Will “Enchanted” clean up at the box office this Thanksgiving?

Jim Hill

18 years ago

Giselle28 writes in to say:

I really enjoyed the stories that you recently posted on JHM about “Ratatouille” and “WALL-E.” But when are you going to write about the movie that I’m most looking forward to this year, “Enchanted” ? Do you have any new spoilers to share with your readers about this new Kevin Lima film?

You could say that.

Last month, I was lucky enough to see a five minute long excerpt from this live action / animated romantic comedy with music. And based on what I saw, “Enchanted” could really be something special.

Of course, before I can discuss this scene, I first have to explain the basic premise behind Walt Disney Pictures’ big holiday release for 2007. And — in order to do that — I’m going to have to reveal a certain portion of this motion picture’s plot.

So if you really don’t want to know anything about “Enchanted” before it hits theaters on November 21st, now would be a very good time to bail out of JHM.

Still with us? Okay. Here goes ….

“Enchanted” opens in the animated fairy tale land of Andalusia. Where the beautiful Princess Giselle …

… has fallen for Edward, the handsome prince of this realm.

Unfortunately, these two’s plans to wed upsets Edward’s mother, the wicked Queen Narissa.

Since she thinks that no woman is ever good enough for her son, Narissa uses her talent for the dark arts to trick Giselle. After first disguising herself as an ugly old crone, the queen then lures this naive young girl (On her wedding day, of all days) to what she says is a magical wishing well.

But as Giselle is getting ready to make her wish, Narissa actually pushes her into the well. Which turns out to be this portal between the fairy tale realm and our world. Which is why this formerly animated beauty eventually emerges from a manhole in the middle of Times Square as a real-live human being.

Or should I say a real-live Disney Princess? Which means that Giselle is an absolute innocent among all of these jaded New Yorkers. Trying to apply what she knows of her world in our own. Which is why — as this sweet young thing bumps into a disgruntled little person as she crosses Eighth Avenue — Giselle calls after him, saying “Grumpy? Is that you?”

Finally, seeing this fish-out-of-water flail her way around NYC, handsome divorce attorney Robert Phillips (Played by Patrick Dempsey of “Grey’s Anatomy” fame) takes pity on poor Giselle (The human version of this sweet character is played by talented newcomer Amy Adams). Which is why Phillips invites the girl to come stay at his apartment with Robert’s daughter, Morgan (Rachel Covey).

As this cynical attorney and former toon spend more & more time together, Giselle find herself falling for Robert. And Phillips also develops strong feelings for this rather bizarre but extremely beautiful young woman.

But what Giselle doesn’t know is that Prince Edwards has decided to mount a rescue mission for his missing bride. So he too jumps into that magical wishing well back in Andalusia, zooms through the portal and eventually emerged in modern day Manhattan as a really-for-real flesh & blood handsome prince.

And if Prince Edwards has journeyed into the human world, can his mother — the evil Queen Narissa — be all that far behind?

Okay. That brings you up to speed on the basic plot and premise of “Enchanted.” But what the above bare-bones outline really doesn’t do is reveal how sweet & smart this Barry Sonnenfeld production is. How cleverly it takes those fairy tale conventions that we’ve seen in Disney’s “Snow White,” “Cinderella” and “Sleeping Beauty” and then reuses them in new & clever ways.

Take — for example — what happens when Giselle decides to show her gratitude to Robert by cleaning up his filthy apartment. She starts out as every Disney princess does when she faces a situation like this. By bursting into song.

And — of course — Giselle’s singing voice is so beautiful that it automatically lures all of these creatures out of the forest. And they immediately pitch in and start to help the princess clean up Robert’s apartment.

But let’s remember that this is New York, folks. And there are no forests nearby. Just a somewhat dingy inner city park. So who comes to Giselle’s aid but rats, pigeons and roaches.

Still, this Disney Princess isn’t bothered by the somewhat shabby assortment of creatures who come to help her. She’s just grateful that they’re there. So Giselle just keeps singing as this sea of roaches come swirling up out of the drain and then remove all of the soap scum from the tub. And as a dozen or more rats jump into the kitchen sink and begin scrubbing the dirty dishes.

And throughout this effects-laden sequence, Giselle dances around the apartment singing “The Happy Working Song.” Which is one of the five new tunes that Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz have written for “Enchanted.” Though “The Happy Working Song” may eventually receive special recognition from musical theater fans. Given that it’s the very first uptempo number (To my knowledge, anyway) that rhymes “determine” with “vermin.”

FYI: All of the CG critters that help Giselle clean up Robert’s apartment? They’re being rendered by the effects wizards at Tippett Studio. That Berkeley, CA.-based FX operation is handling the computer-animated characters who appear in the live action portions of this Walt Disney Pictures release.

Anywho … Given how witty and well-staged the “Happy Working Song” sequence of this film is, I’m beginning to think that “Enchanted” (Which Disney is already promoting as “A classic fairy tale for the real world” as well as “A modern day fairy tale with a twist”) could be a really huge hit for the Mouse House. That it won’t be just traditional animation fans who will be turning out in droves to see the wonderful work that James Baxter’s team has done on this ambitious live action / animated project. But also teens & romantic comedy fans, who will be won over by Bill Kelly‘s clever screenplay.

I know that — in the weeks and months ahead — all eyes will be how well “Meet the Robinsons,” “Shrek the Third” and “Ratatouille” do. But trust me, folks. Come November of this year, “Enchanted” may be the one that really cleans up at the box office.

Your thoughts?