Home > Adventure >

Happily N'Ever After

Watch Now

Happily N'Ever After (2007)

January. 05,2007
|
4.5
|
PG
| Adventure Fantasy Animation Comedy
Watch Now

An alliance of evil-doers, led by Frieda, looks to take over Fairy Tale Land. But when Ella realizes her stepmother is out to ruin her storybook existence, she takes a dramatic turn and blossoms into the leader of the resistance effort.

...

Watch Trailer

Cast

Similar titles

Reviews

Glucedee
2007/01/05

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

More
Chirphymium
2007/01/06

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

More
Philippa
2007/01/07

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

More
Justina
2007/01/08

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

More
smilefumble
2007/01/09

The concept of fairy tales turned on their heads is absolutely nothing new. We saw it time and time again in the 70s and 80s, mostly on Saturday Morning cartoons (Rocky and Bullwinkle) or in children's books (Sesame street.) However, it was 2001's Shrek that brought that concept into mainstream movies as since its' release, we've seen lots of other "fractured fairy tale" films come out; some good (Hoodwinked) and others, not so much (Tortoise vs. Hare.)Vanguard Animation's offering in this genre is known as Happily N'Ever After where when the wizard who looks after all fairy tales and makes sure they go by the book leaves on vacation, all the fairy tale villains, led by Cinderella's conniving and power-hungry stepmother, here called Freida seize control. Now it's up to Cinderella, or as her friends know her, Ella and her friend Rick, the palace dishwasher to save the day. This is one of those films that while it has some things working for it, many of the choices the filmmakers made work against it. What works for it is the animation, which is very nice and colourful and looks like something you'd see on a stained-glass window or tapestry, as well as the voice acting, especially Sigourney Weaver as Freida and Patrick Warburton as the not-so-charming Prince.What works against it is, sadly, everything else. There are plot numerous plot holes throughout, such as the fact that Ella has never been to the palace before the ball, yet somehow knows Rick, or the fact that after the stepsisters angrily leave the ball when the Prince decides to dance with Ella instead of them, they are never seen or mentioned again. The animation is also reused many times, with the fairy tale book that opens and closes the story always flipping past the same pages. Furthermore, almost all of the jokes were clearly put in just for the kids ("we had to call it something and Canada was already taken", "Monk is a bossy know-it-all with a butt the size of a shopping mall.") If those above problems were fixed, we would've had something just as good as Shrek. You could say that this film is my guilty pleasure. You probably won't want to see it again after watching it, but I've seen it more than once, the reason being that I like to look at what we got and dream of the great film that we could've had.

More
crystal_tears_93
2007/01/10

I was very excited when I first heard about this movie since the actors are pretty good and the plot sounded excellent, the way it was all carried out is not that good. The characters, even though they are played by very good actors (Sigourney Weaver!) lack substance and I found myself unable to relate to them. They are not unique in any way and they are not the kind of characters that I will remember a month from now in any way.The lines are not catchy and I couldn't find a single line in the whole movie to catch my attention. There are even parts when the lines are kinda corny and that ruins the whole bad ass attitude the movie is trying to display.

More
cathline55
2007/01/11

to my surprise, many people give it a low mark. I like it very much. Why don't we accept a different story? Why Cinderalla must be a very beautiful girl with long hair? why prince must be a strong brave man? Why do we treat everything according to the standards we are taught? We actually have choices. I wonder why people don't like it, just because it tells a new story, without a brave handsome prince nor a beautiful hot Cinderalla. In most times, people have a negative attitude to new things, just like this movie. That's the reason why we need creativity. Years later, they will find that they are wrong.I adore the screenwriter a lot, because not every one has courage to write a sooooooooooo new story. To a movie, story is first, high-technology is the second, stars are the third. I don't know why Shrek is a hit. It's also an original movie. No handsome actor, only ugly Shrek, neither charming princess, only a fat ugly female-monster. But it got a good ticket box. The same story here only get a lower mark. Funny!

More
indigirl52
2007/01/12

I thought this film was great! Yeah it is a bit of a rip off of Shrek but it's still it's own film too. It's over-done, the animation isn't crash hot, and the characters are very stereotypical (what do you expect?! it's a movie about fairy tales!) but there are also new things in it too (the dwarfs and their catapult). It's the same old story but still original if that makes sense. i watched it with my little sisters (3 and 8 yrs old) and we all laughed at different parts, because, like Shrek, it's funny for the whole family. I suppose it depends on your movie taste, as always. If you want a fun movie that is NOT meant to be taken seriously in almost all aspects of it and is sorta awesome for the whole family, choose this one, along with Shrek ;)

More