Happily Never After 09/14 Blu-ray (Rental)

Product Description Once upon a time in 'Fairy Tale Land', all is going well: Cinderella's at the ball, Rapunzel's letting her hair down, and Sleeping Beauty's about to get a big smooch. But just as it's all headed for 'Happily Ever After', there's a slight hitch: the wise Wizard--who keeps the scales of good and evil in balance--goes on holiday, resulting in his two assistants, Munk and Mambo, slipping up and letting Cinderella's wicked stepmother, Frieda, get hold of his magic staff. With this, Frieda is able to take over 'Fairy Tale Land', let the bad guys win, and turn the ending into 'Happily N'Ever After'. Now Cinderella--'Ella' to her friends--is playing in a whole new ball game. Instead of waiting for her handsome prince to find her, she's got to wake up from her romantic dream, find a way to stop Frieda, and restore the balance of good and evil. With her best friend at her side, and an unlikely army of dwarves, fairies, and Munk and Mambo to back her up, Ella leaps into action. Can she save the d Amazon.com With the success of Shrek, more irreverent animated fairy tales (like Hoodwinked) were inevitable. Unfortunately, the original blockbuster set the bar so high--for characterization, humor, and heart--that other such 'toons are sure to seem redundant. Neither as clever nor as intricately rendered as the tale of the great green ogre, Happily N'Ever After is no exception. That said, small children may find it easier to follow, i.e. no Matrix references. As with the live-action Ella Enchanted, the CGI-animated story revolves around a downtrodden lass named Ella (Sarah Michelle Gellar). Her full name, naturally, is Cinderella. The man of her dreams is pea-brained Prince Humperdink (Patrick Warburton). Little does she know that royal dishwasher Rick (Freddie Prinze Jr., Gellar's real-life husband) has his eye on her. When the Wizard (George Carlin) goes off on a golfing vacation, he leaves bumbling assistants Munk (Wallace Shawn) and Mambo (Andy Dick) in charge. In no time at all, they get into a scuffle, and Ella's evil stepmother, Frieda (Sigourney Weaver), swoops in to take control of Fairy Tale Land. Her first order of business: Let the bad guys win. Consequently, Sleeping Beauty continues to doze, the Seven Dwarves wind up in jail, etc. Ella joins forces with Rick to set things right. Along the way, she realizes that the lowly lad has more princely qualities than the actual prince, and Frieda's reign turns out to be shorter than intended. It's not a bad idea, but the movie drags and the tunes are unmemorable. --Kathleen C. Fennessy