Enchanted/Fridge

Fridge Brilliance

• Giselle's modern makeover in the ball scene initally thew me off. But after thinking about it, it made her look a lot more "normal" and less of a fairytale princess, highlighting her Character Development.
  • At the same time, it also contrasts her with everyone else at the ball, who are all dressed up and enjoying their fantasies, while she was faced with reality (that she would not get together with Robert).
• Her voice gets a lot more mannered and less "Disney Princess"-ish the longer she stays in reality.
• This doesn't have anything to do with the film's internal logic, but I noticed that the musical numbers get more modern as the film progresses. It starts with a bland "I Want" Song reminiscent of Disney's early films, moves on to a jaunty parody, then a big bombastic Menken/Ashman-style musical number, then a slow Award Bait Song, and finally a totally contemporary closing number with guitars and everything. It kind of reflects Giselle's gradual adjustment to the "real world".
  • Director Kevin Lima said that reflection was intentional.
• The clock at the ball is actually designed to finish its chimes at the "stroke of midnight" instead of start them. Why would anyone want to make a clock like that? Well, remember the guests' comments about "last year's show"? Apparently there's some kind of skit at the ball every year. What if the one that was planned for that year's ball (pre-empted by the real-life drama going on) was fairy-tale themed and featured a When the Clock Strikes Twelve climax? It makes perfect sense that they'd have a special clock set up for that!
• During the Central Park scene Robert says that you have take time to get to know a person before getting into a serious relationship, and that many relationships end unhappily. Giselle insists that you should be romantic and then goes into the "That's How You Know" number. It seems at first that they are presenting completely opposite viewpoints... until you realize that both characters are stressing that relationships only work if you put in the effort. And for a relationship to be happy and successful you need work both to build a strong foundation and to always let the other person know how much they mean to you.
• It's hinted that Giselle and Edward have a sort of magical influence on the real world; most obvious is when Giselle gets an entire park to join her in a musical number, but subtler is the scene where Edward talks to the TV (mistaking it as a magic mirror) and it tells him exactly what he needs to know, just as he's asking for it. At first you think it's a coincidence, but then you realize it worked out almost too perfectly. It works in reverse too; the real world has a sort of sobering affect of Giselle, but not on Edward, possibly because he hasn't spent as much time there as she has and because he's not socializing with the New Yorkers as much as she was.

Fridge Horror

• Giselle claims in her "True Love's Kiss" song that "the lips are the only parts that touch". How sad. Because of her living alone all those years in that abandoned cottage, the poor girl has never heard of hugging.
• What about the soup from which the Queen is calling Nathaniel? Remember the poisoned apples? Yes.