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 exiled from her animated world into the live-action world of New York City.
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. 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[]
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.
Cast[]
- Amy Adams as Giselle: A singing and dancing princess-to-be who ends up almost having her dream of meeting her prince a reality. Adams was announced to have been cast in the role of Giselle on November 14, 2005. Although the studio was looking for a film star in the role, director Kevin Lima insisted on casting a lesser-known actress. Out of the 300 or so actresses who auditioned for the role, Adams stood out to Lima because not only did she look like a Disney princess but her "commitment to the character, her ability to escape into the character's being without ever judging the character was overwhelming". Hailing from Andalasia, Giselle displays similar traits to early Disney Princesses; Lima describes her as "about 80% Snow White, with some traits borrowed from Cinderella and Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty... although her spunkiness comes from Ariel from The Little Mermaid". She is "eternally optimistic and romantic" but is also "very independent and true to her convictions". Over the course of the film, she becomes more mature (even stopping her habit of singing in a continuous manner) but maintains her fondness of singing, kindness, innocence and optimism.
- Patrick Dempsey as Robert Philip: A cynical Manhattan divorce attorney at Churchill, Harline & Smith LLP who does not believe in true love, happily-ever-after, or fairy tales since his wife left him and their daughter. He falls in love with Giselle after her adventure to New York City, and her sense of fun gradually rubs off on him over the course of the film. Lima cast Dempsey after Disney was satisfied with the casting of Adams but had wanted more well-known actors in the film. Dempsey, whose starring role on TV series Grey's Anatomy had earned him the nickname "McDreamy", was described by Lima as "a modern-day Prince Charming to today's audience". The role was challenging for Dempsey because he had to play the straight man to Adams' and Marsden's more outrageous characters.
- James Marsden as Prince Edward: A dim-witted, yet brave, heroic and good-hearted, prince who is baffled by the world of New York once he enters it. Marsden was announced to have been cast on December 6, 2005. At the time Marsden was auditioning, the role of Robert had not been cast but he decided to pursue the role of Prince Edward because he was "more fun and he responded more to that character". Edward is a prince in Andalasia and the stepson of Queen Narissa. He is "very pure, very simple-minded and naive, but innocently narcissistic".
- Timothy Spall as Nathaniel: A servant of Queen Narissa, who gets controlled through his infatuation with the Queen and his own lack of self-esteem. He initially does Narissa's bidding, but ultimately realizes her true nature and rebels against her. He has a penchant for disguises.
- Idina Menzel as Nancy Tremaine: A fashion designer and Robert's girlfriend. Once Giselle falls in love with Robert, she falls for Edward and leaves with him. Since the role did not require any singing, Menzel said in an interview that "it was a compliment to be asked to just be hired on my acting talents alone". She is named after Lady Tremaine, the stepmother from Cinderella.
- Rachel Covey as Morgan Philip: Robert's 6-year-old daughter. Despite her father misunderstanding her and telling her otherwise, she believes in fairy tales and also believes that magic exists.
- Susan Sarandon as Queen Narissa: Edward's evil stepmother, a sorceress, and a megalomaniac with a hatred for Giselle simply for being an obstacle for her to keep her power. Sarandon had been attracted to the project prior to Lima's involvement as director. Since Sarandon's on-screen time was relatively short, it took only two weeks to film her scenes. Narissa's mannerisms, characteristics, powers, and physical features were inspired by such classical Disney villainesses as the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty.
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. 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. Julie Andrews provides the film's narration.
Paige O'Hara and Judy Kuhn make cameo appearances as soap opera character Angela and a pregnant woman Edward encounters, respectively. 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. Marlon Saunders and Jon McLaughlin appear as vocalists who sing "That's How You Know" and "So Close", respectively.