Movie Musings: Disney and More

Candid about Enchanted

Throughout the history of the Walt Disney Studios, incredible forms of technology have been introduced to the world that have never ceased to amaze film audiences. From the “Ink and Paint,” style on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), to the Xerox Process on 101 Dalmatians (1961), to the “live actors in an animated background” style on Mary Poppins (1964), to the very first computer-animated movie Toy Story (1995), Disney has innovated to produce exciting new movies. In 2007, Disney produced their first feature-length movie-musical that was the reverse of “Mary Poppins.” “Enchanted,” instead brought to life animated characters in a live-action background. While the same techniques had been applied to the movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) nearly 20 years earlier, “Enchanted,” was the first movie-musical consisting of those techniques. “Enchanted,” has several remarkable connections to other Disney films, and I thought we could explore those today.

The film tells the story of Princess Giselle (played by Amy Adams), how falls in love with Prince Edward (played by James by Marsden) in the animated kingdom of Andalasia. But she gets forced out of the kingdom by the evil Queen Narissa (played by Susan Sarandon) and falls down a wishing well where she ends up in the colorful, yet sophisticated, New York City.  There she falls in love with lawyer, Robert Philip (played by Patrick Dempsey).  It didn’t win any awards, but it was a huge hit with audiences.

Alan Menken, composer of “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and many other Disney classics, reunited with lyricist/good friend Stephen Schwartz to compose the songs for “Enchanted.” Schwartz collaborated with Menken on the songs for “Pocahontas,” and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). Schwartz and Menken received 3 Oscar Nominations for their work on “Enchanted,” for the songs: “Happy Working Song,” “That’s How You Know,” and “So Close.” The film also received 2 Golden Globe Nominations for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy for Amy Adams and Best Original Song “That’s How You Know.”

Some interesting trivia about the movie: 

In addition to Amy Adams playing Princess Giselle, the film featured cameos by other actresses who have voiced Disney Princesses: Jodie Benson, best known throughout the world as the voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid (1989), played Sam, Robert’s secretary in “Enchanted.” Paige O’Hara who voiced Belle in Beauty and the Beast (1991) played Angela, a soap opera character who is seen in the hotel room where Prince Edward is flipping through the television channels and comes to a soap opera parodying “Beauty and the Beast.” Judy Kuhn who provided the singing voice of Pocahontas in Pocahontas (1995) played the pregnant woman with kids in the scene where Prince Edward goes in search of Giselle. 

Idina Menzel, who would later go on to voice Queen Elsa in Frozen (2013), played Nancy Tremaine, Robert’s fiancé, who interestingly was named after Cinderella’s stepmother, Lady Tremaine, from Cinderella (1950).

Timothy Spall who played Nathaniel, Queen Narissa’s right-hand-man, went on to voice Bayard the Bloodhound in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016). (In both those films, Johnny Depp portrayed the Mad Hatter. Depp co-starred with Spall in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)). 

Kevin Lima, who directed “Enchanted,” has worked on a variety of animated and live-action films for Disney. Lima worked as a character designer on Oliver and Company (1988) and “The Little Mermaid,” and directed A Goofy Movie (1995), Tarzan (1999), and 102 Dalmatians (2000). In “Enchanted,” Lima also provided the voice of Pip the Chipmunk in the New York Scenes.

Julie Andrews of Mary Poppins (1964) fame, narrated “Enchanted.” In the “That’s How You Know,” sequence there is an elderly man dancing in the background who played a chimney sweep in “Mary Poppins.” 

In the scene where Edward is searching for Giselle on the New York tourist busses, there is a scene with a poster for Superman Returns (2006) in the background which starred James Marsden who plays “Enchanted’s” Prince Edward. In that same scene, there is also a poster for the Broadway musical Wicked, which starred Idina Menzel in the original cast.

A couple more fun notes:

Queen Narissa turns into a dragon at the very end of the movie, just like Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty (1959).

Before Giselle and Edward go on their “date” in New York, there is a brief moment where Edward is looking at his reflection in his sword and grins into it, just like Gaston does in the “Belle” sequence in “Beauty and the Beast.”

“Enchanted,” truly is one of Disney’s most unique films. There are currently plans for a possible sequel to the film at Disney, which is to be titled Disenchanted. The special technology of this film helps continue Disney’s magical legacy of family entertainment.