Once upon a time, there lived a couple of brothers named Grimm, who collected and published folk tales filled with princesses, witches, ogres, dwarves, wolves and the occasional fairy godmother.
Their stories had a few laughs, some terror and oftentimes, heavy-handed morals with happy endings reserved only for the virtuous. For more than 400 years, these tales have delighted, entertained and sparked the imaginations of countless children.
Unfortunately, some writers and filmmakers think today’s kids are too smart, too cynical and too adult to find much use in the tales of old. “Happily N’Ever After” is a paint-by-numbers animated retelling of the classic fairy tale “Cinderella,” repackaged for today’s allegedly cynical audiences.
The film is set in a world called Fairy Tale Land (“We had to call Fairy Tale Land something and Canada was already taken,” quips the film’s narrator and hero, Rick, voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr. in what passes as humor in the film). A wizard (George Carlin) resides in the highest tower of a castle where he maintains a scale that balances good and evil, ensuring all fairy tales conclude with the traditional “happily ever after” ending. He’s assisted by two bumbling assistants, a pig named Munk (Wallace Shawn) and a rather spastic cat (Andy Dick). The wizard leaves the two in charge of a magic staff and the aforementioned scales.
Cinderella’s wicked stepmother, Frieda (Sigourney Weaver), catches wind of the wizard’s absence, seizes the staff, forces the rest of the bad guys to do her bidding, and tips the scales toward evil, changing the endings of many fairy tales (the prince kisses Sleeping Beauty and falls asleep, Rapunzel falls from her tower onto her prince when he tries to climb her hair.)
She even has Cinderella’s dress turn back into a raggedy housecoat while “Ella” (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is in the middle of a waltz with her prince (Patrick Warburton.)
After the prince leaves Ella and goes off to find his fair maiden, Ella realizes she’ll have to stand up to her stepmother if she is to ever have the ending she dreams of.
She is reluctantly helped along the way by the castle’s dishwasher, Rick (who is not so secretly in love with Ella).
Unfortunately, neither Ella nor Rick earns our sympathy.
She is too unwilling to deviate from her own story to see what is in front of her and, worse still, seems incapable of defining herself outside of a relationship with a man (be it the prince or Rick). For his part, Rick is jealous of the prince and seems to come to the rescue only for selfish reasons.
Overall, the movie lacks the emotional power of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” or the wit and humor of “Shrek.” It is soulless, bland and not half as funny or hip as it seems to think it is.
As an animated film, its computer animation lacks the polish and detail of a Pixar film. If it succeeds in anything at all, it gives you an appreciation for the work of the Brothers Grimm.
“Happily N’Ever After” | ** RATING
PG for mild action and rude humor|1 hour, 27 minutes|ANIMATED FAIRY TALE|Directed by Paul J. Bolger; written by Rob Moreland; art direction by Deane Taylor; featuring the voices of Sigourney Weaver, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., Patrick Warburton, Andy Dick, Wallace Shawn, George Carlin|Opens today at area theaters.
