Story
Ten years have passed since Giselle (Amy Adams) found her ‘happily-ever-after’ and she thinks it’s time to move her family away from the bustle of life in New York City. Giselle and her husband, Robert (Patrick Dempsey), choose a town called Monroeville where they’ve found a castle to live in. But Giselle, Robert and their daughters, teenager Morgan (Gabriella Baldacchino) and new baby Sofia (Mila Jackson), have some problems settling into their new life. Particularly Morgan who didn’t want to move in the first place. And also Giselle, who is confronted by the local ‘queen bee’, Malvina Monroe (Maya Rudolph), and her ‘cronies’, Ruby (Jayma Mays) and Rosaleen (Yvette Nicole Brown), who don’t take kindly to having Giselle around.
When baby Sofia is gifted an Andalasian magic wand from her godparents, the King and Queen of Andalasia, Morgan feels isolated from her family. After an argument between Morgan and Giselle, Giselle uses the wand and wishes that her life was more like the fairy-tale she had in Andalasia. However, her wish backfires on her when the town is totally transformed into a fairy-tale setting, complete with Malvina as the evil queen, Morgan as Cinderella, and Giselle as the wicked stepmother. Robert also joins in on the action, complete with sword to tackle giants and dragons. Meanwhile, the magic is dying in Andalasia and Giselle has only until the clock strikes midnight to reverse her spell.
Themes
Magic; fantasy; adventure; fairy-tales; good vs evil; family breakdown; threats of death; children as victims; children in danger; world destruction; parental death
Violence
Disenchanted has some violence. For example:
- An electrical light switch malfunctions and sends a current across the ceiling, setting fire to furniture.
- Morgan and Robert crash into each other, causing them to fall down.
- Morgan argues with her parents.
- Giselle, while cursed, often grabs and pulls Morgan, and belittles her.
- Evil Giselle kicks Pip, her pet chipmunk, down a gutter drain.
- Robert attempts to slay a dragon and is dramatically blasted out of a cave by the dragon’s fire, twice. The second time he is on fire, but he is unharmed.
- Malvina’s ‘cronies’ argue often.
- Teenagers bully Morgan on numerous occasions. They purposefully knock over her books, mock her and snicker.
- Malvina sends Ruby flying with her magic.
- There are mild threats between evil Giselle and evil Queen Malvina throughout the movie.
- While cursed, Malvina and Giselle threaten each other’s lives and fight using their magic powers. This involves magical attacks and weapons being pointed. Malvina tells her guards to destroy Giselle. Giselle lifts Malvina up into the air using her magical powers which encircle Malvina’s throat, choking her with vines that rise from the ground, before letting her fall to the ground alive.
- During the evil showdown between Giselle and evil Queen Malvina, their magic violently meets in a duel, and both are thrown backwards.
- Guards threaten Giselle with their swords.
- The bell tower clock explodes by magic.
- Malvina ties Morgan up with moving tree roots.
- The King of Andalasia, Edward, play fights with children using wooden swords. He is hit numerous times but is not seriously hurt.
Sexual references
Disenchanted has some sexual references. For example:
- Robert and Giselle kiss on several occasions. In one scene they are shown cuddling together in bed.
- In the introduction, Giselle wishes for a kiss from Prince Charming.
- Female adults use sexual innuendo when referencing teenager Tyson, including saying that ‘He is the apple of everyone’s eyes’.
- Some flirting between Morgan and Malvina’s son, Tyson.
- Morgan is attracted to Tyson.
- Tyson is attracted to Morgan.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Disenchanted has some substance use. For example:
- Magic powers.
- Use of a sleeping potion on Morgan.
- Adults seen with wine, but not seen drinking.
Nudity and sexual activity
Disenchanted has some nudity and sexual activity. For example, Giselle draws attention to the low cut of her dress.
Product placement
There’s no product placement in Disenchanted.
Coarse language
Disenchanted has some coarse language. For example, ‘what the heck/hell’, ‘geez’, ‘hell’, ‘where the hell is…?’, ‘hogwashery!’, and ‘stupid’. Name calling includes ‘idiots’, ‘slippery devil’, ‘wannabe’ and ‘watery toad’.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Disenchanted is the sequel to Disney’s Enchanted (2007), featuring the original cast. The movie combines animation with real life characters to take the audience into a Disney world of song and dance, enchantment, fantasy, and a dose of reality. While the movie is action-packed, fast-paced and likely to appeal to many children, it features heavy use of magic and some scary scenes, particularly towards the end of the movie. It is therefore best suited to families with children aged 7 and over. Older children might also enjoy recognising similarities between this movie and iconic fairy tales such as Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Sleeping Beauty. It might also be beneficial to watch the original movie to understand some references made in Disenchanted.
These are the main messages from Disenchanted:
- Love conquers all.
- Be grateful for what you have.
- Step-parents and step-children are true family members.
- Nobody is perfect so you should just be yourself.
- Be careful what you wish for.
- Life doesn’t have to be ‘perfect’ to live ‘happily ever after’.
Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children are courage, resilience, family, unconditional family love, optimism, persistence, forgiveness, taking responsibility for one’s actions, and good defeats evil.
Disenchanted could also give you the chance to talk with your children about attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:
- Why some people choose to be bad and behave badly.
- The effects of bullying on the bully and the victim.
This movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the importance of:
- recognising that blended families and stepfamilies are quite common today and step-parenting is normal
- spending time together as a family and developing memories
- taking responsibility for your actions and understanding that others can help you to fix your mistakes
- persisting and looking for new ways to solve problems
- being grateful for what you have and not wishing for more.