HAPPILY N'EVER AFTER
Never Ever Land: Rewriting fairy-tale lore into nightmarish reality -- for kids
PopcornReel.com Film Review: "Happily N'Ever After"
By Omar P.L. Moore/January 5, 2007
Ella un-enchanted? Not by
the looks of it, as she (voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar) stares into the eyes
of Rick (voiced by Freddie Prinze, Jr.)
(Photo: Lions Gate)
A
couple of firsts to kick off the 2007 film year in North America: this is the
first animated feature film released by Lions Gate Films and the first animated film of
the New Year. "Happily Ever After", which opens in movie theaters in North America today, is the
sometimes charming, other times amusing story of two characters Munk and Mambo, who decide that an image
makeover for the fairy tale stories that young and old the world over have come to know and love
forever, is in order. Together they script the beginning, middles and unexpected ends of such hallowed hits
in the fairly tale hall of heavens as Rumpelstiltskin, Rapunzel, Jack and The Beanstalk, Sleeping
Beauty, etc.
Unfortunately, as the best of un-luck would have it, the
spiteful Freida (voiced by Sigourney Weaver) and shown in all her hip-swiveling, curvaceous Jessica
Rabbit-type glory, intervenes, spinning these tales on their heads. If the bad guys always lose, as Freida
declares, then what's wrong with turning the tables of past fables from good into evil?
Predictably, all hell breaks loose and before too long the
"happy endings are so yesterday!" Freida has the good guys weeping and the bad guys thrill-seeking --
glorious triumphs of which she is most pleased. Freida's labor of delectable undoing trains a
focus on Ella, whom she torments, and on the prince that is supposed to rescue her from her mundane
and indentured-servant type existence -- and
Freida has big plans for him. Interesting enough, for
an animated figure that is drawn to look as attractive as Freida does, she is so desperately miserable and unhappy.
(Beauty is only skin deep, so the saying goes.)
Rick, the prince's servant, has designs on Ella, who has
designs on Prince Humperdink. The prince is inept, vane and self-absorbed. Rick is ambitious, focused and
brave. If the picture at the top of this page tells you anything, then the title of this film is not exactly
accurate. The film however, is enjoyable. As directed by Paul J. Bolger, written by Robert Moreland, and featuring
the voices of Sarah Michelle Gellar (as Ella), Freddie Prinze, Jr. (Rick), Patrick Warburton (Prince
Humperdink), George Carlin (The Wizard), Andy Dick (Mambo) and Wallace Shawn (Munk), "Happily N'Ever After"
provides literal and figurative moments of narrative deconstruction, delight and fun.
One of the most enjoyable things about the film is listening
to the kids in the audience chuckle and laugh throughout. If that's music to your ears, then you may
just enjoy this film as much as your kids (or kid sister) will.
"Happily N'Ever After" is rated PG by the Motion
Picture Association of America for some mild action and rude humor. The film's duration is a quick and tidy
one hour and 23 minutes. Score a knock-out punch for Lions Gate, which makes a decent debut with this
animation release. The film's producers, Ralph Kamp and John H. Williams, also produced the first two
"Shrek" movies.
Copyright 2007. The Popcorn Reel.
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