Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORWEN: Oh! Chickendumpling, you sweet thing! I'm a big fan of musicals, too, and wish more people would break out into singing pretty songs all the time, too! I do my best to encourage that--here in Morva--all the time. But, for some reason, everybody just looks at me like as if they're off key! ORGOCH: That's 'cause YER the one off key, ya ravin' lunatic!! Nobody wants ta hear YER bellowin' caterwallin', that's fer sure!! (Sounds of snapping bones and mournful groans....) ORDDU: Hmmm....well, I tend to agree with Orwen, myself. Life SHOULD be one big musical. Perhaps in Heaven--which sister Orgoch might just learn about a bit sooner than some of the rest of us...
Originally Posted By oc_dean SPOILERS AHEAD ............ Saw it tonight ... at the new Arclight theaters at the formally known Sherman Oaks Gallery .... what a ball! I can see why it's well recieved ... but what could have put this into A+ catagory (like Mary Poppins did in 1964) could have been a script put together by the likes of Neil Simon. Giving a pretty "tight" script. But what was there was GOOD! Right from the beginning ... with the "Disney" logo lending into the beginning .. with opening credits similar to that of Sleeping Beauty was a total treat. And not only did the film have hords of references to other Disney fairy tales ... but some from The Sound of Music as well. The dresses made of the curtains .... that's out of THE SOUND OF MUSIC. And the run of her up the hill in Central Park is out of Julie Andrews running across the hill top in her 1965 20th Century Fox classic. Love the fact she was the narrator throughout the film. Stupid me realized Patrick Dempsey's secretary was "Little Mermaid" herself. Now I get the fish/acquarium scene! But now I need to see it again to see the voice talents Pocohantas and Belle in their cameos. The biggest laughs I got was how the whole "classic musical" tradition of burst-into-song .. was challenged within the movie. "Stop singing! Just walk." The only place where I saw reality had to take a step "outside" was .. where did the evil queen's henchman get money to stay in a motel? There was the issue of where do cartoons who enter reality find a place to sleep and eat? But those details seemed to have been "skipped around" with just enough finese. It's called tight editing.
Originally Posted By oc_dean oops ... edit: Stupid me realized Patrick Dempsey's secretary was "Little Mermaid" herself. to ..... Stupid me DIDN'T REALIZE Patrick Dempsey's secretary was "Little Mermaid" herself. ~~~~~~~ She looked awfully familiar ... but couldn't put my finger on it.
Originally Posted By bayrr326 I was totally blown away by this movie. I expected it to be good but I had no idea how great it would be. The entire movie rested on the performance of Amy Adams and she simply put in one of the best performances of the year. The movie would have failed if we did not fully believe in Giselle. There was no wink, no irony, no sarcasm just a girl who believed in the power of love. I really hope the Academy doesn't overlook her come Oscar time just because this is a family film. How often do you walk out of a theater and everyone young and old has smiles on their faces or singing or talking about how much they loved that movie? After years of ironic, sarcastic and wink, wink, nudge, nudge family films I think this movie will strike a cord with the viewing public. The songs were amazing. I bet Alan and Steven have been chomping at the bit the last 10 years or so to write some songs for a Disney musical and they delivered. Kevin Lima has truly stepped up with this film. The musical number in Central Park was amazing and it didn't seem silly or out of place you believed that people would just be infected with the joy Giselle brought to everyone around her. And the ball where Robert finally lets go and gives in to the love and sings to her as they dance as such a quiet and perfect moment. I think they have crafted a modern day fairytale and my girlfriend summed it up when she said to me as we left the theater "it really made you want to believe in a happily ever after"
Originally Posted By basil fan Spoilers-- Re: becoming a dress designer. Her goal, I think, was to bring fairy-tale fantasy back into little girls' lives through romantic clothing. I thought when watching it, that it was the logical antithesis to Robert's attempt to weed the fairy tales out of his daughter's life. Likewise the song in the park scene (which someone in another thread listed as coming out of nowhere and not fitting with the story). After Giselle is told not to sing, she infects all of NYC with song. Robert's the only one who doesn't "get it"--life outta be one big musical. Disney Glitches <a href="http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/" target="_blank">http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/</a> disney/dglitch.
Originally Posted By basil fan SPOILERS-- I didn't like the design of the dragon, either. Just kind of blah. How hard would it be to design a way-cool dragon? The song in the park & the work song were grand. The ending credits were phenomenal; I wanted to watch them again! Giselle was wonderfully realized. She was delightfully naive but not stupid. And thanks for reminding the world how awful divorce is. Shame on Robert for trying to stop the couple from getting back together. I didn't get the scene with the fish tank, though. Why would Giselle drink a fish? I was not grossed out by the vermin at all. I thought it was a great idea, though no stray dogs appeared. Aren't there kind of a lot in New York? Snot, doo-doo, dogs lifting their legs--these things just aren't funny IMO. Drool is so-so, burps I can live with, the rest just falls flat every time with me. The animation was magnificent. I was so sorry to see it end. I enjoyed Pip's charades, though not quite as much as Abu's. And Nancy, the true romantic, got to live in a fairy tale after all. But there's a plot device that is so overused I am amazed to still see it in movies. I hope I can explain it right. It's when a character does something in the beginning of the film and then uses that same device in the climax. Like when Pip jumps on the pole to bring down the dragon, just like his weight brought down the Troll's branch. True, it didn't break, but doesn't it seem like this is in every film out there? Disney Glitches <a href="http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/disney/dglitch" target="_blank">http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/ disney/dglitch</a>.
Originally Posted By threeundertwo >>I didn't get the scene with the fish tank, though. Why would Giselle drink a fish?>> I was wondering about this too, and all I could think of was that it mirrored the scene in LM when Ariel rescued Sebastian from the plate. Those Princesses who talk to animals just have more subplots going on than we mere mortals notice.
Originally Posted By basil fan Even if it mirrored a scene in Little Mermaid, it should also make some kind of sense in the film. I just can't figure out why Giselle did that. Mouse History 101 <a href="http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/disney" target="_blank">http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/ disney</a>'history.html
Originally Posted By threeundertwo The other thing I thought of this morning was the scene with Nemo's father in the pelican's mouth. Nemo had to be rescued from an aquarium. Was the fish she spit out a clown fish?
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORWEN: Well, I don't think Giselle really meant to drink the fish at all. I think it was just a mistake and that she didn't even realize she'd accidentally scooped up poor little Cleo inside her glass. So, once she DID realize what she'd done, she very politely and graciously discarded it the only proper way for a princess in training would!
Originally Posted By Dlmusic << Likewise the song in the park scene (which someone in another thread listed as coming out of nowhere and not fitting with the story). After Giselle is told not to sing, she infects all of NYC with song. Robert's the only one who doesn't "get it"--life outta be one big musical.>> My point wasn't that a musical number didn't fit, it was that the song had nothing to do with the plot. I still maintain that the main idea of "That's How You Know" is in competition with some themes of the movie. To me it would be like in Mary Poppins after Feed the Birds demonstrating how to love somebody and having the Dad finally pay attention to the kids to then have the kids say, well we honestly prefer playing with the dog anyway. In other words, I felt it set up for a point that the movie wasn't making at all. I loved it as a musical number though, one of the best moments in a Disney film in years.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORWEN: Well, see now, I thought it DID fit because they'd been talking about Nancy and whether or not Robert was doing enough to let her know she was loved. Remember how the birds flew off with a heart shaped bouquet of flowers meant for Nancy?
Originally Posted By ahecht The one movie cliche that bugged me was the rain storm at the beginning. How many times in a movie have you seen the following: It is a perfectly clear night, all of a sudden there is a single flash of lightning following immediatly by thunder, which is then immediatly followed by torrential rain. Just once, I'd like to see it start raining gradually, or for rain to start without thunder. However, Enchanted, like every other movie, just followed the Flash-Boom-Flood cliche.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORWEN: Well, in THIS case, you'll have to just go and blame Narissa because SHE was in charge of the bad weather in this story.
Originally Posted By basil fan I thought the "theme" of the film was that both Giselle & Robert had stuff to learn when it comes to love. iselle found that she did not have to fall in love in 10 seconds, and Robert learned that true love does exist, even though he's been trying to deny it with a "practical" take on courtship. The WofM are right: the song is giving advice on how to let her know you love her, not how to know you love her, two different things. It's Giselle's advice to Robert that it's okay to be romantic. He gives advice to her to be more practical in picking a husband, only he does it with a lecture; she does it with a song. And it's easy to understand what Giselle sees in Robert; he makes big sacrifices for her, a total stranger, over and over again, even when he thinks she's nuts. Beneath his cynicism, he's very caring and generous. If she just loved his looks, she'd've fallen for him (instead of *on* him) that first night they met. Anyhow, that's my opinion after a second viewing. The Ballad of Gilligan's Trial <a href="http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/etc/gilligan.html" target="_blank">http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/ etc/gilligan.html</a>
Originally Posted By Dlmusic <<It's Giselle's advice to Robert that it's okay to be romantic. >> See this is my problem. He was before, at least you get that idea because basically his story is that he was a nice guy and "lovey dovey" and his wife dumped him anyway. I understand throwing in that sort of element for realism but it does seem to go against the point doesn't it? It's never really addressed of what he did wrong, in fact I would venture forth and say that Robert did nothing wrong and still something bad happened to him. So why doesn't Giselle instead sing a song that really relates to Robert's situation rather than rehashing a concept he already knew but threw out when life handed him a lemon.
Originally Posted By Dlmusic <<Well, see now, I thought it DID fit because they'd been talking about Nancy and whether or not Robert was doing enough to let her know she was loved>> But Robert didn't end up with Nancy, so the whole song built up for a plotline that never happened. For the song to work with the whole film it really needs to blend in with the Giselle/Robert pairing. Personally I might have preferred a movie in which Giselle helps Robert to marry Nancy and have a fairy tale like situation in the real world and Robert helps Giselle and the Prince have a more realistic (less shallow) relationship in the fairy tale world. Certainly it seemed that the movie could have gone that way up to about halfway through.
Originally Posted By basil fan I see your point, though I don't necessarily agree with it. Because he was hurt in a romantic relationship, Robert throws romance out the window. I never, never got the impression, not even an inkling, that he loved Nancy, or even that he was fond of her. He just seems to be transacting a business deal--I need a girlfriend/wife who won't leave me. Might as well pick one out of the Yellow Pages if I have to. When Giselle opens his eyes to the possibility of love, he learns the lesson well, only he doesn't love Nancy (and never did). I'm not a screenwriter, but it seems to me a legitimate plot. However, your scenario sounds like it would've made a good movie, too. World of Disney <a href="http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/disney/disney.html" target="_blank">http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/ disney/disney.html</a>
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORWEN: You just need to take off those blinders and broaden your horizons, Dlmusic, duckling. Are you of the male persuasion? A gander instead of a goose? Maybe you have to be a sweet young chickie to understand what basilfan is trying to say--or to be able to fully appreciate ENCHANTED. You seem to not be letting yourself think outside the romantic box enough. You're expecting too much logic and missing out on all the romantic fantasies. That's what's going on with you. You need a LOVE potion in your life, you do!! And I've got a hundred different spells back in Morva to offer you. Hold on a bit and I'll be back...
