Did you notice anything familiar about "Enchanted?"
Disney's new live-action/animated comedy is earning rave reviews for its unconventional tale about an animated princess named Giselle, who is cast out of her kingdom by an evil queen only to find herself in real-world New York City. But the offbeat romance starring Amy Adams, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden as Giselle's animated beau, Prince Edward, and Patrick Dempsey as her real-life Prince Charming, doesn't completely break with tradition.
The film is chock-full of winking nods to classic Disney films. Among them: the casting of Jodi Benson -- who was the voice of Ariel in "The Little Mermaid" -- as Sam, the secretary to attorney Robert Philip (Dempsey), as well as the appearance of a little eatery where Giselle and Robert dine named Belle Notte, after the romantic song from "Lady and the Tramp."
"Enchanted" director Kevin Lima describes the animated opening as a "can of condensed Disney. If you added water to the eight-minute opening you would have a full 88-minute movie. We just collected everything we would think of that would homage Disney movies."
The in-jokes and homages all came from Lima, 45, who has been obsessed with Disney films since his mother took him to see "The Jungle Book" when he was 5. "I turned to her after the movie and said 'I want to be a Disney animator when I grow up.' " Lima's wish came true. He not only became an animator at Disney, but he also directed the studio's 1999 "Tarzan" before moving into live-action films as a director ("102 Dalmatians," "The Haunted Mansion").
When he read the script for "Enchanted," he says, "Immediately, I had an idea -- Wouldn't it be fun if we did 'Whistle While You Work' in the real world. . . . 'It just spread throughout the body of the film and took over. The homages go pretty deep if you are a Disney geek like I am."
And it starts with the opening frame of the movie -- with a nod to the castle in "Sleeping Beauty." "If you look around Giselle's room, the prince that she builds looks very much like the statue of Prince Eric from 'The Little Mermaid,' " Lima says. "If you do some frame-by-frame, you also find she has the bell jar with the rose like in 'Beauty and the Beast.' There are all sorts of collective nods . . . ."
Other moments and likenesses that will catch the eye of Disney lovers:
* Giselle is based on a compilation of Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel, Belle from "Beauty and the Beast" and Aurora from "Sleeping Beauty."
