Disney+’s forthcoming film Disenchanted is the anticipated sequel to the much-beloved Enchanted, released over a decade ago. The film is sure to charm viewers once again with its levity and poignance, making one ask how they can achieve happily ever after.

What made Enchanted such a special movie was that it set up an important premise: that there is no “happily ever after.” Happiness and meaning are always a work in progress. Every day, it is a conscious decision to enjoy each opportunity to connect with the people around us, do good work together, and sing and share our love for life with all. That is what Giselle taught young viewers when she made music with the generally shunned rodents of New York City, strangers she met in the park, and everyone she met, no matter how mean they were to her.

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Everything was wrong in Giselle’s life, but she still made the most of her situation, kept the faith, and even discovered that her circumstances weren’t what they seemed. Most especially, Giselle taught us that it’s never too late to fight to get as close to happily ever after as possible by always picking up your sword and running after that nasty dragon, no matter how big, scary, scaly, and sarcastic it is.

Disenchanted looks to teach us exactly that once again, only with more thrills, drama, special effects, and Maya Rudolph, which we really can’t wait for. Disenchanted will again star Amy Adams as Giselle, Patrick Dempsey as Robert, James Marsden as Prince Edward, and Idina Menzel as Nancy. It is written and directed by Adam Shankman with music by Alan Menken.

Here’s why Enchanted is such a special story to viewers and why fans can’t wait for its release!

Disenchanted Will Pay Homage to Enchanted and Expand on It

     Disney

2011’s Enchanted was about a beautiful girl named Giselle (Adams) who lived in a beautiful cartoon world. She would sing in her tree house with her forest friends all day long about how her prince would come someday. When eventually her prince, the gallant and dashing Prince Edward (Marsden), does come, and their singing voices and romantic ballads fit perfectly together in one song, they ride off together in the sunset…or so they think.

When Prince Edward’s stepmother, the wicked Queen Narissa (played by Susan Sarandon), meets Giselle, she plots an evil plan to send the girl away into a wicked world down a well so that her reign as queen is not threatened.

That world is non-other than our very own modern-day, live-action New York City. Rather than be defeated and despair that she would never see her prince or her world of Andalasia ever again, Giselle comes into her power by making new friends, finding a new purpose, defeating the evil queen, and meeting her real prince charming (Dempsey). Prince Edward, meanwhile, finds his own princess in New York City and whisks her off to Andalasia, where they, too, live happily ever after.

Enchanted was the perfect blend of the classic Disney princess stories millennials were raised on with more nuanced qualities and issues of the real world. It both celebrated and innocently poked fun at the starry-eyed and simplistic Disney tales of old and taught young viewers that happily ever after may not look exactly like we planned. Still, it can be achieved with a bit of hard work, a pinch of faith, and unwavering optimism, no matter who we are or what we’ve been dealt with.

Now, in 2022’s direct to Disney+ Disenchanted, Giselle and Robert are moving out of the big city into a quaint old fixer-upper in the country, with Giselle’s stepdaughter Morgan and Giselle’s new baby. When things with the house and the hoped-for-perfect fairy tale go awry, a visit from Edward and Nancy (Menzel) inspires Giselle to cast one more spell to bring her little family the perfect life they’re working so hard for. Disenchanted turns the tables on Giselle by having the spell go horribly wrong and turning the sweet and loving princess into the wicked stepmother she defeated eleven years ago.

The fairytale and live-action cartoons are now flipped. With Giselle’s relationship with her loved ones in grave danger, the characters will have to rally to expel this distorted spell and return to the humble but honest reality of before. Though we can expect some twists and turns and a land filled with adventure, Disenchanted is sure to continue its joyous and uproarious themes of the first movie: that life is colorful, unexpected, complex, and magical.

Giselle Is a Modern Princess to Be Celebrated

     Disney+

Giselle was a millennial princess, a modern creation that affirmed that you could still be honest, positive, full of faith, and hope that the right thing was achievable no matter how bleak the circumstances. In a time when negativity, judgment, and dystopia are favored in pop culture, Enchanted continues to be a bright spot for fans who want to see stories about characters overcoming obstacles without losing themselves or giving in to pessimism.

Disenchanted is sure to enrich its first movie with a storyline that continues in this vein, surely featuring Giselle defeating her demons and quashing the emotionally beaten and battered side of her that has the potential to become disgruntled and do wrong.

Disenchanted will be released in time for Thanksgiving, on November 24, 2022. We can’t wait to see how Giselle’s happily ever after progresses, and we gleefully embrace the bumps along the road with our happy little working song!