Disenchanted is a new musical that was just released by Disney+. It is the sequel to the 2007 music with Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey and Idena Menzel. The original cast, minus the young daughter Morgan, are in the sequel
Giselle, Robert, their one year old and their teenager Morgan move to the suburbs as they grew out of their city apartment. Issues with moving to the suburbs plagues everyone but no one is as disillusioned or dare I say disenchanted with their new home, and new neighbors as Giselle….Or at least no one thinks to use the magic wand, that only a daughter of Andalasia, can use.
The three Karen’s of the town played by Yvette Nicole Brown Jayma Maya and top Karen, Maya Rudolph seem to be the breaking point for Giselle socially while a family issue also occurs. The Karens turn into a queen, Rudolph, and her two lackies in the kingdom who compound issues for Giselle regarding power.
Disenchanted takes fairy tale tropes and tilts them on its side. Taking nods from various fairytales and Disney princess movies it also fights back against some of those same stereotypes, like an Evil Step-mother.
Without giving too much away Amy Adams does an amazing job as she flips back and forth between who she truly is and the evil step-mother persona that every fairytale warns us about in seconds without missing a beat.
Patrick Dempsey sings and swings sword and fairly well although if I was in danger because of an Ogre I might want an actual swordsman like Prince Edward protecting me, maybe an Avenger, I’d even take Chip, the chipmunk first. But, it is VERY entertaining as Robert does get the job done.
Gabriella Baldacchino does an amazing job taking over the role as Morgan. She is able to beautifully portray a mix of obvious yet still subtle hints of being ignored to then the dutiful and happy step daughter. She has a beautiful voice in her Cinderella like role (down to the dress fiasco).
And remember how Robert’s ex-girlfriend and Giselle’s former prince fell in last during the first movie? Well, Menzel and Marsden play wonderfully off each other as a couple. Marsen’s Prince Edward gained a tiny bit of realism but all-in-all didn’t lose his fairy tale wonderment. Menzel’s Nancy is as realistic as one can be who lives in a fairy tale world. It was very refreshing to see she didn’t go full cartoon royalty but she lost some of her NYC jaded cynicism from the first film. One can’t speak about Menzel without mentioning her power ballad- Love Power written by legend Alan Meken who is responsible for music from shows including The Little Mermaid and Little Shop of Horrors
Love Power is a stark difference to the other songs which are more reminiscent of their 90s princess movies.
That being said Patrick Dempsey isn’t a Broadway caliber singer or a Tony award winner like Menzel is so it’s not surprising Menzel would be given a powerful showstopper of a song. The movie however failed to use the vocal talent of some of the secondary characters such as James Monroe Iglehart, a Tony award winner for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical as Genie in Disney’s Aladdin in 2014.
Like all fairy tale movies there are lessons to be taken away and like any Disney one there is happiness. Although, these endings are far more realistic than we are used to- which I love. I personally watched the movie multiple times and the more I watched it the better it got! Although I still wouldn’t trust Patrick Dempsey with a sword. It’s available for viewing on Disney+ now.