Enchanted (Kevin Lima, 2007)
Enchanted is the Disney corporation’s lavish tribute to the kind of films it has decided to stop making. Having assumed there was no longer a market for animated fairytales along the lines of its previous films Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast, it has instead filled the market void it created with an affectionate live-action retread of those films.
The film starts out with an animated sequence set in the fairytale land of Andalasia, in which the romantic Giselle falls for the valiant Prince Edward. Before they can be married, however, the evil Queen Narissa (who fears the loss of her throne upon marriage of the Prince) manages to magically expel Giselle from Andalasia and into our world. Now in live-action, with Giselle portrayed by Amy Adams, the film follows Giselle’s exploits in real world New York, and her effect on a jaded divorce lawyer played by Patrick Dempsey.
The opening animated sequence is the film’s best, walking a deft line between re-creation and parody. With Disney not having the personnel to do this kind of work any more, the animation was outsourced to the studio of ex-Disney animator James Baxter. Baxter’s team, which included many other Disney refugees, have come up with a sequence that is spot-on. It simultaneously works on its own merits as a fun evocation of the most traditional of Disney sub-genres; as a broad send-up for those who don’t feel comfortable watching an animated fairytale without being able to congratulate themselves on being too hip for this sort of thing; and more subtly (in the moments featuring a giant killer troll) as a parody of the “modernised” Disney fairytales executed by directors such as Roger Clements and John Musker in the studio’s later years.
Unfortunately, the film isn’t nearly as sharp once it hits its central live-action portion. Its chief assett is Amy Adams’ performance as Giselle: she plays the part with sunny conviction that both sells the role and provides most of the film’s laughs. Giselle takes her tendency to break into song with her into the real world, which provides an excuse for comically incongruous musical numbers. The songs are provided by veteran Disney songwriter Alan Menken (with lyricist Stephen Schwartz), who ably sends up his own work for The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast: the film gets its best comedy moment from enacting a typical Disney “clean-up” song in live-action, and its best musical moment from a big production number in Central Park.
Apart from the fun concept of doing a Disney musical number in live-action, however, the film doesn’t have enough really good ideas to lift it above being merely routine entertainment. There are all sorts of interesting implications of having a movie character in real life, and forming relationships with human characters: Woody Allen had great fun with the concept back in 1985 with The Purple Rose of Cairo. Allen certainly didn’t exhaust the potential of the premise, and Enchanted could have provided more of a feel-good alternative to Allen’s downbeat take on this material. Yet the film doesn’t delve anywhere as deeply into the implications of movie characters crossing into real life as Allen did, and is generally satisfied sticking with the most obvious of dilemmas and predictable of resolutions.
In an age of smug Shrek-style parody, Enchanted‘s genuine fondness for the source material is its chief distinguishing feature, and some will find that enough. Ultimately, though, it feels like a good idea not developed far enough.