Posted on: Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Disney references aplenty in 'Enchanted'
By Robert W. Butler
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
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Amy Adams is Giselle, a fairy-tale princess who is thrust into the real world by an evil queen, in Disney's "Enchanted."
BARRY WETCHER | Disney Enterprises, Inc.
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If you've seen "Enchanted," you know that the new Disney movie references dozens of classic animated and live-action films.
Just how many references are buried in the story became clear when the studio issued a scene-by-scene breakdown of the hidden (and overt) homages to earlier movies. These range from the first images of the film, when a storybook pops open (a parody of the storybook openings of "Snow White," "Cinderella" and "Sleeping Beauty"), through individual scenes.
For example, the scene in which Prince Edward (James Marsden) does battle with a bus in Times Square is packed with references:
An old woman on the bus with a bag of birdseed is an homage to the bird woman and the song "Feed the Birds" in "Mary Poppins." She appears later feeding the pigeons in Central Park.
The bus driver's hairdo mimics the contours of a Mickey Mouse hat.
The scene plays out against billboards for the Broadway shows of "Beauty and the Beast" and "Tarzan," both of which began as Disney animated features.
There's plenty more:
The troll hunted by Prince Edward in the opening animated segment wears a loincloth made up of pieces of dresses worn by past animated Disney princesses: Snow White, Belle (from "Beauty and the Beast"), Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. He also wears as earrings shells worn by Ariel in "The Little Mermaid."
Robert's assistant Sam is named after Prince Philip's trusted steed Samson in "Sleeping Beauty" and is played by Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel in "The Little Mermaid."
And that's just the beginning of the madness:
A law firm's name pays homage to "Snow White's" songwriters, Frank Churchill, Leigh Harline and Paul J. Smith.
The set of a "Rapunzel" performance has square trees, like those in "Sleeping Beauty." (Disney is planning an animated "Rapunzel" for 2009.)
TV soap-opera characters are named after "Beauty and the Beast" voices Jerry Orbach (Lumiere) and Angela Lansbury (Mrs. Potts).
Look for a pumpkin-shaped coach, a missing glass slipper and a clock that chimes 12.
A divorcing couple is named Banks, like the troubled parents who hire Mary Poppins. A yellow-jacketed old man at a reception danced as a "Poppins" chimney sweep.
