Happily N’Ever After

? Another retelling of the Cinderella story, this time an animated one from the point of view of a household servant (Fredie Prinze Jr.) who wonders what Ella (Sarah Michelle Gellar) sees in that dunderheaded prince.

+ The Cinderella plot is actually just the main thread in a larger story about all of the villains from famous fairy tales getting together and rewriting the endings to suit themselves—hence the title. The wicked stepmother (Sigourney Weaver) is the ringleader who stages a one-woman coup at the Department of Fairy Tale Land Security. It’s not a bad idea.

- However, it’s an idea that is executed very poorly. Check out Hoodwinked to see a snarky twist on an old fable that works. The supporting characters of Shrek also parody familiar characters in a more satisfying way. Perhaps this is trying to do too much at once. The pining-servant subplot ends up being extremely conventional, so much so that the screenwriter and director veer away from it for long stretches as we follow the villain. That part is muddled and probably confusing for small kids, with sarcastic asides and quick cuts that incorporate Rumpelstiltskin, Sleeping Beauty, etc. In the short runtime, there’s not enough time to do much with these other fairy tales, although the idea of Rumpelstiltskin mellowing out into a doting babysitter is one of the few decent ones here. Of the other characters, the most prominent are a tiny pig and mouse played by Andy Dick and Wallace Shawn, whose unique vocal qualities fail to render either as lovable or memorable.

= *1/2 There’s a reason this got released in the doldrums of January instead of the more competitive Christmas season, despite the fine animation. This isn’t as annoying as the previous year’s dog Doogal, but it’s probably more boring. I can’t even see kids getting excited about this mixture of blandness and witless parody.

IMDb link