Wow. Enchanted. I loved the premise of this movie from the beginning actualy. I thought it would prove to be very good.

I can't quite get myself as to how cleaning roaches and pigeans might be considered amazing. But I just don't know, it sounds kind of weird. But think about it folks. Jim is the guy who even criticized Cars as being a crappy movie. So he might be onto something.

I'm just not sure. We'll see what happens I guess. But the truth be told. This movie does sound very interesting. And Kevin Lima has been involved with some high profile projects for the mouse. I'm hoping this film does well, I really am. I can't wait to watch it either!!!! The film I'm most excited about is Pirates 3, then theres Ratatouille, and then enchanted, then meet the robinsons, then theres national treasure. Disney is going to have a good year this year. haha. I can tell by their movies!

Take a little "Cool World" where an animated girl becomes "real", mix in MTV's "Joe's Apartment," the definitive singing and dancing cockroach movie, trace the hag from Snow White, and *voila*.    Marketing needs to worry about the headline: "Disney's latest animated success, not made by Disney - again."

I am far far away from the target demographic, and I don't see anything here that will make me buy a ticket. It should do very well at the box office, with the chick-flick November market all to itself. Seinfeld's Bee Movie comes out on Nov 2, and Beowulf is Nov 16, so the boys will be animated out - it's up to the girls how well Enchanted does.    

While the movie does look to be very good (and very traditional Disney), I just know Jim is highly overestimating it's box office potential. These type of films don't usually go beyond the $100m number. Just look at the grosses of films like Cinderella Story & Ever After. I just think he's putting too much pressure on this film to succeed.

Whatever works to get Disney 2d animation off the ground again has my support. Even if it isn't animated by Disney.

Princess Diaries + $30M = Box Office for "Enchanted"

I loved Splash

I've always been excited for this, and I laughed throughout reading this article.  I'm easily amused, but this sounds like such a clever and fun movie!  A lot of these spoilers reminded me of "Snow White" and "Cinderella" both of which I love, but, in this case, somehow that's okay (all princesses have some things in common).  I can't wait to learn more about this film and to see it in November!!!  Thanks for the great article, Jim!

I am really quite looking forward to this film. My only worry is that it becomes perhaps too cyncial and Disney ends up mocking itself just to compete with the success of Shrek.

Finding ways to take on their own success can only be a good thing.  It's clear that the Disney Princess franchise is hugely successful.  So taking some time out to not take themselves seriously could win dividends.

My only concern is unclear target audience?

Is there enough romantic comedy to be a date movie?  Is it not enough "princess" to appeal to the 6-11 year old girl set?  

Rufuf3696 -- Not animated by Disney?

I am happy to reassure you that your information isn't entirely accurate.

Where do you think James Baxter and his team came from? I guarantee you most of the artists who are animating "Enchanted" are the same folks who worked on "Lion King", "Tarzan" and "Beauty & the Beast", et al. Maybe these scenes weren't penciled under the Sorcerer Hat roof on Riverside Drive, but it's the same talent that brought all our recent favorites (and the disappointments, we have to admit) to life.

(Yes, I realized it's the same as saying "Prince of Egypt" was a Disney film since all the principles emmigrated from the House of Mouse. That's not what I mean. I'm not being literal, just offering some encouragement of Disney's re-imergance into traditional animation.)

I think audiences will really connect with this Disney-going-back-to-classic-concepts movie. But I think that it will either be a HUGE box office blockbuster or a HUGE box office bomb. I don't think it can be a moderate success, you either connect with it or not.

I hope the animation by James Baxter Animation is up to par, because the first few minutes of a movie a very important to set the tone of the whole movie.

That "Happy Working" scene sound GREAT!!! :D I'm so looking forward to this movie, can't wait till its November.

Whatever, Haters, this movie sounds cute and fun. Plus, I'm a sucker for a musical so I'd be there no matter what.

Also "The Happy Working Song" segment description actually made me laugh out loud. Just the thought of this beautiful princess singing while flocks of pigeons and roaches and rats are brought in...that's just clever.

I think this movie will be great - at the box office... it will appeal to nearly anyone who has seen a princess film (young or old)... and that is about everybody... or greys anatomy... (where dempsey kinda plays a 'prince'  like character any way... "Mcdreamy" = "Prince Charming" .... ;) )  The 'older' girls will go for dempsey and the kitsch factor... they will remember growing up with ariel, belle and jasmine... and will remember the 'rules' that a fairy tale movie must abide by...  

the cynicals amoung us will enjoy the movie as it proves just how unrealistic the princess movies actually are... as disney itself takes a stab at their formula and makes fun of its own creations - which other studios (dreamwork's shrek anybody...?) have already done so successfully....  

any body who laughed at snow white's cleaning routine or the stereotypical 'I want song', 'Love song', 'Villian song' (lets not forget that sarandon sang in Rocky Horror...) formula will probably like this movie...

and lets not forget that we have alan menken thrown in for good measure... to make fun of his own songs no doubt too!

I think this will be the next Who framed Roger Rabbit? movie... (I am hoping that perhaps Giselle has an animated sidekick, or that there are animated/live action fights towards the end or something...?) ... im guessing that robert and giselle will end up happily ever after in princess land... or prince charming and his new girl... they will probably borrow from Beauty and the Beast in that scene... :)

any way, as you can tell i am excited...!

I think this will do really good in the box office.  It has a lot of good things going for it. It has the princess/romantic comedy that will tweens will love.  It also doesn't hurt that it has Patrick Dempsey in it, which with the the success of Grey's Anatomy, will pull in a lot of people.  And the fact that this will be the first time we see some traditional animation in a few years definitely helps this movie.  And come on, who doesn't love some Alan Menken music!  I think I'm the most excited about hearing some of the songs that will come out of this movie. "The Happy Working Song" sounds great.

Sounds like Snow White meets Splash to me ... Could be good ... I'm sure it'll be a Princess Diary kinda hit ... I'm not in the target demo, so I could care less, but it'll probably do well.

The slogan, "A classic fairy tale for the real world", would be the wiser way to go, to distance this film from anything regarding Shrek.

It sounds from the premise alone, Disney has all of the essential elements in place for this movie to be a real hit. It has: 1) a REAL princess tale, 2) Broadway-like songs (a perfect fit for its Manhattan setting), 3) a cast where celebs are only PART of the main entree, and most importantly, 4) the long-awaited return of hand-drawn animation.  

Subject this to an audience who, in only a few short years, have become fed up with 1) non-fairy tales, 2) joke pretaining only to pop culture references or bodily effluences, 3) casts carried ONLY by all-star celebs and not their characters' personalities, 4) and the overreliance on CGI animation.

It's very refreshing that Disney is going back to the basics.

I agree with you, semaj86. You hit something I hadn't thought about yet.

I concur with semaj86.  

CG animation is cool (don't get me wrong)... but so is claymation.  However, both are best served in small doses.  Like, ever 5 years or so.  Traditional, hand drawn, hand painted, 2D animation is where it's at and I, for one, am glad to see Disney slowly returning to this medium.

Plus, it didn't make any sense for Disney's CG division to even exist after the purchase of Pixar... right?

Thanks for the sneek peek.  I'm getting steadily psyched for this movie.  And I, too, think it'll be a blockbuster.  Little girls will go for the princess angle and adult women will go for the romcom angle plus it features McDreamy so it'll be advertised like crazy during Grey's Anatomy (the 2nd biggest show on tv).  And men will be dragged along (and hopefully be pleasantly surprised).  It's pretty much an automatic slam dunk.  Plus soundtrack sales will be big, which will help drive repeat box office.

AND "talented newcomer Amy Adams"?

She was nominated for an Oscar last year.  Sure, it was for a movie ("Junebug") that few people saw, but she was also in the hits "Taladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" and "Catch Me if You Can".  Though far from a household name, she's been working steadily for years.  Her performance in "Junebug" was really quite amazing.  It's a challenging film for some to get through, but watching it you can see why Disney cast her as a fairytale princess.  So I'm not arguing with the talented part, just the newcomer part.

Also in Enchanted is Idina Menzel who played Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) in Broadway's "Wicked" and Maureen in "RENT".  So it should be a great cast with great vocals.

Amy Adams is NOT a newcomer...  this line seemed odd to me as well... she was great in Catch Me If You Can... and Taladega Nights... She is an Oscar Nominated actress...

Pity that 'Andalusia' is a real place in Spain too... may confuse the kids abit... lol... great, now disney will have a lawsuit on their hands... :)

Andalasia, not Andalusia. No law suit.

Um, why would there be a lawsuit if they used a real place? Media whining, maybe, but an actual lawsuit?

I don't know. Personally, I'm excited, but I don't know if it is the type of movie that will pull in the crowds that it will deserve, just based on what people will view it as: A Cinderella Story. Hopefully not. It looks like it will be a wonderful movie, I hope it is recognized if it turns out to be.

Enchanted sounds (and looks) to be an awesome film. It has a lot going for it and targets a few different audiences:

1)Musical lovers

2)Disney lovers

3)animation lovers

4)Patrick Dempsey lovers

5)romantic comedy lovers

Although the story is cliched (basicly Blast from the Past backwards as well as many other movie plots), I think Disney will have a good hit on their hands. I'm not sure it will be a huge hit. Teens I think will not be all that interested as compared with High School Musical. But the movie will probably be a hit none the less.

And speaking of Ratatouille...what about it? Ever since Wall E has been announced, it seems everyone's waiting for that movie to come out. The rat has been all but forgotten.

Jim Hill talks about the numerous problems that this new animated feature currently faces. Chief among these is John Lasseter's allegedly desire to assign a co-director to work with first time helmer Keane and/or replace Keane entirely in order to get

Jim Hill talks about the numerous problems that this new animated feature currently faces. Chief among these is John Lasseter's allegedly desire to assign a co-director to work with first time helmer Keane and/or replace Keane entirely in order to get

i admit i wasn't too excited when i first heard about this film, but the more i hear about it the more intrigued i am. Presently i am excited about this film now and think it could be a hit- not quite this generation's "Roger Rabbit" but a very solid film.

Some of the gags sound funny and the actually narrative thread that holds the film together sounds solid. I like the homages to Snow white (wicked witch, princess, prince charming- design and concept) and the respect it pays to Disney's legacy as well as seeming to look at Disney enjoying its first decade of the 21st century.

Lets hope this project turns out well.

Did anyone else notice how similar Queen Narissa in both Queen form and the old lady form look like the Evil Queen and the Old Lady from "Snow White"? I think they're rather unoriginal creations.

mattyp0119

>>>Did anyone else notice how similar Queen Narissa in both Queen form and the old lady form look like the Evil Queen and the Old Lady from "Snow White"? I think they're rather unoriginal creations.<<<

I think we all realized it. That's kind of the point. It's supposed to be a traditional Disney movie come to life. The similarities between Snow White are intentional. That's the entire premise of the film.