A war of the worlds over McDreamy

While melding animation with live action in a movie is neither novel (it was first done in 1914 via Gertie the Dinosaur) nor uncommon (more than 20 Hollywood live action/animation flicks have been made to date), Enchanted promises to be, well, different.

For one thing, it delights in parodying itself — poking fun at both the “real” and the cartoon world through standard-issue stereotyping we all love (or love to hate). I thought it was pretty big of Disney to allow itself to some good-natured lampooning. I’m sure studio execs are also laughing their way to the bank. Just five days after its release, Enchanted has already raked in more than $50-M.

And did we mention McDreamy?

Oh, and how the girls swoon over Patrick Dempsey — whose career has reached poster boy heights with his portrayal of Dr. Derek Shepherd in the hit TV series Grey’s Anatomy. Dempsey lends his Prince Charming effect to Enchanted as a jaded divorce lawyer Robert Phillip, who happens to chance upon the human-formerly-known-as-cartoon Giselle (Amy Adams) — to the glee of Robert’s daughter and the chagrin of his girlfriend. Giselle has been exiled to the mean, real world (New York, to boot) by the wicked Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon). But Giselle holds a candle for her real, if cartoon, love Prince Edward (James Marsden). Interested yet?

Did we mention McDreamy?

Enchanted begins in classic Disney fairytale fashion —  a lot of singing animals, wishful thinking, and the regulation duets by people who haven’t even met. Enchanted makes fun of the innocence of it all — how Prince Edward wants to marry Giselle right away sans even a first date, and how the obviously naïve Giselle looks forward to kissing (and that’s it).

The inevitable clash of the cartoon and live action domains result in some oddball magic and situations — a sobering study in the incoherence (and hilarity) of reel versus real; of fanciful versus factual. That cartoon adults generally think like children — for obvious reasons, of course — cannot be ignored as well. Come to think of it, Enchanted is actually more 13 Going On 30 than Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

The Joe’s Apartment-inspired song-and-dance number by Giselle and some CGI animals is something to behold, although you might want to delay stuffing your mouth with popcorn just yet. Those of you old or young enough to remember 1984’s Splash might also see in Giselle a little of the naivete of the mermaid Madison played by Darryl Hannah opposite Tom Hanks.

Notwithstanding all the cinema magic available to 21st century filmmakers, any movie lover worth his salt knows that nothing beats an engaging story well told. And I believe Enchanted does exactly that — never overstaying its welcome, allowing its characters to develop in time, and cutting out extraneous stuff. But it has a natural advantage, since many of the characters are already, by design, hopelessly mired in their stereotype, there’s really not much explaining to do. That allows the main protagonists Giselle and Robert to take an unencumbered stage and change  before our eyes — to meet in the proverbial bridge that shows them they are actually more alike than different. Robert learns to smell the roses; Giselle employs some introspection without automatically breaking into song. Pardon the caramel, but this is a love story, after all.

And truth to tell, while you laugh at the ludicrous situations, in some weird way Enchanted will leave you, well enchanted — newly affirmed in your belief that fairytales do come true. For it is no exaggeration to say that each of us nurture dreams of seeing our ideals triumph over the cynical, cynical world (with apologies to Jerry Maguire), and live happily ever after.