot, it became "an obsession"; he derived the name of every character as well as anything that needed a name from past Disney films to bring in more Disney references.[5]
While Disney animators have occasionally inserted a Disney character into background shots – for example, Donald Duck appears in a crowd in The Little Mermaid – they have avoided "mingling characters" from other Disney films for fear of weakening their individual mythologies.[92] In Enchanted, characters from past Disney films are openly seen, such as the appearances of Thumper and Flower from Bambi in the 2D animation portion of the film.[92] Disney references are also made through camera work, sets, costumes, music and dialogue. Some of the more familiar examples include the use of poisoned apples from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and True Love's Kiss from Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.[13] Dick Cook, the chairman of Walt Disney Studios, admitted that part of the goal of Enchanted was to create a new franchise (through the character of Giselle) and to revive the older ones.[92]