Shrek this. Shrek that. The irascible green ogre didn't invent the fractured fairy tale, but he sure has heck perfected it. Now after three "Shreks" and even a "Hoodwinked!" the studio that molded the modern fairy tale is out to tweak their Happily Ever Afters, and boy do they have a lot of ammunition, laughed James Marsden.
"Disney went back to 'Snow White' [and] 'Sleeping Beauty,' the sort of classic fairytale animation, and then thrust those characters into present day, live-action New York City," Marsden said of "Enchanted," the story of a fairy tale princess (Amy Adams), who gets banished to the real world. "The first 15 minutes is traditional animation. [After that] you get the juxtaposition of these idealistic princesses and princes in this cynical world - running around Manhattan trying to find each other and get back to [their] world."
Remember when Snow White's song attracted the forest creatures, who then helped her clean the dwarf cottage? "Enchanted" has a scene like that, except with rats and roaches (this is NYC, after all). How about when Prince Charming slayed the dragon in "Sleeping Beauty?"
"It was one of my finer moments," Marsden said of the "Enchanted" send-up to that scene, where the "X-Men" actor, as Prince Edward, tries to kill a particularly obnoxious beast. "I was basically in tights and puffy sleeves wielding a sword on top of a bus in Times Square."