Combining animation and live action, Disney’s Enchanted pays homage to the studio’s classic princess movies, while also parodying them. This 2007 hit film, directed by Kevin Lima, stars Amy Adams as Giselle, a role that established her as a leading actress and earned her worldwide fame. In addition to Adams, the cast includes Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Idina Menzel, Susan Sarandon, and Rachel Covey. Enchanted follows Giselle, a beautiful princess from Andalasia, who is expelled from the kingdom by Queen Narissa, and lands on the noisy and unknown streets of New York City. Fortunately, a very skeptical lawyer and his adorable daughter step in and help her reunite with her beloved Prince Edward, but in her journey, Giselle discovers entirely new feelings and, possibly, a new love interest.
15 years after its premiere, Enchanted made headlines again: because of its popularity and success, Disney decided to launch a sequel called Disenchanted, to be released on November 18, 2022, on Disney+. In this sequel, the audience is reunited with Giselle and Robert who, ten years after their happily ever after, stumble upon a few problems after moving from Manhattan to the suburbs of Monroeville with Morgan. Adams, Dempsey, Marsde,n and Menzel reprise their roles, with Gabriella Baldacchino, Maya Rudolph, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jayma Mays, and Oscar Nunez joining the cast. Disenchantedvows to live up to the original film in terms of musical performances, so expectations are sky-high. In the meantime, here is a ranking of every musical performance in Enchanted.
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5 “So Close”
Walt Disney Pictures
“So Close” is performed by Jon McLaughlin, featured in Enchanted as a ballroom singer at the Woolworth Building costume ball. Robert attends this special event with Nancy, and is shocked to see Giselle walking in with Prince Edward. At this point, the tension between Giselle and Robert is undeniable, which causes a fairly awkward situation where Nancy seems to be the only one who fully understands what is going on. Suddenly, the ball host requests that everyone switch partners, so the princess and Robert start dancing together, resulting in a romantic moment in which they completely steal the show. This is later interrupted by Robert’s girlfriend, who comes back to look for him, as Giselle walks out, fulfilling her promise that, after her date with Edward, she would return to Andalasia with him. But something has changed within Giselle, as she finally realizes that her true love was not Edward, but Robert.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
4 “True Love’s Kiss”
“True Love’s Kiss” is the opening musical performance of the film, sung by Adams and Marsden. It goes along with a typical fairy tale scene: Giselle at home, surrounded by forest animals, talking about how important a true love’s kiss is, while interacting with a dummy that she decorated as if it were her lover. With the help of the animals, she sets out to find something that can be used as lips in order to finish her creation, during a scene in which we can clearly see nods to movies such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty, and The Little Mermaid. At the same time, Prince Edward, who was singing the same song, overhears his princess-to-be from afar, and sets out on a journey to find her. Once he saves her from the evil troll Nathaniel sent to haunt her, the prince and Giselle finally meet and, promptly, decide to get married the following day. A typical Disney princess outcome.
3 “Happy Working Song”
After Giselle is banished from Andalasia by Queen Narissa, she morphs into a live-action version of herself and lands in New York City’s Times Square, stranded in a world she doesn’t know at all. Fortunately, Robert and his little daughter Morgan happen to be there to help her, hosting her in their apartment. After spending a night there, Giselle notices how neglected the place is and, as a way of saying thank you, she decides to clean up a bit with the help of her beloved animals. Problem is that, in New York, forest animals are not so common as cockroaches, rats, and pigeons, all of which flock to help her clean up. Thus, Giselle starts cleaning while singing “Happy Working Song,” and all that noise awakens Morgan, who is now completely convinced that Giselle is a real princess, yet she is terrified of the animals infesting the place. She rushes to wake up her father, who doesn’t get to see the performance, but rather an army of insects, rodents, and birds roaming around his apartment, which is why he proceeds to get them all out, not quite knowing what’s going on.
2 “Ever Ever After”
Carrie Underwood performs “Ever Ever After,” the song that wraps up the movie with happy endings for all the good characters. Once Giselle defeats Queen Narissa, she opts to stay in New York City and pursue her love story with Robert. Moreover, she launches a fashion business named after her beloved Andalasia, where she is helped by several animals. And from then on, the princess, Robert, and Morgan lived happily ever after. Nancy, who was grieving over her shattered relationship, finds the shoe that Giselle lost during the ball, and after Prince Edward tries it on her, something magical happens: the shoe fits her perfectly. So, as it happens in fairy tales, Nancy and Edward decide to get married, and she moves to Andalasia. But these are not the only characters in the story who get their happy ending: both Nathaniel and Pip write autobiographies of their experiences in the real world, and become very successful writers, Nathaniel in the city and Pip in Andalasia.
1 “That’s How You Know”
“That’s How You Know” is undoubtedly the most impressive musical performance in the movie, featuring Adams and Marlon Saunders, a singer and songwriter who is credited in the film as a calypso singer in Central Park. Robert decides to stop helping Giselle after she causes several problems at his workplace and with his partner. Nevertheless, he quickly regrets it and goes back to find her, so they spend some time in Central Park talking about love. He questions her decision to marry Prince Edward the day she met him, and Giselle, on the other hand, criticizes him for not proposing to Nancy after so many years together. Singing “That’s How You Know,” Giselle reminds Robert how important it is to prove to his sweetheart that he really loves her, and that if he did, things wouldn’t be so complicated. The most interesting thing about this musical performance, besides the obvious references to other Disney movies, is that Robert, who is very skeptical, got to experience something he would not have thought possible: a typical romance movie scene, in which everyone seems to know what song the main character is singing, as well as the choreography, as crazy as this sounds.
