'Disenchanted' Review

It took 15 years, but the magic of Andalasia is FINALLY back in our world, thanks to 'Disenchanted', now streaming on Disney+!

Most of the original 'Enchanted' cast returns; led by McDreamy... er, Patrick Dempsey as Robert and Amy Adams as Giselle (who, full disclosure, was (and still is) one to my first big celebrity crushes, and is probably the reason I married my own Princess...)

'Disenchanted' also sees the return of a Princesses' best friend, Pip, this time voiced by Griffin Newman (replacing Jeff Bennett from the first film); and the relatively unknown Gabriella Baldacchino who replaces Rachel Covey as Morgan and does a wonderful job playing all that this movie asks of her.

We also get a visit from the King and Queen of Andalasia, Edward (James Marsden) and Idina Menzel's Nancy (and she finally gets to sing!) who's appearances are MUCH less significant than the previous film, but I'll take ANYTHING I can get from those two.

When it comes to new characters, it doesn't get much badder than Malvina (Maya Rudolph) and her lackeys (Jayma Mays & Yvette Nicole Brown) who channel Snow White's Evil Queen and Cinderella's Stepsisters, and play the (easily stale) Fairy-Tale stereotypes with a lot of giggles along the way.
Add in cameos from Broadway's 'Genie' James Monroe Inglehart, 'The Office's' Oscar Nunez, and Disney Animation's lucky charm; Alan Tudyk (who voices a Magic Scroll, who's design and animation I'm currently obsessed with...) and this movie is set for nothing but success!

The biggest gift this movie gives us has to be the new music from Disney Legends Alan Menken ('The Little Mermaid', 'Beauty and the Beast') and Stephen Schwartz ('Wicked'). Though the songs aren't quite the ear-worms from the first film, they are certainly worthy Disney tunes and will be on repeat a lot over here for the rest of the year...

It's not all perfect... The CG can be a little "Video-Gamey", I had some problems with the editing, and I saw a few timing issues in the 2-D animation; but that didn't stop me from crying happy tears many times throughout.

Even if it's not perfect, I really liked this movie, man...

More soon,

Avery