In November 2007, Disney released the movie Enchanted. Enchanted marked something of a return to form in many ways for Disney. It was their first film to have a fairy tale theme since 1991's Beauty and the Beast and their first major fantasy-themed film since 1992's Aladdin. It was the first quasi-musical film from Disney in a number of years. And most importantly, it was the first theatrical release in quite a few years to use traditional 2-D animation. In addition, Enchanted was stuffed with all kinds of tributes and references to the Disney classics of the past. From costumes to specific shots to songs to cameos from Disney voice actors, Enchanted is a treat for any major Disney fan. In fact, the more you know about Disney animated classics, the more fun you'll have with Enchanted.
I suggest that the first time you watch it, you don't even think about all the Disney references. Just watch the movie and enjoy it for what it is. A few will pop out at you, but don't think too hard on it. Save that for the second viewing, when you can concentrate on that without worrying about missing the plot. I'll give you a few, just to give you a taste of the little or big things you can find:
The narrator at the beginning and end of the film is none other than Julie Andrews.
Robert Phillip's (Patrick Dempsey) secretary is played by none other than Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid.
When Prince Edward (James Marsden) and Nathaniel (Timothy Spall) are watching a soap opera in their hotel room, you can hear a few bars of Beauty and the Beast playing. When the woman turns around, it's none other than Paige O'Hara, the voice of Belle. In addition, the characters on the soap are named Angela, Jerry, and Ogden - references to Angela Lansbury (Mrs. Potts), the late Jerry Orbach (Lumiere), and David Ogden Steirs (Cogsworth and the narrator).
The movie starts with a storybook opening up, like many of the classic Disney films.
During the opening song, Giselle holds two gemstones up to her eyes and peers through them - a reference to a gag done by Dopey in Snow White.
Enchanted is not edgy or deep or anything like that. It's light fluffy fun, especially for Disney fans. It's completely predictable, but how could it not be? It's a groundbreaking concept for Disney - bringing people from their animated utopia and bringing them into modern day New York City and seeing how they deal. Definitely something worth watching multiple times. I'd give it 10/10. Absolutely fantastic.
In mid-March of 2008, Disney released separate widescreen and fullscreen DVDs of Enchanted. Single-disc sets with bonus materials not really deserving of a big budger box office hit that pays homage to Disney tradition while bringing freshness to it. A few deleted scenes, none of which are the deleted song performed by James Marsden and Idina Menzel, a blooper reel, a few fluffy featurettes, a short cartoon with the chipmunk Pip, and a Carrie Underwood music video. (Which isn't listed on the packaging at all.)
Seriously, Disney, I know Enchanted won't sell out in 26 seconds like your upcoming 2-Disc set for the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best Of Both Worlds concert DVD, but it just proves that you no longer care about going above and beyond what you absolutely HAVE to for anything other than the biggest of moneymakers. Even Warner Bros. still goes beyond what they have to do for even their most obscure titles most of the time. (Some may not think so - look at Mame's crappy bonus materials listing. But Hell, it's Mame - they didn't even have to put it on DVD at all, let alone with a decent-looking transfer and a couple of trailers. It's not like millions were clamoring for it.) Disney's DVD releases of recent Pixar films and their own movies, animated or otherwise, have been disappointing to say the least. And don't get me started on the lack of behind-the-scenes material on the Ratatouille DVD, while ONLY the Blu-Ray version gets an audio commentary. WTF is up with that mess?
And then there's the recent reissues of their animated catalogue titles. Disney really dropped the bomb on the reissues of Dumbo, Robin Hood, The Fox And The Hound, The Aristocats, and the upcoming 45th Anniversary Edition of The Sword In The Stone. In addition to canning whatever theatrical trailers were present in previous editions, which is idiotic to me, they don't really add much, if anything substantial. There WAS a bit more effort put into The Aristocats at least - they bothered to make a new DVD-ROM game for it. And the upcoming The Sword In The Stone DVD simply gives it an ugly new cover and takes off a substantial bonus feature and adds a few crappy games. And all these releases, except Dumbo and crop the films for widescreen TVs...not a big deal to me though. The animated films from 101 Dalmatians through The Fox And The Hound were created in the 1.33:1 Academy aspect ratio, but also designed to be cropped for widescreen theatrical exhibition without compromising the framing too much. (Although there are times on The Jungle Book's 40th Anniversary Platinum Edition DVD where the framing feels a little cramped.) Some people don't mind it, like me. Some people see it as the same thing as pan and scan. I don't, because they were designed to be viewed both ways, and with more and more people getting widescreen TVs, it makes sense. I'd complain about a movie like Cinderella being cropped for widescreen, because it wasn't designed for that. But Robin Hood? Don't care. But I'm getting away from my point...
Even the Platinum Editions are getting lighter and lighter and more and more dumbed down for kids. Apparently, Disney's forgotten that adults enjoy their movies too and would like some more bonus materials geared for them. Both of 2007's Platinum Editions didn't even include trailers, and Peter Pan REALLY dropped the ball when they recycled the 15-minute making-of fluff from nearly all home video releases since 1998 and put a VERY useless capitioned version of the movie on disc 2. Fortunately, at least 101 Dalmatians includes plenty of trailers and TV spots, but there's no excuse for leaving trailers off DVDs. How hard can it possibly be for Disney to get a bunch of trailers?
If you buy Enchanted at Target, you get a bonus DVD with the 30-minute long making-of documentary Becoming Enchanted. How completely sad when a Target bonus disc has better bonus material than the actual DVD. And while I love the documentary, I can't help but wish that bonus DVD had included a little more. Like the theatrical trailers, the deleted song, and a few galleries. But the documentary alone is enough reason for me to wholeheartedly recommend buying the DVD at Target if at all possible. (I actually got it bought for me...after buying the DVD for myself at Blockbuster for way too much money. OI. I gave the extra DVD to the public library, as they only have it in icky fullscreen. I kept the bonus disc though. I'm not a fanatic. XD)
All this aside, I'm looking forward to October's re-issue of Sleeping Beauty, this time as a 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition. I'm interested in seeing if the restoration is even better than the 2003 2-Disc Special Edition DVD's already flawless transfer. And so far, I've heard about a NEW making-of documentary, which makes me happy, as well as some deleted scenes and songs. Having just gotten the soundtrack CD in the mail, I'm getting even more pumped up for this reissue. I hope Disney promotes the crap out of it, and maybe even brings the soundtrack back into print with some deleted songs tacked on as bonus tracks. (No need to remaster the audio again for a reissue...the CD issue sounds absolutely crisp, clean, clear, and gorgeous. Just add the bonus tracks to the 1997 CD master.) I probably won't pick it up, for a shallow reason - I love the packaging of the original 1997 CD too much. But it'd be nice for those who don't already have the CD. And to close out this post, here's some scans of the packaging of the 1997 CD release. Purty, ain't it?
Here's a closer look at the text from the final booklet scan. It offers some notes about this particular soundtrack CD release.
