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For the 1942 Czechoslovak drama film, see .
Enchanted is a 2007 American /
, produced by
with New York Academy
and Josephson Entertainment. Written by
and directed by , the film stars , , , , , , and . The plot focuses on Giselle, an archetypal , who is forced from her traditional animated world of Andalasia into the live-action world of New York City. Enchanted was the first Disney film to be distributed by , instead of .
The film is both a
to, and a self- of, , making numerous references to Disney's past works through the combination of live-action filmmaking, , and . It 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
and lyricist , who had written songs for previous Disney films, produced the songs of Enchanted, with Menken also composing its score.
The animation sequences were produced at
Animation in Pasadena. Filming of the live action segments took place around New York City. It premiered on October 20, 2007, at the
before its
on November 21, 2007, in the United States. Enchanted was well-received critically, established Adams as a leading lady, and earned more than $340 million worldwide at the box office. It won three , including
for Adams. Enchanted also received two nominations at the
nominations at the .
kingdom of Andalasia, the evil Queen Narissa schemes to protect her claim to the throne, which she will lose once her stepson, Prince Edward, finds his
and marries her. She enlists her loyal henchman Nathaniel to keep Edward distracted. Giselle, a young woman, dreams of meeting a prince and experiencing a "". Edward hears Giselle singing and sets off to find her. Nathaniel sets free a captured
to kill Giselle, but Edward rescues her in time. When they meet, they instantly fall in love and plan to get married the following day.
Narissa, disguised as an old hag, intercepts Giselle on her way to the wedding and pushes her into a well, and she is magically transformed into a 3D live version of herself and transported to a
in New York City's . Giselle quickly becomes lost. Meanwhile, Robert, a divorce lawyer, prepares to propose to his longtime girlfriend Nancy, much to the dismay of his daughter Morgan. Robert and Morgan encounter Giselle on their way home, and Robert begrudgingly allows Giselle to stay the night at their apartment at the insistence of Morgan, who instantly trusts Giselle.
Pip, Giselle's best
friend from Andalasia, had witnessed Giselle's exile and alerted Edward thereafter, and both embark on a rescue mission to the city, where they too are turned into 3D versions, but Pip is instead in the form of a real chipmunk – therefore, losing the ability to speak. Narissa sends Nathaniel to follow and impede Edward. In a restaurant, Narissa appears to Nathaniel in a soup pot and gives him three poisoned apples to murder Giselle. Pip eavesdrops but is unable to communicate with Edward, as animals cannot speak outside of Andalasia. Nathaniel keeps Pip silenced by imprisoning him in various containers. Meanwhile, after Giselle summons
to clean Robert's apartment, Nancy arrives to take Morgan to school. She meets Giselle and then angrily leaves assuming Robert was unfaithful. Robert is initially upset but spends the day with Giselle, knowing she is vulnerable in the city. Giselle questions Robert about his relationship with Nancy and helps the pair reconcile by sending Nancy an invitation to the "King and Queen's Costume Ball" at the . She also begins to win Robert over with her sunny disposition and optimism, even inadvertently helping one of his clients reconcile with his wife.
After searching throughout the city, Edward finally locates Giselle at Robert's apartment. While Edward is eager to take Giselle home to Andalasia and marry, she insists that they should first go on a date to get to know each other, still conflicted about her feelings. Giselle promises to return to Andalasia after ending their date at the ball, which Robert and Nancy also attend. Narissa, who has been spying from Andalasia, decides to follow and kill Giselle herself after Nathaniel failed to poison her twice. Robert and Giselle share a dance with each other, with both Edward and Nancy noticing their obvious attraction to each other. Giselle and Edward then prepare to leave, but Giselle feels sorrow at leaving Robert behind. Narissa appears as the old hag and offers the last poisoned apple to Giselle, promising "sweet dreams and happy endings." Giselle takes a bite and falls to the floor unconscious.
Narissa attempts to escape with Giselle's body but is stopped by Edward. Nathaniel, realizing Narissa was using him and never loved him, reveals her plot. Robert realizes that true love's kiss (something Giselle often discussed) is the only force powerful enough to break the apple's spell. After Edward's kiss fails to wake Giselle, he prompts Robert to do so instead. Robert kisses her just as the clock strikes twelve, Giselle awakens and the whole crowd cheers, with everyone else believing that the situation is a staged event for the ball. Narissa, however, furiously transforms into a giant blue
and takes Robert hostage, prompting much panic throughout the crowd. Giselle takes Edward's sword and pursues Narissa to the top of the building. Pip, who was freed by Edward, helps Giselle successfully defeat Narissa, who falls off of the building to the ground and explodes into magic glitter on impact.
A happy new life unfolds for everyone, showing Edward and Nancy - now animated - marrying in A Giselle running a successful fashion business and forming a happy family with Robert and M while Nathaniel and Pip each become successful authors about their personal experiences in the real world, leaving everyone with their own "happily ever after".
as Giselle
A princess-to-be and one of King Mart's eight daughters 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 " 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 si Lima describes her as "about 80% , with some traits borrowed from
from ... although her spunkiness comes from
from ." 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 but maintains her innocence and optimism.
as Robert Philip
A cynical, New York City divorce attorney who does not believe in true love or happily-ever-after, or that Giselle understands his daughter, Morgan. 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
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
to Adams and Marsden's more outrageous characters.
as Prince Edward
and athletic, yet good-hearted, prince who ends up confused with the world of New York once entering 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 Narissa. He is "very pure, very simple-minded and naive, but innocently narcissistic."
as Nathaniel
Nathaniel is a servant of Queen Narissa, who controls him through his infatuation with her 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. This is the first of two Disney films Timothy Spall has been in, the other being Tim Burton's
in which he was the voice of Bayard the Bloodhound.
as Nancy Tremaine
Robert's fiancee. Once Giselle falls in love with Robert, she falls for Edward and leaves with him. Menzel, who is well known for her Broadway musical roles in
(whose composer, , wrote the lyrics to the film's songs) and , was offered the role of Nancy Tremaine. 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 her acting talents alone." Nancy is a fashion designer and Robert's girlfriend. She is named after , the stepmother from . Menzel went on to play
in , during which she worked with director , who previously directed
with Lima in 1999.
Morgan is Robert's six-year-old daughter. Despite her father misunderstanding her and telling her otherwise, she believes in fairy tales and believes that magic exists.
as Queen Narissa
Queen Narissa is Edward's evil stepmother and King Mart's archenemy, 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
Bennett provided the voice for the hand drawn animated Pip in the animated segment while Lima provided the voice for the computer-generated Pip in the live-action segment. Pip, a
friend of Giselle who has no trouble expressing himself through speech in Andalasia, loses his ability to speak in the real world and must communicate by acting.
as himself
singing "" at the ball while Robert and Giselle dance together as do Edward and Nancy.
as the Troll from Andalasia who tried to eat Giselle
Several actresses/actors who have played characters in Disney films have :
a soap opera character. O'Hara provided the speaking and singing voice of
Robert's secretary. Benson provided the speaking and singing voice of
in ; she also voiced the various
as Pregnant Woman with Kids
Kuhn provided the singing voice of the
as the Narrator
Andrews played the
as well as appearing in
series as Queen Clarisse Renaldi and Michaela Collins
as Mr. Banks
a male client during a divorce case. Isiah later appeared in the 2016 remake of
as Sheriff Dentler.
The initial script of Enchanted, written by , was bought by Disney's
and / Productions for a reported sum of $450,000 in September 1997. However, it was thought to be unsuitable for
because it was "a racier R-rated movie". To the frustration of Kelly, the screenplay was rewritten several times, first by Rita Hsiao and then by . The film was initially scheduled to be released in 2002 with
as director but he withdrew due to "creative differences" between the producers and him. In 2001, director
was set to direct the film but he left soon after, later working with Disney and
franchise.
became the film's director in 2003, while
were hired by Disney to rewrite the script once again. At the time, Disney considered offering the role of Giselle to
or . However, the project did not take off.
On May 25, 2005,
reported that
had been hired as director and Bill Kelly had returned to the project to write a new version of the script. 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. After Lima showed them to , the chairman of the , he received the green light for the project and a budget of $85 million. 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.
Enchanted is the first feature-length Disney live-action/traditional animation hybrid since Disney's
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. T it begins in 2.35:1 when the
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 cartoon sequences. When this movie was aired on televised networks, the beginning of the movie (minus the logo and opening credits) was shown in the remainder of the movie was shown in high definition when it becomes live-action. Lima oversaw the direction of both the live-action and animation sequences, which were being produced at the same time. 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.
Out of the film's 107 minutes of running time, ten of the approximately 13 minutes of animation are at the beginning of the film. Lima tried to "cram every single piece of Disney iconic imagery" that he could into the first ten minutes, which were done in
(in contrast to computer-generated ) as a tribute to past Disney fairy tale films such as , , and . It was the first Disney film theatrically released in America to feature traditional cel animation since
(2005). This film, although quite different in terms of plot from any previous Disney film, also contained obvious homages to other Disney films of the distant past, such as , , , , and . As most of Disney's cel animation artists were laid off after the
boom of the late 1990s, the 13 minutes of animation were not done in-house but by the independent -based company
Animation, which was started by noted lead
. Baxter had previously worked for , bringing to life many memorable Disney animated characters like
Although Lima wanted the animation to be , he wanted Enchanted to have a style of its own. Baxter's team decided to use
as a starting point. For Giselle, the hand-drawn animated character had to be "a cross between
and a classic . And not a caricature." Seeing Giselle as "a forest girl, an innocent nymph with flowers in her hair" and "a bit of a hippie", the animators wanted her to be "flowing, with her hair and clothes. Delicate." For Prince Edward, Baxter's team "worked the hardest on him to make him look like the actor" because princes "in these kinds of movies are usually so bland." Many prototypes were made for Narissa as Baxter's team wanted her face to "look like . And the costumes had to align closely to the live-action design."
To maintain continuity between the two media, Lima brought in costume designer Mona May during the early stages of the film's production so the costumes would be aligned in both the animated and live-action worlds. He also shot some live-action footage of Amy Adams as Giselle for the animators to use as reference, which also allowed the physical movement of the character to match in both worlds. Test scenes completed by the animators were shown to the actors, allowing them to see how their animated self would move.
during filming in .
Principal photography began in April 2006 and ended in July 2006. Because of the sequence setting, the live action scenes are filmed in New York City. However, shooting in New York became problematic as it was in a "constant state of new stores, scaffolding and renovation".
The first scene in New York, which features Giselle emerging from a manhole in the middle of , was filmed on location in the center of the square. Because of the difficulties in controlling the crowd while filming in , general pedestrians were featured in the scene with hired extras placed in the immediate foreground. Similarly, a crowd gathered to watch as
filmed their scenes in . However, the scene Lima found the most challenging to shoot was the musical number, "", in . The five-minute scene took 17 days to finish due to the changing weather, which allowed only seven sunny days for the scene to be filmed. The filming was also hampered at times by 's fans. The scene was choreographed by John O'Connell, who had worked on
beforehand, and included 300 extras and 150 dancers.
Many scenes were filmed at , which provided the three large stages that Enchanted needed at the same facility. Other outdoor locations included the
with a curved, heavily embellished, ivory-colored fa?ade located on the corner of
and , which is the residence of the film's characters Robert and Morgan.
Giselle's wedding dress on display at .
All the costumes in the film were designed by Mona May, who had previously worked on , , and . To create the costumes, May spent one year in pre-production working with animators and her costume department of 20 people, while she contracted with five outside costume shops in Los Angeles and New York City. She became involved in the project during the time when the animators are designing the faces and bodies of the characters as they had to "translate the costumes from two-dimensional drawings to live-action human proportion". Her goal was to keep the designs "Disneyesque to the core but bring a little bit of fashion in there and humor and make it something new". However, May admitted this was difficult "because they're dealing with iconic Disney characters who have been in the psyche of the viewing audience for so long".
For the character of Giselle, her journey to becoming a real woman is reflected in her dresses, which become less fairy tale-like as the film progresses. Her wedding dress at the beginning of the film directly contrasts her modern
at the end of the film. The
served to provide a "humongous contrast to the flat drawings" and to accentuate the image of a . In order to make the waist look small, the
are designed to be "extremely pouffy" and the
to be as big as possible, which included a metal
that holds up 20 layers of petticoats and ruffles. Altogether, 11 versions of the dress are made for filming, each comprised 200 yards (183 m) of silk satin and other fabric, and weighed approximately 40 pounds (18 kg). On the experience of wearing the wedding dress, Amy Adams described it as "grueling" since "the entire weight was on her , so occasionally it felt like she was in traction".
Unlike Giselle, Prince Edward does not adapt to the real world and , who plays Edward, had only one costume designed for him. May's aim was to try "not to lose Marsden in the craziness of the outfit... where he still looks handsome". The costume also included padding in the chest, , and crotch, which gave Marsden the "same exaggerated proportions as an animated character" and "posture – his back is straight, the sleeves are up and never collapse".
May was delighted that Lima "went for something more fashion-forward" with 's Queen Narissa. She decided to make her look like a "runway lady", wearing something that is "still Disney" but also "high fashion, like something
might design". Since Narissa appears in three media: , live-action, and , May had to make sure that the costume would be the same throughout in terms of "color, , and texture". The costume for Narissa consisted of a leather corset and skirt, which looked "reptilian", as well as a . Working with the animators, May incorporated parts of the 's f the cape was designed to look like , the
of the skirt wrap around like a tail and a
that would turn into
during Narissa's transformation into a dragon.
The film's score was written by accomplished songwriter and composer , who has worked on a number of
films previously. Fellow composer
wrote the lyrics for six songs, also composed by Menken. Menken and Schwartz previously worked together on the songs for
Menken became involved with the film in the early stages of the film's development and invited Schwartz to resume their collaboration. They began the songwriting process by searching for the right moments in the story in which a song moment was allowed. Schwartz found that it was easier to justify situations in which the characters would burst into songs in Enchanted than in other live-action musicals as its concept "allowed the characters to sing in a way that was completely integral to the plot of the story." The three songs Giselle sings contain references to earlier Disney films. The first song played in the film, "True Love's Kiss", was written to be "a send-up of, and an homage to, the style of those Disney animated features", namely, "I'm Wishing" () and "" (), during which Disney heroines sing about the joy of being loved. It posed a challenge for Menken and
because of the "many preconceptions with that number"; it had to be reflective of the era of
and . Accordingly, Amy Adams performed the first song in an operetta style in contrast to the Broadway style of the later songs.
Both "" and "" also pay tributes to past Disney songs. "Happy Working Song" pays a lyrical homage to such songs as "" (), "The Work Song" () "" () and “Making Christmas” (), and a musical homage to the
(with a self-parodic "Alan Menken style" middle eight). "That's How You Know" is a self-parody of Menken's compositions for his Disney features, specifically such big production numbers as "" () and "" (). To achieve this,
admitted he had to "push it a little bit further in terms of choices of words or certain lyrics" while maintaining "the classic Walt Disney sensibility". However, Menken noted that the songs he has written for Disney have always been "a little tongue-in-cheek". As the film progresses, the music uses more contemporary styles, which is heard through the adult ballad "" and the country/pop number "Ever Ever After" (sung by
as a voice-over).
Out of the six completed songs written and composed by Menken and Schwartz, five remained in the finished film. The title song, "Enchanted," a duet featuring
and , was the only song of Menken's and Schwartz's authorship and composition that was deleted from the movie.
The majority of the visual effects shots in Enchanted were done by
in Berkeley, California, who contributed a total of 320 shots. These shots involved virtual sets, environmental effects and
characters that performed alongside real actors, namely the animated animals during the "Happy Working Song" sequence, Pip and the Narissa dragon during the live-action portions of the film. CIS Hollywood was responsible for 36 visual effects shots, which primarily dealt with
and composites.
did four visual effects shots involving the pop-up book page-turn transitions while
Out of all the animals that appear in the "" sequence, the only real animals filmed on set were rats and pigeons. The real animals captured on film aided Tippett Studio in creating CG rats and pigeons, which gave dynamic performances such as having pigeons that carried brooms in their beaks and rats that scrubbed with toothbrushes. On the other hand, all the cockroaches were CG characters.
Pip, a chipmunk who can talk in the 2D world of Andalasia, loses his ability to communicate through speech in the real world so he must rely heavily on facial and body gestures. This meant the animators had to display Pip's emotions through performance as well as making him appear like a real chipmunk. The team at Tippett began the process of animating Pip by observing live chipmunks which were filmed in motion from "every conceivable angle", after which they created a photorealistic chipmunk through the use of 3D computer graphics software,
and Furrocious. When visual effects supervisor Thomas Schelesny showed the first animation of Pip to director Kevin Lima, he was surprised that he was a looking at CG character and not reference footage. To enhance facial expressions, the modelers gave Pip eyebrows, which real chipmunks do not have. During the filming of scenes in which Pip appears, a number of ways were used to indicate the physical presence of Pip. On some occasions, a small stuffed chipmunk with a wire armature on the inside was placed in the scene. In other situations, a rod with a small marker on the end or a laser pointer would be used to show the actors and cinematographer where Pip is.
Unlike Pip, the Narissa dragon was allowed to be more of a fantasy character while still looking like a living character and a classic Disney villain. The CG dragon design was loosely based on a traditional Chinese dragon and Susan Sarandon's live-action witch. When filming the scene which sees the transformation of Narissa from a woman into a dragon, a long pole was used to direct the extras' eyelines instead of a laser pointer. Set pieces were made to move back and forth in addition to having a computer-controlled lighting setup and a repeatable head on the camera that were all synchronized together. In the film's final sequence, in which Narissa climbs the
while clutching Robert in her claws, a greenscreen rig was built to hold Patrick Dempsey in order to film his face and movements. The rig was a "puppeteering" approach that involved a robotic arm being controlled by three different floor effects artists.
The film was distributed by
to 3,730 theaters in the United States. It was distributed worldwide by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International to over 50 territories around the world and topped the box office in several countries including the United Kingdom and Italy. It is the first movie to be released under the Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures name following the retirement of the previous .
Disney had originally planned to add Giselle to the
line-up, as was shown at a 2007 Toy Fair where the Giselle doll was featured with packaging declaring her with Disney Princess status but decided against it when they realized they would have to pay for lifelong rights to ' image. While Giselle is not being marketed as one of the Disney Princesses, Enchanted merchandise was made available in various outlets with Adams' animated likeness being used on all Giselle merchandise. Giselle led the 2007 Hollywood Holly-Day Parade at . She was also featured in the 2007
with the official Disney Princesses.
was released for
and mobile phones in addition to a
title, Enchanted: Once Upon Andalasia, which is a prequel to the film, about Giselle and Pip rescuing Andalasia from a magic spell.
Enchanted was released on
on March 18, 2008, in the United States. While Enchanted topped the DVD sales chart on the week of its release in the United States, narrowly defeating the DVD sales of , the Blu-ray Disc sales of I Am Legend were nearly four times the number of Blu-ray Disc sales of Enchanted. The DVD was released in United Kingdom and Europe on April 7, 2008, and in Australia on May 21, 2008.
The bonus features included on both the DVD and Blu-ray Disc are "Fantasy Comes to Life", a three-part behind-the-scenes feature including "Happy Working Song", "That's How You Know" and "A Blast at the Ball"; six
with brief introductions by director Kevin L "Pip's Predicament: A Pop-Up Adventure", a short in pop- and Carrie Underwood's music video for "Ever Ever After". Featured on the Blu-ray disc only is a trivia game titled "The D Files" that runs throughout the movie with high scoring players given access to videos "So Close", "Making Ever Ever After" and "True Love's Kiss". In the United States, certain DVDs at
stores contain a bonus DVD with a 30-minute-long making-of documentary titled Becoming Enchanted: A New Classic Comes True. This DVD is also sold with certain DVDs at
stores in the United Kingdom.
Enchanted earned $7,967,766 on the day of its release in the United States, placing at #1. It was also placed at #1 on Thanksgiving Day, earning $6,652,198 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. Its earnings over the five-day holiday exceeded projections by $7 million. Ranking as the second-highest Thanksgiving opening after , 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.
In its second weekend, Enchanted was also the #1 film, grossing a further $16,403,316 at 3,730 locations for a per theater average of $4,397. It dropped to #2 in its third weekend, with a gross of $10,709,515 in 3,520 theaters for a per theater average of $3,042. It finished its fourth weekend at #4 with a gross of $5,533,884 in 3,066 locations for a per theater average of $1,804. Enchanted earned a gross of $127,807,262 in the United States and Canada as well a total of $340,487,652 worldwide. It was the 15th highest grossing film worldwide released in 2007.
As of September 2014, the movie review aggregate website
had tallied the film at an overall 93% approval rating (based on 187 reviews, with 174 "fresh" and 13 "rotten"), while
gave it a rating of 75 out of 100 based on 32 reviews. 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.
Amy Adams received praise for her role as Giselle.
Positive reviews praised the film's take on a classic Disney story, its comedy and musical numbers as well as the performance of its lead actress, .
gave the film three stars out of four, describing it as a "heart-winning musical comedy that skips lightly and sprightly from the lily pads of hope to the manhole covers of actuality" and one that "has a Disney willingness to allow fantasy into life". Film critics of
remarked on the film's ability to cater for all ages. LA Weekly described the film as "the sort of buoyant, all-ages entertainment that Hollywood has been laboring to revive in recent years (most recently with ) but hasn't managed to get right until now" while Todd McCarthy of Variety commented, "More than Disney's strictly animated product, Enchanted, in the manner of the vast majority of Hollywood films made until the '60s, is a film aimed at the entire population – niches be damned. It simply aims to please, without pandering, without vulgarity, without sops to pop-culture fads, and to pull this off today is no small feat." Enchanted was the 's choice for Best Family Film of 2007 while Carrie Rickey of
named it the 4th best film of 2007.
all gave the film three out of four, while
gave the film a B grade. They cited that although the story is relatively predictable, the way in which the predictability of the film is part of the story, the amazingly extravagant musical numbers, along with the way in which Disney pokes fun at its traditional line of animated movies outweighs any squabbles about storyline or being unsure of what age bracket the film is made for. Michael Sragow of Baltimore Sun remarked that the film's "piquant idea and enough good jokes to overcome its uneven movie-making and uncertain tone", while Claudia Puig of USA Today stated that "though it's a fairly predictable fish-out-of-water tale (actually a princess-out-of-storybook saga), the casting is so perfect that it takes what could have been a ho-hum idea and renders it magical."
Amy Adams herself garnered many favorable reviews. Reviewers praised her singing ability and asserted that her performance, which was compared by some to her -nominated performance in , has made Adams a movie star, likening it to
effect on ' career. Similarly, film critics
and , who gave the film positive reviews on , emphasized the effect of Adams' performance on the film with remarks like "Amy Adams is this movie" and "Amy Adams shows how to make a comic cliché work like magic." However, both agreed that the final sequence involving the computer-generated dragon "bogged down" the film.
stated that the film was targeted at children but agreed with other reviewers that the "extremely game cast" was the film's best asset. It gave the film three out of five. TIME gave the film a C-, stating that the film "cannibalizes Walt's vault for jokes" and "fails to find a happy ending that doesn't feel two-dimensional". Similarly, Peter Bradshaw of
commented that the film "assumes a beady-eyed and deeply humourless sentimentality" and that Adams' performance was the "only decent thing in this overhyped family movie covered in a cellophane shrink-wrap of corporate Disney plastic-ness". Bradshaw gave the film two out of five.
Date of ceremony
Recipients and nominees
"" – Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz
"" – Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz
Excellence in Fantasy Film
Best Film - Family
Alan Menken
That's How You Know - Alan Menken
December 21, 2007
Best Actress
"That's How You Know" – Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz
Best Animation/Family Feature Film
""- Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz
"That's How You Know" - Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz
Best Sound Editing: Music in a Musical Feature Film
Kenneth Karman, Jermey Raub and Joanie Diener
Best Female Performance
Best Comedic Performance
Amy Adams and
Ohio Film Critics Association
January 11, 2008
Best Actress
Phoenix Film Critics Society
December 18, 2007
Best Live Action Family Film
Thomas Schelesny, Matt Jacobs and Tom Gibbons
Alan Menken
Choice Movie Actress: Comedy
(also for )
Utah Film Critics Association
December 28, 2007
Best Actress
Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture
Thomas Schelesny, Matt Jacobs and Tom Gibbons
Main article:
According to director Kevin Lima, "thousands" of references are made to past and future works of Disney in Enchanted, which serve as both a parody of and a "giant love letter to Disney classics". It took almost eight years for
to greenlight the production of the film because it "was always quite nervous about the tone in particular". As Lima worked with , 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.
While Disney animators have occasionally inserted a Disney character into background shots, for example,
appears in a crowd in , they have avoided "mingling characters" from other Disney films for fear of weakening their individual mythologies. In Enchanted, characters from past Disney films are openly seen, such as the appearances of
in the 2D animation portion of the film. Disney references are also made through camera work, , , music and dialogue. Obvious examples include the use of poisoned apples from
and True Love's Kiss from Snow White and . , 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.
In February 2010,
reported that
planned to film a sequel with
producing again. Jessie Nelson was attached to write the screenplay and
to direct. Disney hoped the cast members from the first film would return and for a release as early as 2011.
On January 12, 2011, composer
was asked about the sequel in an interview. His reply was, "I’ve heard things but there's nothing yet. I don’t know much about what’s happening with that. Honestly, I don’t know what the studio wants to do next. I presume there will be some future projects for me to work on. I love doing that, I really do. But I’m not frustrated that it isn’t one of them. At the moment I have a lot of stage things happening and I’m busy enough with that, so I really don’t need more on my plate."
On March 28, 2011, in an interview for his latest film, ,
was asked about the sequel.
I don't know. I think that the clock is ticking on that one.
and I are both saying, "If there's going to be a sequel, we're not getting any younger." Since we play sort of ageless animated characters. Hopefully we do. That was something really special and I'd love to come back and do another. I've heard the same things you've heard. There's a script out there somewhere and there's talk of it, but I never believe it until I see the script and learned we're making that film. So I don't know. Too many eggs in that basket.
As of July 2014, Disney had hired screenwriters J. David Stem and
to write a script for a sequel and also hired
to direct the film. In October 2016,
reported that
entered negotiations to direct the sequel, titled Disenchanted, and that Amy Adams would reprise her role with filming scheduled to begin in summer 2017.
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