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What if the “happily ever after” ending of fairy tales is altered and the destiny of characters reversed with the villains emerging as victors? Happily N’Ever After develops this hypothesis as it re-weaves the Cinderella story. When the wise wizard (voiced by George Carlin), keeper of stories in fairy land, takes a vacation, he entrusts the preservation of the scale of balance between good and evil to his aides, Munk (voiced by Wallace Shawn) and Mambo (voiced by Andy Dick). As the reruns of fairy tales are monitored on screen, one of the two assistants is bored by the predictability of recurring events and endings and wishes to give the stories a twist. Their heated discussion is overheard by Frieda, the wicked stepmother (voiced by Sigourney Weaver) who’s attending the palace ball with her two daughters (voiced by Kath Soucie and Jill Talley). As Frieda climbs up the tower to steal the powerful, magic staff of the wizard, her stepdaughter Cinderella (voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar) arrives in the palace to meet the prince (voiced by Patrick Warburton) of her dreams. Waving the magic wand, Frieda summons the evil trolls, giants, and witches to wage war against the elves and heroes of Fairy Tale Land. She vents her ire on Cinderella who wants to protect the kingdom from the reign of evil. The palace dishwasher (voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr.) becomes Cinderella’s gallant rescuer in contrast with the Prince who is seen as insipid, vain, and spineless. The ultimate battle between the force of evil ( Frieda and her wicked allies) and the force of good (Cinderella, Rick , and their friends) will determine the fate of Fairy Tale Land.
Sleeping Beauty, Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel are mere digressions in the “what if...” motif of the film while Rumpelstiltskin seems to be an incidental and unnecessary addition to the plot. While the story focuses on Cinderella, it introduces a new character, the palace dishwasher. Unlike previous films on fairy tales that held viewers spellbound by their charm, enchanting scenes, and memorable music, Happily N’Ever After is sadly bereft of these features. In spite of the use of computer-generated effects, the film is slow-paced, tedious, and unimaginative. The irony is that a fairy tale is supposed to use the language of imagination which appeals strongly to children and serves as wholesome reading or entertainment; precisely why children love the re-reading and retelling of fairy tales. Even a psychologist has remarked that “children who grew up hearing fairy tales will never need a therapist”. Unfortunately, Happily N’Ever After tampers with the original plot of a popular fairy tale; its way of retelling is better not repeated.
Far from amusing, it is vexing to watch the iconoclastic attempt of the film to trivialize revered fairy tale characters. The conflict between Frieda and Cinderella is over-extended; the display of the wicked stepmother’s venom in persecuting Cinderella is not good exposure for children. While the film appears to be innocuous, it does not have much to offer in terms of positive values or meaningful message. Of course, it remains faithful to the theme that in spite of overwhelming odds, good will still prevails over evil. Other good insights are: the need to distinguish between the real and the illusory, the ability to see beyond appearances, the character of a person emerges in a crisis situation. But these aspects are not easily discernible and should children be brought by their guardians to watch this revised fairy tale, there’s a need to guide them accordingly.
(Date Reviewed: 30 March 2007)
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