Hollywood Tonight presents Walt Disney Pictures film Enchanted synopsis and stills!

ENCHANTED PRODUCTION INFORMATION

   A classic Disney fairy tale collides with modern-day New York City in a story about a fairytale princess (AMY ADAMS) from the land of Andalasia who is thrust into the heart of New York City by an evil queen (SUSAN SARANDON). Soon after her arrival, Princess Giselle begins to change her views on life and love after meeting a handsome lawyer (PATRICK DEMPSEY). Can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world?

   A lively, original fish-out-of-water comedy and a modern twist on the classic Disney fairy tales, ENCHANTED blends fantasy, action, music, CG effects, handdrawn animation and live action to create a wholly unique romantic comedy for all ages.

   Featuring an all-star cast, ENCHANTED is directed by KEVIN LIMA (“Tarzan,” “Eloise at Christmastime”) and produced by BARRY JOSEPHSON (“Hide and Seek,” television’s “Bones”) and BARRY SONNENFELD (both “Men in Black” films, television’s “Pushing Daisies”). It is written by BILL KELLY (“Premonition,” “Blast from the Past”). The film is executive-produced by CHRIS CHASE (“Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch,” “Return to Never Land,” “Tarzan”), SUNIL PERKASH (“Premonition,” “Blast from the Past”) and EZRA SWERDLOW (“Invincible,” “Little Manhattan”). The film features original songs from the reunited team of acclaimed composer ALAN MENKEN and lyricist STEPHEN SCHWARTZ (“Pocahontas,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”).

   For the lovely Giselle (Adams), life is a fairy tale…literally. She has everything needed to make a perfect princess—a beautiful countenance, a pure heart, a lovely singing voice and an uncanny ability to communicate with animals—all the good things one would expect in her world of Andalasia…which just happens to be animated.

   Giselle’s wish to meet the handsome prince of her dreams and share “true love’s kiss” comes true when Prince Edward (JAMES MARSDEN) hears her lilting soprano raised in song and rushes to her side. The very next day, on her way to wed Edward, Giselle falls under the spell (literally) of Queen Narissa (Sarandon), who will stop at nothing to keep this girl away from her throne.

   Giselle is banished to a place as far away from this fairytale kingdom as you can get…no longer an animated character in a colorful, musical land, she is transformed into a very real woman and transported to a very unmagical place: modern-day Manhattan.

   Coming to her aid in this strange new place, the almost-princess is befriended by a nononsense divorce lawyer, Robert (Dempsey), and his young daughter, Morgan (RACHEL PRODUCTION INFORMATION COVEY). When Giselle’s no-longer-animated Prince Edward, along with his servant, Nathaniel (TIMOTHY SPALL), and Giselle’s best friend and chipmunk, Pip, all arrive in New York, she experiences her two worlds colliding and finds herself wondering whether her storybook view of romance, complete with “happily every after,” can survive in our world.

   The film’s wide-ranging cast of fantastical and contemporary characters is brought to life by an accomplished corps of actors that includes: Academy Award® nominee Amy Adams (“Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” “Charlie Wilson’s War,” “Junebug”), Patrick Dempsey (television’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Sweet Home Alabama”), James Marsden (“Hairspray,” “Superman Returns”), Timothy Spall (“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,”

   “The Last Hangman”), Idina Menzel (“Rent,” “Ask the Dust”) and Academy Award® winner Susan Sarandon (“Mr. Woodcock,” “Shall We Dance”). Bringing to life the film’s mix of Manhattan grit and fairytale glimmer is a creative team that includes: director of photography DON BURGESS (“Eight Below,” “The Polar Express”); production designer STUART WURTZEL (“Charlotte’s Web,” “Little Manhattan”); editors STEPHEN A. ROTTER (“Yours, Mine and Ours,” “The Parent Trap”) and GREGORY PERLER (“Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit,” “Tarzan”); costume designer MONA MAY (“Haunted Mansion,” “Miles from Home”); and music supervisor DAWN SOLÉR (“The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement”).

  ENCHANTED features music from the reunited team of acclaimed and multiple Oscar®-winning composer and lyricist Alan Menkin and Stephen Schwartz (“Pocahontas,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”).

An Idea Takes Shape

   For screenwriter Bill Kelly, the idea that became ENCHANTED literally started out in the land of make-believe, with the idea of a wide-eyed, innocent character—and setting her loose in a modern, cynical world. Kelly states, “It was sort of a ‘What if?’ idea. We kept working on it, but we were having trouble in terms of making that character believable. And then, one day, we decided that it’d be a lot easier if she was essentially this animated character…and that’s how we came up with this idea.” The spec script of ENCHANTED landed with producers Barry Josephson and Barry Sonnenfeld. Josephson comments, “It started with a spec screenplay by Bill Kelly, who did a fabulous job creating this world—bringing this Disney fairytale princess from hand-drawn animation into live action. That’s what really intrigued me.”

   Along the way, ENCHANTED attracted the interest of Disney director Kevin Lima, who had helmed such diverse projects as “A Goofy Movie,” “102 Dalmatians” and “Tarzan.” These successful films showed that Lima was not only a lifetime fan of the genre, but also someone who could “play” with the classic sensibility of the material without losing respect for it—respectful without a constraining reverence.

   Soon Josephson and Lima met to discuss the project. Josephson notes, “From our first meeting, I knew Kevin had a great vision for the film and would bring a great input and perspective to the screenplay.” Says Lima: “I read the script and thought, ‘This is perfect for me…and I’m made for it! I started my career as an animator and designer, then continued on to become a director of animated features. I know this world in my heart and I love it.’”

   The true vision of ENCHANTED came to life when Kevin came together with Bill Kelly and their chemistry made finding the perfect version of the story possible. One of Kevin’s key contributions was the idea that the two worlds within the script—animated and real—could be combined even further, with the iconography of the fairytale existence being brought front and center and into a place, such as New York, where people don’t often break into song or get to live happily ever after. Executive Producer Chris Chase notes, “I truly think only someone with Kevin’s visualarts experience coupled with his understanding of the Disney heritage could have melded these worlds so naturally.”

   It was the juxtaposition of worlds that kicked Lima’s creative sensibilities into high gear. He comments, “The movie starts in the typical Disney animated world. I like to think of it as a can of condensed Disney, thick and compressed. You open it up and out come all of the Disney icons offered up in a 10-minute opening, after which the film really takes off. It’s actually a live-action movie at heart. The characters from the animated opening become real people, and that transformation is really the core of the story. Things happen in Disney movies that don’t happen in real life, and that’s what the movie plays off of in a big way.”

  “Working with Kevin Lima,” offers Bill Kelly, “made us really conscious of the fact that we wanted to make this an affectionate take on the Disney characters. We all have a fondness for the legacy and the history of Disney animation, and it was really taking those iconic characters, ideas and themes, and then colliding them—with all of their unapologetic innocence—with the cynicism of the modern world. That’s what we were really striving for, while trying to find the balance where we wouldn’t strain the cynicism.”

   Lima picks up, “And how that cynicism sort of rubs against the innocent. I mean, Giselle comes into our world bright-eyed and full of innocence. She accepts everything as it is and embraces the joy of life. Her joy rubs off on almost every single person she comes into contact with…in effect, she enchants everyone.”

  Giselle is an amalgam of such characters as Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle and the Little Mermaid, and like all those ladies, bursting into song when words no longer suffice is an accepted form of communication. At the start of the film, Giselle is trying to create the image of her longed-for prince, the man destined to bestow upon her the most valuable gift that a young maiden can receive—true love’s kiss. So, as Giselle tells her woodland friends about that heroic guy and that longed-for kiss, she sings—and hearing her song is what lures Prince Edward into her life.