Old movie. Pretty good. Now getting a probably unnecessary sequel. Grrr. Hey, not all sequels are bad. True enough. Still, grrr. What do you think?
And we're good. Those are the broad strokes from just about every conversation we've had about Hollywood's ongoing addiction to sequels. The only thing left at this point is to actually fill in the specifics.
In this particular case, I'm talking about Enchanted, 2007's reaffirmation parody of Disney princess musicals and secret plot to take over the world with one of the catchiest songs of all time:
How exactly could Disney take over the world with "That's How You Know"? I dunno. Maybe they piped it through the boardrooms during negotiations with George Lucas, and distracted him into selling LucasFilms to them. Same thing happened when they bought Marvel. Probably not, but can you say for sure that definitely didn't happen?
I fear I've veered off topic here. Enchanted: great movie or the greatest movie?
Okay, now I'm just stealing old Colbert Report jokes, but, seriously, how good is Enchanted? Imagine how silly Amy Adams must have felt on set, unsure if her Disney-princess-brought-to-life act was going to charm or simply nauseate. What came out of it was a movie which is kind of impossible to hate, tweaking and commenting on classic Disney tropes just enough to be able to appeal to Disney detractors and enthusiasts alike.
And they've been trying to get a sequel off the ground pretty much ever since. Last we heard, Disney hired the guys who wrote The Rugrats Movie, Shrek 2, and both Smurfs films together to pen the screenplay, and the woman who directed Sandra Bullock's The Proposal was attached to direct. Now, THR says Hairspray and Rock of Ages ' Adam Shankman is in negotiations to direct. On top of that, Amy Adams is officially expected to return. If all goes according to plan they'll be in front of cameras by summer 2017.
Sources say Disenchanted is set 10 years after the first movie, with Giselle finding herself questioning her happily-ever-after life and accidentally triggering events that make everyone's lives turn upside down in both the real world and in the animated kingdom of Andalasia. David Stem and David Weiss wrote the script.
I've always wondered what would have become of Andalasia under Idina Menzel's reign since, if you remember, she runs off with James Marsden' Prince Charming in the real world to become the animated world's new queen. She's a career girl from New York who's suddenly married into a fantasy world. Flash forward a couple of weeks and she's probably unionizing all of the talking animals they treat as labor workers, and generally toppling the patriarchy and upending the monarchy.
But that's not what any Enchanted sequel would be about because it's Giselle's story, not character-name-I-never-remember-so-I-always-just-call-her-Idina Menzel-since-that's-who-played-her. Instead, it sounds as if Disenchanted will continue its tweaking of Disney princess story tropes and question happily-ever-after, although if they go full Into the Woods: Act 2 with it I'll be stunned. Is this a movie you want to see? If not, is there any version of an Enchanted 2 you'd want to see, or should Giselle and her new family be allowed to live happily ever after, unsullied by the sobering/depressing new complications presented by a sequel?
