Though we got a first look at Disney’s follow-up to 2007’s ‘Enchanted’ – called ‘Disenchanted’ – back in May with an initial image, the latest full trailer is now online.
The new movie reunites us with Amy Adams’ cartoon kingdom resident Giselle 10 years after finding love with Patrick Dempsey’s real-world lawyer Robert. After living in New York along with his daughter Morgan (Gabriella Baldacchino) they decide to make the move to a new house in the suburb of Monroeville.
The community is overseen by Malvina Monroe (Maya Rudolph), who has nefarious intentions for the family.
But before learning that, they’re visited by Prince Edward (James Marsden) and Idina Menzel’s Nancy Tremaine, who bring greetings from Giselle’s former home, animated fantasy land Andalasia. Oh, and a gift of an Andalasian wishing wand for Gisele’s new baby.
When problems arise, Giselle wishes that their lives were the perfect fairy tale. The spell backfires, with Giselle rushing to save her family and her homeland of the Kingdom of Andalasia before the clock strikes midnight…
Yes, definitely plenty of comical potential there and the cast now includes Jayma Mays, Kolton Stewart and Oscar Nuñez. The tunes – since a big part of ‘Enchanted’s appeal was its Disney fairytale-spoofing music – are once again courtesy of composing legend Alan Menken.
Rudolph, naturally, looks to be having a blast playing the scheming Malvina, but she may have met her match when Gisele’s wish transforms her into a version of an evil stepmother, locking Morgan away and looking to take over the community.
This movie has faced some real challenges on its trip to screens, a veritable magical thorn forest that has seen filmmakers come and go. Which is a little surprising, since the original film was a hit for Disney.
First announced in 2010 with Jessie Nelson writing the screenplay and ‘The Proposal’s Anne Fletcher directing, it lingered in development until 2014, when J. David Stem and David N. Weiss took over scripting, while Fletcher remained in the director’s chair.
In 2016, along came ‘A Walk to Remember’ and ‘Hairspray’ director Adam Shankman, but thanks to continuing script wrangling, it wasn’t officially announced until December 2020 and thanks to the less-than-fairytale pandemic, was delayed further until production kicked off in May last year, with sets built in Ireland.
We’ve had various glimpses at the movie thanks to events such as D23, but this really digs into the message of the new movie, which essentially boils down to, “be careful what you wish for”. Especially if you have powerful magic at your disposal, or a magic wand… You never know the havoc one of those things can cause.
Despite following a big theatrical hit, ‘Disenchanted’ is heading straight to streaming, as Disney looks to keep boosting its Disney+ subscriber base. The movie will be on the service from November 18th, clearly being positioned ready for families to watch at Thanksgiving.