Streaming Review: Disney Princesses And Villains Abound & It's Almost Magical In DISENCHANTED On Disney+

Well, my DAHLING tribe, the lovelies at Broadway World have asked Bobby for another of our rainbow reviews on some streaming "content" coming to you this time from the fab Mouses at Disney+! So jump in the stream with Bobby and let's see where our Rainbow lands.

This week, dear readers, Disney+, the premier streaming service for THE MOUSE, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and even National Geographic (?!) have released a new magical fantasy from the Disney Sandbox. DISENCHANTED, the long-awaited (15 years long) sequel to the Oscar-nominated ENCHANTED, is now streaming on The Diz. Starring originals from ENCHANTED:

Amy Adams as Giselle

Patrick Dempsey as Robert

James Marsden as Edward

Idina Menzel as Nancy

And Adding In

Maya Rudolph as Malvina

Gabriella Baldacchino as Morgan (Giselle's Step Daughter She Picked Up In ENCHANTED)

Yvette Nicole Brown as Rosaleen

Jayma Mays as Ruby

Mila & Lara Jackson as Sofia

... this flip-flop from the original puts us in the non-animated picture of Giselle's (Adams) life in our non-magical, non-animated world. Her stepdaughter, "Little" Morgan (Originally & precociously played by Rachel Covey), is now a teen terror played by talented Gabriella Baldacchino. Robert (Dempsey) and Giselle have also recently had adorable baby Sofia (the Jackson Twins) and they all live in a lovely New York City Highrise. Giselle still talks and sings to animals, and life in the highrise is as one might expect for a magical princess who settled down into an Upper East Side mom routine. Early happiness greys with a bit of age and a brooding teen will always make a mom make questionable life choices and, so, Giselle makes the mistake many dwellers of this glorious New York city make by deciding happiness must reside in the burbs - RIDICULOUS, we know! But, if she doesn't lock, stock, and barrel them all to Monroeville, then there is no chance of her meeting Malvina - this story's baddie, replacing Andolasia's evildoer Narissa with real-world Maya Rudolph and her Flotsam & Jetsam wannabe's Rosaleen & Ruby, played for side kick comedy schtick by the team of Brown & Mays. As the story moves through the suburbs, mother and daughter grow father apart since daughter is a real tool and overly opti-mystical mom can't cope... and so, Giselle makes a magical wish, and then... the thing happens... and after the thing, there are more things that happen, both magical and personal, leading to happily ever after... And there you have the plot... Now, how to tell you all why this sequel might be worth your time without spoilers - that is our rainbow quandary... So here goes...

DISENCHANTED could be worth your time, as well as your kids' time and attention (as it is certainly geared for a younger audience than its predecessor) IF you stop off in the video stream to first take in ENCHANTED IF you haven't already caught that classic. There are still many Disney in-jokes, winks, and nods to keep you amused IF you know the original film and IF you were a Disney kid (as Bobby was) once upon a time. Absent those big IFs, you might find DISENCHANTED a bit of a Disney disappointment. The back story is concisely presented at the top of the film, to put you in the picture before going forward with the picture, and, to be honest, dear ones, that going forward bit is slow to get anywhere fun, at first. Despite the sluggish start, the story is continually lifted by a score from two Academy Award-winning Disney Legends. The brilliant Stephen Schwartz takes on the singular job of lyricist this time and is partnered with the equally shiny Alan Menken, who crafted his keyboard around Schwartz's words wonderfully. The score and the voices are the reasons for dialing up DISENCHANTED on your streaming TV. The lyrics are poetic fun, the tunes are bouncy and sweeping, and everyone performs with all the children's theatre energy needed to put them over. Adam's mix of belt and legit soprano that seems to have no limit puts her in the Chenoweth class (Kristin that is), Marsden poses and hams it up but proffers his fine, FINE tenor sadly on only one number, THE MAGIC OF ANDOLASIA, which he sings with the incomparable Idina Menzel. The composers have two big money numbers in this film, Menzel's thrilling rendition of LOVE POWER, and the best villain song since POOR UNFORTUNATE SOULS, with the dueling witch number BADDER... and that's all that can be said without spoilers, my lambs.

Suffice it to say that DISENCHANTED has something for fans and something for kids, but not much for those in-betweeners. The original film had a budget of $85 mil ($122 mil today) and this scaled-down sequel seems to have cut corners in every department EXCEPT paying for a fine cast of singing players, and the brilliance of the music-writing team. While it does seem like Bobby is letting the rain fall here, and sprinkling more than the usual amount of critic on this critique, we did enjoy the film a lot. But we loved ENCHANTED and are a Disney-phile from way back, so we are definitely DISENCHANTED's audience, along with your kids, so what we say is, dial this one up on your Disney+ and see for yourselves, my dear readers, as Bobby gives this one...

3 Out Of 5 Rainbows - Check it out.

Go To Your App Purveyor On Your Phone, Streaming TV Service, Or Your Computer OR To disneyplus.com And See What The Fab Folks At Disney+ Have To Offer.

Listen To DISENCHANTED The Sound Track On Your Spotifies: HERE

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