Thoughts on Enchanted
The storytelling for Enchanted is just spot on.
I have to give Disney credit because they know how to do fairytales better than anyone and they have also been telling stories for a LONG time, so they know how it works, and it really shows.
Not only did they pay a wonderful homage to classic Disney animations, but they did it in a way in which the audience could figure it out; everything had weight to it. It wasn't a random bunch of events, but rather a well-structured story in which each song, character, and situation had reason to be there. THAT'S good storytelling.
"You should sing to her!" - Giselle to Robert
This is a huge piece of dialogue.
Giselle tells Robert that in order to make up with Nancy, he should hold her close and sing to her because that will reassure her of his affections for her.
What's REALLY cool about all of this is at the Ball, when Robert and Giselle are dancing, I noticed that he sings the words to "So Close" aloud and then, in Giselle's ear, to which, she responds by smiling and leaning into him.
Robert sang to the love he wanted to remind of his affections.
"That's how she knows you love her"
Robert singing to Giselle also hit back to Giselle's song in the park of teaching Robert how Nancy will know that he loves her. Interestingly, though, it's Giselle to whom he applies that lesson learned.
For Robert to sing to Giselle, I took that as that's "how she knew he loved her".
I mean, the little things like Robert complimenting her (on the story she told Morgan about Pip intervening with Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf and on her dress during breakfast) and telling her that she looks beautiful added to it, but the way I saw it, it was the singing in her ear that was the clue to Giselle that Robert loved her, which is why after he saves her with True Love's Kiss, she says, "I knew it was you".
That's actually why I think "That's How You Know" is the biggest number in the movie. It's a BIG deal.
Nancy Rejected Grownup Girl Bonding Time
Even though, part of me wanted Robert to work things out with Nancy, it seems pretty clear to me that the way Enchanted ends is the way it should because I found Nancy to be a parallel to the first Mrs. Robert.
Robert tells Giselle that Morgan's mother left them and that's what Nancy does the morning that she is supposed to take Morgan to school. She walks away from spending time with Morgan and she walks away from Robert to get into the cab.
Giselle is the complete opposite.
She likes talking to Robert. She likes bonding with Morgan, telling her bedtime stories, and going shopping together. She is sad for both Robert and Morgan regarding the mother/wife leaving them. She thinks Morgan is "a lovely girl".
Giselle, initially, leaves with Prince Edward, but comes back. I thought it was significant that in the end, Giselle comes back for Robert and Morgan, which again, makes her the opposite of the first Mrs. Robert as well as Nancy.
Nancy ends up the "perfect fit" for Prince Edward because not only does she literally fit the shoe Giselle left behind (symbolic, much?), she has the desire for "romantic" things (as is shown when Robert buys them the Ball tickets) which is something that Edward is all about: calling Giselle "the love of his life" and his "heart's one desire", which makes Nancy swoon.
When Nancy sat on the floor to pick up the shoe, she plops down like a princess with her dress engulfing her, much in the same way Giselle does at the beginning of the film when she sits down with the old man, so to me, that was the moment when we are supposed to put it together that Nancy becomes the princess. Plus, Nancy ends up with the Princess curls at the end, while Giselle ends up with the straightened-NYC-modern-looking hair.
The Beginning is the End
I thought it was really clever that the setup at the beginning of the film in Andalasia with the troll trying to catch Giselle mimicks the end when Narissa turns into the dragon.
- Troll climbs a tree to grab Giselle; Narissa as the dragon climbs the Empire State Building having captured Robert
- Pip uses his weight to make the troll fall; Pip does the same with the dragon
- Pip tries to grab Giselle's fingers to keep her from falling; Pip tries to save Robert in the same manner
- Prince Edward catches Giselle when she falls; Giselle catches Robert when he falls
Just another great storytelling device to bring the story back full circle.
Other Things to Mention...
- I love the emphasis on True Love's Kiss in the beginning because it tells the audience what will be important later on at the Ball.
- Giselle's dream prince looks JUST LIKE ROBERT AT THE BALL, which is wonderful because that makes Robert the prince of her dreams.
- The lighting during the dance sequence is magical. Just...wow, Disney. It's beautiful.
- I love Giselle's big smile when she sees Robert at the Ball and when she finds out that he can dance.
- I loved that Narissa sent Giselle to a place she thought had no Happily Ever Afters. That moment is just wonderfully evil and yet, full of foreshadowing that there WILL be one :)
- I loved this exchange:
Robert: Over my dead body.
Narissa: Alright...I'm flexible.
- I also loved this exchange:
Giselle: Oh, I hope you had nice dreams.
Robert: I think I'm still in one.
- Giselle's purple Ball dress looks like mermaid fins :)
- The shot of Giselle looking at the aquarium at Robert's office makes it look like she's swimming/underwater, which is great considering all of the other Ariel moments in that scene: Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel, is Robert's assistant and "Part of Your World" is playing in the background.
- Saving Giselle at the Ball with the kiss is wonderfully framed and shot because it visually tells us who her True Love is, just in case, we hadn't figured it out yet. When Prince Edward kisses her, it's a medium shot and when Robert kisses her, it goes in for the more dramatic, extreme close-up, as if to say, "this is the one".
- Speaking of the kiss, I liked how Robert and Giselle almost kissed in the apartment, but because it wasn't the big dramatic moment, it wasn't time yet :) I also liked that Robert stepped away, showing he was a real gentlemen, not willing to cheat on Nancy, even if he did love Giselle, and kept her from falling into the same temptation to cheat on Prince Edward. They were both still attached to someone else, so for them to kiss in that moment, would have tainted the fairytale.
- I really liked the way Amy played Giselle, especially, with her always motioning with her hands.
- You gotta love a villainness who is a combination of the Wicked Queen from Snow White and Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty...or, at least, I do.
My dad told me a story once (he heard it somewhere) that when Snow White premiered at Radio City Music Hall, some of the kids got so scared of the Wicked Queen that well...they had to replace some of the seat cushions :) And, you just can't beat a villain who has horns, a dungeon, a crow for a pet, and who calls on the powers of Hell to turn herself into a dragon. That's some scary mess.
- "So Close" sounds like it's in 4/4 time to me, which irritated me because they were supposedly dancing a waltz to that song. Waltzes are always in 3, right?
- Even though Robert thought it unbelievable that Giselle would have fallen in love with Prince Edward in a day, doesn't he [Robert] fall in love with Giselle in a day?
- Robert being a divorce attorney is genius. He doesn't believe in "forever and ever" because his job requires him to think that it doesn't exist.
- The soundtrack is AMAZING. Every time I listen to it, I just think, "man, Dad would have loved this!". "That's How You Know" is truly wonderful because the ending has 3 parts that come together to make some sweet, sweet sounds, including Amy singing a descant on top of everyone and the reprise of the line from earlier in the song of "It's not enough to take the one you love for granted". Menken, you are the shiznit.
I just really loved Enchanted because it FELT like a Disney animation, even though, it was very live-action and real, which of course, was the whole point, wasn't it? :)