One 'Enchanted' Evening

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I just have to say how pleased I am with the new Disney movie, Enchanted.

Now as a disclaimer, I actually own a few shares of Disney stock so it also makes me excited on the financial end as well.

The reason that I am so excited about this movie is that it seems like it is a return to the good Disney movies that I grew up with. Not to say that the recent movies have been bad, it’s just that they haven’t really been as timeless as “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin.” The last good movie to feature music sung by the characters was “Tarzan”, though they did have a bit in “Home on the Range.”

After “Home on the Range”, Disney decided to shut down its 2D animation studios and focus solely on 3D. I and apparently the box office think that was a mistake. The movies that Disney has produced since then have done ok, but not the response that they were looking for.

They had other 2D releases before this that hadn’t done so well like “Treasure Planet” (which I still think is an excellent movie) and others. However, there was an element that was missing in these. Music! The animated films that Disney had produced for nearly a decade, all had music in them, and a whole generation grew up loving and singing them. However, they decided that was too cliché or something and stopped putting them in the films. People became disinterested because the films did not have the same charm as the previous films did.

But during all this time, Pixar was still making money. The industry thought that was because it was 3D and the audiences responded to it. That was not the case. It was the story telling that Pixar did that made them so great. It had the charm that Disney had lost.

Then came a turn around, or so I believe. Disney bought Pixar, and John Lassater from Pixar became the new head of Walt Disney Animation. He has professed to be an animation lover in all forms and I am hoping continues the comeback of Walt Disney Animation.

The reason that I love “Enchanted” so much is that it brings much of that missing charm back. I hope that Disney takes it as a signal to get their act together. The film combines both animation and live-action with spoofs on plot, background music, in jokes to other films, and musical numbers. All without being too cheesy or goofy. They brought back the same guys who had worked on the Disney musicals from all those years ago and created something that is I would say, quite frankly enchanting.

Audiences have agreed with me. “Enchanted” has been number 1 in the box office for several weeks now, and has just been nominated for several Golden Globes.

Now, let’s just hope that Disney is as “Enchanted” as I am and will continue to bring us good films once again.