“Disenchanted” was made because there was story left to tell

With Disney’s “Disenchanted” now streaming on Disney+, it marks the end of a multi-year process with many of the actors and filmmakers saying there was unfinished business with the story.

“Sean Bailey (Disney’s head of its live-action film studio) said this project was sitting there, so I ended up talking about it with him quite immediately,” said the film’s director Adam Shankman during the film’s press conference. “It was obvious given the characters that Giselle was now a stepmother at the end of the first film, so the plot for this second film was staring right in front of us,” he continued.

Giselle herself, played by Amy Adams, also thought there was more story to be told with her character. “The launching place for everything was all the ways I loved Giselle; her naivete, innocence, and happiness; she made me want to do this and work with the same people all over again,” Adams said.

Many of the first film’s cast is also returning to their original roles, including Patrick Dempsey, who played Robert Philip, who got to do something new that Giselle would be proud of: sing! “I don’t sing in a lot, if not all, of my roles, but doing it for this film made me appreciate the people who act and sing,” Dempsey said. “It’s new and intoxicating for me, so I hope I get to do it again soon.”

Songwriter and Disney Legend also returned to write new songs for the film, saying that writing songs for Giselle stemmed from her still ever-present longing for more. “She wants ‘happily ever after’ still, so we took some of the themes we did for Andalasia and weaved them into this new and fresh score,” he said.

The original “Enchanted” film was released now 15 years ago. With the release of the sequel, it allowed some of the cast and filmmakers reflect on why this new film means so much to them. 

“She’d probably agree with me, but we all went on this journey because Amy wanting to tell more of Giselle’s story and her performance,” said producer Barry Josephson. “I agree with Barry,” said Adams, adding that she is indebted to Giselle for her career that spurred on afterwards. “We didn’t know if that first film was going to work [for audiences], but it did and playing her was a turning point for my career. I’ll always lover her for that,” Adams said.

Disney’s “Disenchanted” is now streaming exclusively on Disney+!