Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey’s fairytale world goes from Enchanted to Disenchanted
MANILA, Philippines — What does “happily ever after” really mean? It takes a whole different meaning for Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey as they return to the fairytale world 15 years later in the Enchanted sequel Disenchanted.
After their fairytale ending in Enchanted, it’s the regular family life for Giselle (Adams), the wide-eyed princess from Andalasia, who fell in love with Robert (Dempsey), the lawyer from the kingdom of New York City. They are now parents of two — Robert’s daughter Morgan (Gabriella Baldacchino) is a teenager and the couple have also welcomed an infant. But the happily ever after isn’t what it seems as Giselle has grown disillusioned with the big city life.
When Giselle and Robert relocate their family to the suburban community of Monroeville, it isn’t the easy solution that they initially hoped to be. Turning to the magic of Andalasia to make her dreams come true, Giselle ends up transforming Monroeville into a real-life fairytale, making things worse and even putting her and her family’s happiness in peril.
If true love’s kiss reversed the spell in Enchanted, it would take a higher power and a different level of love to undo the magic in Disenchanted.
When Enchanted premiered in 2007, it was both a commercial and critical success, raking in more than $300M in the worldwide box-office and enchanting audiences with mixed elements of live action, musical numbers and animation that used tropes that paid homage to Disney animated classics through the years.
Disenchanted brings back that blockbuster formula but balances the fairytale feel with a cautionary tale that director, producer, and choreographer Adam Shankman had envisioned would pound on the message that “no matter how hard we try to control the way the world works, we have little if any control.”
“That became like the whole drive for me, trying to bring the story and this element of story to life,” the film’s director said in the press notes. “Giselle cannot come to terms with the fact that no matter what she does, she can’t force a happily ever after into existence. So she makes a bold move (in her lack of acceptance), throws her existence into chaos and literally creates a world where she could lose everything.”
During the recent global presscon for the film that premieres on Disney+ (the streaming platform becomes available in the Philippines starting tomorrow, Nov. 17), Shakman further revealed that the “thrill ride” of creating the film started with the idea that “Giselle is Morgan’s stepmother.” Without giving any spoilers, every fairytale fan would know that stepmothers aren’t exactly the most-loved characters.
Nevertheless, Shankman realized that while he wanted the sequel to reflect Giselle’s “progression” as a character, Enchanted fans would “want to see Giselle the way they remember her.”
Returning to characters
Adams spoke more about Giselle’s evolution from Enchanted to Disenchanted, and how she remained the same during the virtual media event. She was joined by co-stars Dempsey, Maya Rudolph, Baldacchino, Patrick Dempsey, Idina Menzel, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jayma Mays, Oscar Nuñez, as well as director Shankman, producer Barry Josephson and composer Alan Menken.
“For me, it was interesting ‘cause we were looking at where Giselle would be now. When we leave her in the last movie, there’s been an evolution from the beginning of Enchanted to who Giselle is at the end of the movie. So sort of taking that evolution of who she might be after spending 10 years, but also making sure we keep her grounded in sort of the truth of her feelings, but without losing that joy and that naivety and innocence and purity that makes Giselle so special,” she said.
“That’s sort of where my launching place was, it was taking everything that I loved about Giselle in the first movie, and then just getting this opportunity to spin it throughout this one.”
She also expressed her happiness at getting the returning cast together.
“It was so fun to see everybody just step back into it. We were lucky enough to have everybody come join us. I can’t thank them enough and I’m very appreciative,” she said and added, “for our new cast members, I was just so, so, so pleased to get everybody we have,” referring to new co-actors such as Maya Rudolph, whose role as Monroeville’s resident Queen Bee will clash with Giselle.
As for Dempsey, it was “nice to be in the fairytale world for a while.”
The actor further said of his character’s development in the sequel: “Robert at the very beginning is very much the same, although he’s kinda trying to balance life between his new baby and his other child, and the conflict between the stepmother, as Adam pointed out, and that dynamic. Getting into larger than life was completely freeing and really fun. It was a fantastic ride. I had a great time where I could work a little bit, do some sightseeing in Ireland (the filming location), and work on the musical, that great fun with the singing and the dancing.”
Dempsey finally got to sing in Disenchanted, the music of which was composed by Alan Menken, the Oscar winner behind the scores and songs of the Disney animated films The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Pocahontas.
“It was a joy. And that whole process of going through that, finding your voice, working with the coach on that, learning the lyrics and the dance was an extraordinary experience and something I’d never done before,” Dempsey shared.
“I really appreciate the talent with the voices and singing of Idina, Amy, Maya and everyone. It’s an extraordinary feeling you get when you sing. The vibration, (there’s) something very intoxicating about it. It’s nice to get a taste of that. And then, Adam got me moving in a great way, so it was great.”
The actor said, “You know, it’s a great opportunity to play something that was so broad. I don’t get that opportunity and I really loved it. It’s a little scary at first. But it was great. It was a safe environment to work in, and it was fun to play, and hopefully people enjoy that.”
Besides Dempsey, Broadway star Idina Menzel and James Marsden reprise their roles from the original film. In Enchanted, Menzel played Nancy, the fiancee of Robert, who ended up with Marsden’s Prince Charming. The latter was supposed to marry Giselle before she was banished from Andalasia by his wicked stepmother (Susan Sarandon).
In Disenchanted, Menzel and Marsden’s characters are still enjoying their happily ever after and occasionally travel from their “animated world” to the real world to visit Giselle and family.
Marsden couldn’t make it to the presscon but Menzel was present to share her thoughts of coming back to a role in the blockbuster from 15 years back.
“Mine is a pretty drastic change. So (laughs) I go from this cynical New York chick, and then I jump down a portal or a manhole and then I come out like… and so it was so much fun for me. And the challenge for me, well, not even the challenge… (but) just kinda figuring out the balance.
“Adam and I would talk, I’d say, ‘How much of my New York accent do I still have (laughs) coming from Andalasia, and how much is this idyllic, romantic, beautiful perfect place rubbed off on me?’ And then, putting on the corset and all that, it was an easy journey for me.”
Very big leap
Amy recalled that starring in Enchanted more than a decade ago felt like a very big leap, not sure how audiences would react to a hybrid film.
“The first time, with Enchanted, we were taking, like, a big leap. I knew how much I’d loved Giselle and how much I believed in her spirit. And, we just got into it not really knowing what it would be or if people would get it. I do remember feeling really scared the first time I watched it with an audience,” she said.
“It was in London and it was very quiet for the first bit of the movie… people sort of started to understand what they were seeing. And then, I remember after Happy Working Song, there was a shift in the energy where the audience sort of started to go on the journey with us. It was a really overwhelming feeling for me. It let me know that they understood what we were doing and that they were understanding Giselle’s purity. It was a really wonderful moment.”
Enchanted has also been acknowledged as the vehicle that put things in motion for Adams’ showbiz career and gave the actress her first success as a leading lady.
When she auditioned for the role of Giselle, she had worked on some projects for the big and small screens, but was still relatively unknown.
“It was a very special moment for me. It was really early on in my career, too. So, this movie has meant so much to me in so many ways,” she said.
Meanwhile, Disenchanted is one of the upcoming “new and exciting general entertainment content” on Disney+, according to David Shin, The Walt Disney Company’s senior vice president and managing director for Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, in a statement.
It will also be part of A Night of Wonder with Disney+, a star-studded special to celebrate the arrival of the dedicated streaming home for movies and shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and Star, in the Philippines this Nov. 17.
Happening at 8 p.m., it’s also set to showcase “Filipinos’ passion for music and song.” In the special, highlights from Disenchanted and other offerings on the platform will be shown, while local landmarks are turned into stages for featured Filipino singers, including Janella Salvador for Disenchanted.
The live-action musical comedy starts streaming exclusively on Disney+ on Nov. 18.
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