Gail Carson Levine’s novel Ella Enchanted cast its spell not only on children and young adult readers, but parents and literary critics alike, being dubbed “a modern classic.” A life-long fan of fairy tales, Levine felt the form was crying out to be reinvented for today’s hipper and savvier readers. For Ella Enchanted, Levine started with the “Cinderella” legend.
Deciding that the traditional Cinderella was too much of a Goody Two- Shoes for today’s world, she gave the character a whole new style, a fresh new name, and an inspiring new adventure in a kingdom filled with surprising twists on other fairy-tale characters. The concept worked, becoming a huge best-seller — with Publisher’s Weekly calling it “a winning combination of memorable characters and an alluring fantasy realm” — and garnering the highest awards.
When director Tommy O’Haver was given Ella Enchanted to read, he immediately fell head over heels for its heroine. “I loved the story because I saw the potential for it to be about more than just a girl who breaks her own curse. To me, it came to be about a young woman whose spirit of adventure liberates an entire kingdom. It’s a girl power story, but it’s also a story for everyone. We mixed in romance, adventure, thrills, comedy, even musical numbers – something to have fun with no matter who you are.”
He continues: “It was exactly the kind of story I had been looking for. I’ve always loved fantasy films, as well as cartoons and fairy tales and it’s what I’ve most wanted to direct. I was thrilled by the chance to take this enchanted world and make it my own, give it a real personality, a strong sense of spirit and irreverence. We all know fairy tales end happily ever after, but I wanted to make the ride getting there fresh, fun and unexpected.”
O’Haver’s first inspiration was to tweak the medieval setting and give it a completely contemporary overhaul. “I wanted to merge the old-fashioned sensibilities, settings and values of traditional fairy tales with the kind of a rocking comedy-adventure kids today love so much, and hopefully make something new,” says O’Haver. “I started out by thinking of the story as a John Hughes comedy unfolding in a medieval suburban world.”
With O’Haver’s new ideas, the script went through a period of extensive development and creative brainstorming as the writers went wild with playful anachronisms. Explains producer Jane Startz (“The Mighty,” “Tuck Everlasting”): “We started out with a pretty faithful adaptation of the book, but once Tommy came on board, he challenged us to really raise the ante: to ratchet up the humor, the color and the conflict. We started adding all these wonderful layers on top of the story – like the medieval mall with hand-cranked escalators and fast-food restaurants that sell squirrel on a stick and that sort of thing.
Tommy came up with one twist after another and we kept pushing it further and further.” Startz continues: “In the end, Gail Levine was delighted with the wit and invention the writers and Tommy brought to it. She was involved the whole way and I think she really enjoyed seeing the spirit of her story stay alive even as it took on elements of a contemporary fantasy adventure.”
While Tommy O’Haver had a blast with re-jiggering medieval reality, he still kept his focus on where he believes the story’s heart lies. “The best part for me about Ella Enchanted is that you’re immersed in this fantastical world filled with all sorts of imaginary creatures and rainbow colors and magical happenings, but at the core of the story is a very real, very true-to-life human relationship that makes it meaningful,” he says. “That combination of fun fantasy and moving emotional reality is what Ella Enchanted is all about for me.”
Chapter Two: “Casting” The Spell
Every story needs a story-teller and at the center of Ella Enchanted is a narrator who frequently chimes in with a funny rhyme to let the audience in on new developments.
Tommy O’Haver knew The Narrator would immediately set the tone for the tale, so he wanted to cast an actor who, right off the bat, would prove to be funny and delightfully different. That’s why he chose “Monty Python” star and comic favorite Eric Idle. “I just knew I had to have somebody from ‘Monty Python’ in this movie,” O’Haver admits. “They’re the ultimate in irreverence, yet Eric also has a really sweet and charming quality that makes you trust him as your guide for this adventure.”
Even more key to the casting was to find the film’s Ella, a heroine who might live in an ancient world of mystical curses and mythical ogres but is every bit the bold and beautiful modern girl. From the minute Tommy O’Haver saw Anne Hathaway in “The Princess Diaries,” he knew she was something special.
“I knew Anne was amazing but she turned out to be even more amazing than I expected,” says O’Haver. “She has a kind of quality that reminds me of Judy Garland in ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ with that mixture of child-like purity but also the confidence and smarts of a mature young woman. It was also so important that this character have a real sense of humor and strong comedic timing – and Anne is a wonderful, natural comedienne. She’s also a fantastic singer, so she has it all.”
Hathaway was charmed by the script’s mix of merriment, fantasy and relationship reality. “I saw it as Ella going on a kind of medieval ‘road trip’ during which she meets all these amazing characters and creations, but also learns to find her own strength, and what it means to be in love,” she comments. “I really adored Ella because she’s so spunky and free-spirited. But she’s not just living in a fairy tale. She’s someone who truly tries to make her world a better place.”
She continues: “I also loved all the humor in the story – not just the witty lines, but also the slapstick and the physical humor and all the modern touches and the classic stuff that gets turned on its head. It combines timeless themes with very contemporary jokes. Because it’s a fantasy film, I think you have total license to be as creative as you want, and that had a fantastic appeal to me.”
For Hathaway, the best part about Ella Enchanted was the opportunity to make exactly the kind of movie she had longed to be enchanted by as a girl. “Growing up, I was always frustrated by family films, because they catered to little kids too much, and they weren’t smart enough,” she says. “This is the kind of film I would have loved to see because it really appeals to a child’s imagination, and at the same time, has a wit and entertainment value that makes it just as much an adult movie.”
Although Hathaway was excited about playing Ella, she was a bit shy about the musical numbers. “Tommy O’Haver had seen me on Broadway in ‘Carnival,’ and I sang quite a bit in that so he thought I should sing a song as Ella. I don’t actually think of myself as a singer,” she explains. “He really had to twist my arm and convince me I should sing in the film. And he did by choosing such an irresistible number: Queen’s ‘Someone To Love.’ I’m not quite sure if I’m Freddy Mercury, but I did my best!”
The film also marked Anne’s first time doing extensive scenes acting with a bluescreen – a blank background that would later be filled in with CGI-created giants and snakes. “The blue screen is daunting,” she admits, “but luckily I have a pretty out-there imagination – almost as out-there as Ella Enchanted.”
Comments Jane Startz: “Ella is a character who has a great sense of humor and refuses to buckle under in her fight for justice. She’s always thinking her way out of tough situations – all qualities which make Anne exactly the right person to play her.”
With Hathaway cast, the filmmakers set out to find her true love, the quintessential gallant young knight in need of a better half, Prince Charmont. In the modernesque medieval world of Ella Enchanted, Prince Char is also akin to a pop-idol poster-boy – pursued everywhere by teenaged Charmaniacs. Extensive auditions were held in London to find a Prince worthy of rabid young fans across the Kingdom.
Jane Startz explains: “If you’re looking for someone princely and charming, where else do you go but London? We saw a lot of amazing young British actors but when Hugh Dancy arrived, he just stood out – he was drop-dead gorgeous and a compelling actor to boot. When he and Anne read together, it was pure chemistry.”
Tommy O’Haver was also impressed with Dancy’s royal qualities. “He not only had the charisma, looks and intelligence to be the believable heir to a kingdom, he had a wonderfully silly sense of humor,” notes the director. “He and Anne were just so funny together.”
Dancy, who previously appeared in “Black Hawk Down,” was intrigued by the Prince’s unusual situation. “Prince Charmont in some ways appears to be a typical fairy tale prince,” he says. “But he’s also much more than that. I guess you could say he starts out being a bit of a pin-up boy, but as the film progresses and he falls in love with Ella, he discovers the real meaning of charm which involves taking on the responsibilities of the kingdom and doing the right thing.”
It wasn’t Prince Char’s dashing derring-do that most intrigued Dancy, however. “Actually, I most liked that in the beginning of the story he’s a bit of a buffoon,” he admits. “He’s a comic character who has all the qualities of a perfect prince, but has to discover them. It’s what makes him so interesting. He isn’t just a cartoon cut-out character, he’s a real young man who makes mistakes, takes crazy risks and has to learn to face up to his future.”
“The love story is also very real to me,” he says. “It might take place in a fairy tale world, but it’s really about when it comes to me and Anne, it’s about two normal people getting to know each other and making a difference to one another. It’s just that they have to do so surrounded by ogres, elves and talking books!”
With the leading couple brought together, the filmmaking team now turned to finding the host of colorful characters who nearly prevent them from fulfilling their romantic dreams.
At the top of list was Ella’s new stepmother, Dame Olga, who had to be every bit as funny as she is fiendish. Tommy O’Haver only ever had one actress in mind: “I have loved Joanna Lumley for so long for her work in ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ and I knew she would be the ultimate wicked stepmother,” he says. Adds Jane Startz: “Joanna completely made the role her own, just radiating ‘Olganess.’ Everything she did was spot on and hilarious.” Lumley describes Dame Olga as “completely vain, materialistic, ambitious and stupid. Stupid, yet cunning, like a lot of dumb but greedy people!” She continues: “I love her ambitions for her daughters who are really so repellent and unpleasant. We are just the awful threesome!”
As Dame Olga’s put-upon husband and Ella’s loving father, Sir Peter, O’Haver cast accomplished Irish screen and stage star Patrick Bergin. But when it came to casting Lucinda Perriweather – the self-proclaimed “fairy par excellence” who gives Ella the unwanted gift of obedience – O’Haver went farther afield, casting Vivica Fox, the American actress and comedienne better known for her feisty portraits of modern women. “Vivica brought a sassy attitude and contemporary vibe to the role that gives you the idea right away that this is a different kind of fairy tale,” explains O’Haver. “And she’s very funny.”
To play Ella’s stepsisters – who do their best to enslave Ella to their own ambitions for power and pretty things – the filmmakers turned again to London auditions, uncovering Lucy Punch, a rising young British star mostly seen on television so far, and Jennifer Higham, who makes her film debut as the clueless kleptomaniac Olive in Ella Enchanted. Both young women were a wonderful surprise to the filmmakers. “They were fantastic because you just never knew what was going to come out of their mouths,” observes Tommy O’Haver. “Lucy and Jennifer truly took their parts and ran with them, and with Joanna Lumley, they were able to improvise some hilarious scenes.”
For Lucy Punch, playing the shamelessly treacherous Hattie was a chance to do all kinds of things she would never even consider in real life. “It was a bit difficult at first, but I found out that it’s really great fun to play somebody so hideous, mean and outrageous,” says Punch. Jennifer Higham agrees. “I really had fun playing an airhead kleptomaniac,” she comments. “Really, though, I see Olive as being kind of sweet. She just kind of follows everyone else’s lead – her mother craves money and glittery things so she does too and her sister is mean to Ella so she is, too. But she’s a very girlie girl, and I can identify with that!”
For the role of Mandy, Ella’s loyal Nanny who raises her into young adulthood knowing about her curse of obedience, the filmmakers went for another unexpected twist.
“We wanted someone who was young, fun, attractive and had a kind of zany quality. Minnie Driver is beautiful and a big star who has never done a role like this before, so when she said she’d do it, we were absolutely delighted,” explains Jane Startz. Says Driver of taking the role: “I liked the inventiveness of the story and I thought just seeing me in the role of a nanny would be quite funny, because I’m probably not who you’d expect!”
Ella Enchanted (2004)
Directed by: Tommy O’Haver
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Hugh Dancy, Cary Elwes, Joanna Lumley, Steve Coogan, Lucy Punch, Jennifer Higham, Minnie Driver, Vivica A. Fox, Parminder Nagra, Patrick Bergin
Screenplay by: Karen McCullah Lutz, Kirsten Smith, Laurie Craig
Production Design by: Norman Garwood
Cinematography by: John de Borman
Film Editing by: Masahiro Hirakubo
Costume Design by: Ruth Myers
Art Direction by: Matthew Gray, Anna Rackard, Lucy Richardson
Music by: Nick Glennie-Smith
MPAA Rating: PG for some crude humor and language.
Distributed by: Miramax Films
Release Date: April 9, 2004
Visits: 108
