44 hidden details you might've missed in 'Enchanted'
Gabbi Shaw
- "Enchanted" was released 15 years ago, in 2007.
- The movie (and its long-awaited sequel) are filled to the brim with Disney Easter eggs.
"Enchanted" is the story of Giselle, a young woman from Andalasia who gets sucked into the "real" world.
Giselle, played by Amy Adams, begins the film in an animated kingdom called Andalasia, straight out of a Disney movie. She's rescued by a handsome prince, Edward (played by James Marsden), but before they can live happily ever after, Giselle is sent to our world by Edward's evil stepmother, Queen Narissa, played by Susan Sarandon.
When Giselle makes it to our world, she meets Robert (Patrick Dempsey), his daughter Morgan (Rachel Covey), and Robert's girlfriend Nancy (Idina Menzel). Giselle and Robert each teach the other about falling in love, happy endings, and letting magic into your life.
The opening scene with the storybook echoes Disney classics like "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Cinderella."
But in a modern twist, this storybook is a pop-up.
The narrator of "Enchanted" is Julie Andrews, who is literally Disney royalty — she played Queen Clarisse in "The Princess Diaries." And, of course, she's Mary Poppins.
Will Andrews be in the upcoming "Princess Diaries 3"? Only time will tell.
Queen Narissa, played by Susan Sarandon, opens her drapes exactly like the Evil Queen in "Snow White."
This won't be the last direct parallel to the Evil Queen.
When Giselle looks at the diamonds, it's a mirror of a famous shot of Dopey in "Snow White."
Giselle is using the diamonds as potential eyes for her fake prince, while it's just another day at work for Dopey.
Giselle constructs her dream man, just like Aurora does in "Sleeping Beauty."
It's also similar to how Ariel plays around with the statue of Eric in "The Little Mermaid." Queens of manifesting, to be sure.
You might blink and miss this nod to "The Princess and the Frog," which hadn't actually been released yet, but "Enchanted" director Kevin Lima knew it was in production.
Yes, that's a frog wearing a very regal crown of suds.
"Disenchanted" has a more direct nod to "Princess and the Frog": Tiana's firefly friend Ray is seen in the beginning with Pip and his kids.
Some fans think that Giselle uses Sebastian from "The Little Mermaid" as a potential set of lips for her fake prince.
In general, almost all of the animals in this scene have counterparts from other movies. There are mice from "Cinderella," a skunk, rabbit, and deer like characters in "Bambi," birds from many Disney princess movies, an owl from "Sleeping Beauty," a tortoise from "The Tortoise and the Hare," and more.
The bitten apple Giselle uses as another set of fake lips is a little wink to the poisoned apple in "Snow White."
The poisoned apple will be a key part of the film's climax.
Prince Edward, played by James Marsden, has a horse named Destiny, who is an homage to Prince Philip's horse, Samson.
The evil troll's loincloth consists of pieces of clothing that look just like our favorite Disney princesses' dresses.
Specifically, on the back of his clothing, he wears the "peasant" looks of Aurora from "Sleeping Beauty" and Cinderella in her film.
And here's the front of his loincloth. His earrings are also the same shells as Ariel's in "The Little Mermaid."
That's Ariel, Snow White, and Belle from"The Little Mermaid," "Snow White," and "Beauty and the Beast," respectively.
This isn't visual, but when the troll is flung away, he does the classic Goofy holler.
You can hear all of Goofy's hollers throughout Disney history here. "Enchanted" is at the very end.
After Edward saves Giselle, they ride off into the sunset, just like the final scene of "Snow White."
Riding off into the sunset and towards happily ever after is a Disney staple.
And when the two are set to tie the knot, their wedding carriage is a nod to Cinderella and her Prince Charming's carriage.
However, Giselle's wedding day doesn't go exactly as planned.
Queen Narissa's evil-hag look is a clear copy of the Evil Queen's in "Snow White."
Right down to the perfectly placed teeth.
When Giselle, played absolutely flawlessly by Amy Adams, appears in the real world, she calls a little person "Grumpy," like the beloved dwarf in "Snow White."
Rightfully so, he's not happy with Giselle's reference.
Giselle spots a billboard for the Palace Casino. It's modeled after Cinderella's castle.
Cinderella's castle is at Disney World. Sleeping Beauty's castle is at Disneyland.
Patrick Dempsey's character Robert Philip is named for Prince Philip in "Sleeping Beauty."
He was the only Disney prince with a name — sorry "Snow White" and "Cinderella" — for 30 years, until "The Little Mermaid" came out in 1989.
Robert is a divorce lawyer. The clients who we spend the most time with, the Bankses, are named after the family in "Mary Poppins."
In classic Disney fashion, they reconcile and live happily ever after by the end of the movie.
Robert's law firm is named Churchill, Harline, and Smith, a nod to the songwriters of "Snow White."
That's Frank Churchill, Leigh Harline, and Paul Smith, to be specific.
And the law firm's receptionist is played by Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel herself.
You can hear "Part of Your World" playing in the background while Giselle examines the fish tank in Robert's office.
"Happy Working Song" is an obvious nod to "Whistle While You Work" from "Snow White" and "The Work Song" from Cinderella.
Giselle also gets some help from the local wildlife, much like Cinderella and Snow White do.
Listen to "Happy Working Song" here. Now, here's "Whistle While You Work" and "The Work Song."
Giselle gets help from pigeons with her apron, just like Cinderella does with her bluebird friends.
Who knew pigeons could be so helpful?
The pigeons help again by providing Giselle with a towel later, just like the bluebirds do in "Cinderella."
The bubbles surrounding Giselle are also a reference to the bubbles in Cinderella.
At least Giselle isn't forced to clean, unlike Cinderella.
Robert's girlfriend Nancy Tremaine is played by Idina Menzel. Her name is a reference to Lady Tremaine in "Cinderella."
Thankfully for Robert's daughter Morgan, Nancy isn't an evil stepmother.
Six years after the release of this movie, Menzel became a Disney princess in her own right, playing Elsa in "Frozen."
Just like in "Mary Poppins," there's a bird lady in the park.
Except, instead of tuppence, Clara tells Giselle it's $1 for a bag.
The caramel apple Giselle is handed is designed to look exactly like the poisoned apple in "Snow White."
Thankfully, Giselle tosses this one away when Robert shocks her with his views on love and relationships.
Giselle and Robert heading out on a rowboat is meant to evoke "Kiss the Girl" in "The Little Mermaid."
The song Giselle is singing, "That's How You Know," also has a little calypso moment, another way the scene pays homage to "Kiss the Girl."
When Giselle runs up the hill in Central Park, she looks just like Belle in "Beauty and the Beast."
That's where Belle ends up at the end of the song "Belle."
According to Kevin Lima, some of the old men Giselle sits with in the park were also in "Mary Poppins."
Lima tweeted about this connection. The little dance they do takes clear inspiration from the choreography in "Step in Time."
Kevin Lima's daughter plays Rapunzel during a children's play in the park. Just like "The Princess and the Frog," "Tangled" hadn't come out yet, but Lima knew it was in development.
"Tangled" was released three years later, in 2010.
When Edward finally makes it to the real world, he stays at the Grand Duke Hotel, named for the character of the same name in "Cinderella."
That's the man who helps Prince Charming on his quest to find the owner of the mysterious glass slipper.
This scene lasts for a few seconds, but it's filled with Easter eggs. Edward watches a soap opera starring a character named Angela, played by Paige O'Hara, the voice of Belle.
O'Hara is credited as Angela, as in Angela Lansbury, the voice of Mrs. Potts in "Beauty and the Beast." The man she's fighting with in the soap opera, Jerry, confirms her name is Angela.
Jerry himself is named for the voice of Lumiere, Jerry Orbach. He's played by Danny Mastrogiorgio. Mastrogiorgio has worked with Disney before, and he had a small voice role in "Brother Bear."
In the background of the scene, you can hear Angela tell Jerry that she's actually in love with Ogden, aka David Ogden Stiers, the voice of Cogsworth.
If you listen closely, you can hear the song "Beauty and the Beast" playing. There's not a good video of it on YouTube, but it's at 54:08 in the film.
When Edward momentarily changes the channel, you can hear "Pink Elephants on Parade" from "Dumbo" playing.
When Edward switches channels again, he flips past the Disney movie "Fun and Fancy Free."
It was first released in 1947. It's two short films — "Bongo" and "Mickey and the Beanstalk" — packaged together. Edward turns on the film during the "Beanstalk" portion, which is narrated by Edgar Bergen and his ventriloquist dummy Mortimer, seen above.
The reporter on TV is named Mary Ilene Caselotti for three separate Disney princesses.
The "Mary" is for the voice of Aurora in "Sleeping Beauty," Mary Costa; the "Ilene" is for Ilene Woods, the voice of Cinderella; and the "Caselotti" for Adriana Caselotti, the voice of Snow White.
She's played by Cathleen Trigg.
Even though Robert doesn't want Morgan to be interested in fairy-tales, she's already a big fan.
When Giselle talks to Morgan in her room, you can see she has a version of Belle's dress from "Beauty and the Beast" and a "Cinderella" storybook.
The Italian restaurant where Morgan, Giselle, and Robert eat is called Bella Notte.
"Bella Notte" is the name of the song playing in "Lady and the Tramp" during the famous spaghetti kiss scene.
When Edward is looking for Giselle in various apartments, he knocks on the door of a woman played by Judy Kuhn, the singing voice of Pocahontas.
Irene Bedard was the speaking voice of Pocahontas.
At the ball, there's a shot of a chandelier in the ballroom that's a perfect copy of the famous one in "Beauty and the Beast."
Kevin Lima confirmed this on Twitter.
Another shot-for-shot copy is the view of Giselle's hand dropping the poisoned apple, which is exactly the same in "Snow White."
The old-hag look Narissa is sporting is once again the same as the one in "Snow White."
Narissa's dragon form is directly inspired by Maleficent's in "Sleeping Beauty."
Both are skinny with purple accents, and they are born from fire.
Edward puts a shoe on Nancy and it's a perfect fit, just like in "Cinderella."
It's not a glass slipper — it's just a clear pump that Giselle left behind by accident.
The end credits are packed with references to other Disney movies.
Clockwise from top left, you have a well from "Snow White," another royal frog from "The Princess and the Frog," the carriage and horses from "Cinderella," and a mermaid straight out of "The Little Mermaid."
Popular Right Now
Popular Keywords
Advertisement