Enchanted (Blu-ray) Blu-ray | Movie Mail UK | DVDs and Blu-ray films direct

Star Review

Ever since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Walt Disney’s animated world of plucky princesses, brave princes and evil stepmothers has become an indelible part of popular culture. But whilst films such as Shrek have mercilessly skewered Disney’s fairlytale optimism with barbs of real-world cynicism, Enchanted goes to prove that not everything to come out of the Magic Kingdom was Mickey Mouse.

After a wonderful 2D animated opening sequence, Princess Giselle is deposited headfirst down a bottomless well by wicked Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) on the eve of her wedding to dashing Prince Edward.

Bedraggled but unbowed, Giselle emerges from a Times Square manhole cover into the real world, where she is taken in by Robert, a single father and – how un-fairytale! – divorce lawyer. Robert’s heart is slowly melted by Giselle’s wide-eyed charm, not to mention her ability to conjure song and dance numbers out of any situation, including a standout sequence where she enlist flocks of cockroaches, rats and pigeons to clean his New York apartment.

Fans of Jon Favreau’s Elf will appreciate Enchanted’s Princess-out-of-water charm, and the film’s message, that true love really is magical, will appeal to viewers of any age.

Milo Wakelin on 4th March 2008

View all 45 of Milo Wakelin’s reviews

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