Family Corner #2: “Enchanted”

Released in 2007, Enchanted is one of my most beloved childhood films. Here are all the reasons why it is a great choice for your next family movie night.

Summary

In the fairy-tale kingdom of Andalasia lives Giselle, a young woman who dreams of finding her prince and living happily ever after. Destiny will bring charming Prince Edward her way. After he heroically saves her from a troll, the couple falls in love and makes the arrangements to get married right away.

But there is one person who is not happy with the match: Queen Narissa, Edward’s stepmother. For years, she has strived to prevent Edward from getting married, unwilling to lose the throne. So before the wedding, she sets a trap for Giselle, exiling her to the real world, a place with no happily ever afters.

Giselle arrives in modern-day New York, where she wanders completely lost until she is aided by Robert, a lawyer and single dad.

Her experiences in the real world introduce our protagonist to a lot of negative and painful human emotions, but they also show that happily ever afters can be found in the most unexpected places.

Why Should You Watch it?

This was one of my favorite movies growing up. To this day, if I happen to find it on TV, I leave whatever I’m doing to watch it again.

Enchanted plays with many elements borrowed from other Disney princesses, half parodying and half honoring them. So we get animals helping with domestic chores, poison apples, a true love’s kiss that breaks curses, and musical numbers. It also features an amazing cast that includes Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Irina Menzel and Susan Sarandon, among others.

Even though it is a movie made for kids, it has many things that make it suitable for an adult audience, making it a great option to enjoy as a family.

The first minutes of the film, when we are introduced to Giselle and her life in Andalasia, are animated. A few scenes are enough to create that visual impact and establish the ways of that fairy tale world. That is why, when our protagonist arrives in the real world, the differences feel very striking.

While Enchanted has musical numbers, it is not a proper musical. In Andalasia people communicate their emotions through songs, so those scenes are on purpose to highlight how different and magical Giselle is. And they are excellent.

The humor in the film still works very well. The project as a whole has aged wonderfully.

Princess Giselle, The Perfect Female Protagonist

Giselle is an interesting and lovable character, and it is a pleasure to follow her story. Amy Adams deserves a lot of credit for this. It is impossible to imagine any other actress in the role.

As all her notions about life were learned from fairy tales, Giselle is very innocent. She believes that everyone is good and that everything can be solved with some positivity. Little by little, the character begins to experience all the complexity of human emotions, good and bad, acquiring a more realistic view of life.

This change is also depicted in her outfits throughout the film. When she first appears in the real world, she is wearing a very extravagant wedding dress. Once she starts making her own clothes (to the detriment of Robert’s curtains and carpets), we see how her dresses become progressively less princess-like as she begins to adapt to the real world. Still keeping the feminine and floral style, of course. The modern and sober dress she wears to the ball shows her full transformation into a human and her hopelessness regarding happy endings at that point in the story.

Good Character Development And a Memorable Cast

Her relationship with the rest of the characters, especially Robert and Morgan, is key to Giselle’s development, and they are considerably well-written.

At the beginning of the film, Robert is the polar opposite of Giselle. He is raising his daughter by himself after his ex-wife abandoned them, so believing in the power of love and dreams coming true is hard for him. That is why he initially finds Giselle’s optimism and cheerfulness so irritating. As he spends more time with her, he realizes how much he needs those things in his life and begins to fall in love with her.

She also forms a close bond with six-year-old Morgan, who longs for a mother figure that can balance her no-nonse father.

To be honest, all the characters, even the supporting ones, are incredible. James Marsden and Timothy Spall’s performances will make you laugh, and Susan Sarandon is perfect as the villain.

What About The Sequel?

In 2022, more than a decade after the film’s theatrical release, a sequel to Giselle’s story landed on Disney+ with the name Disenchanted. And, of course, it did not do justice to the original. In fact, it is a complete disservice to everything Enchanted stood for.

However, all my reasons for disliking it will require a separate article. All I have to say is that, to me, Enchanted is a stand-alone film.

A True Modern Classic

Watching Enchanted as an adult, I realize Giselle’s journey mirrors the process of growing up. Many of the things we believed in our childhood have to be left behind, and we tend to fall into a more cynical view of life. But if there is something we can take from this film, that would be that even though the real world is far from a fairy tale, it is possible to find our own happily ever after in it, as imperfect as it may be.

If you’re looking for family-friendly films, with endearing characters and timeless topics, please watch Enchanted. I could not recommend it more.