Enchanted (found deleted song from Disney live-action/animated fantasy comedy film; 2007)

From The Lost Media Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
Merch
Discord
Patreon
Forums
Enchanted Edward and Nancy.jpg

Edward and Nancy getting married.

Status: Found

Date found: 23 Jun 2024

Found by: Disney Ashman Demos, Anonymous

Enchanted, Disney's 2007 romantic fantasy comedy, contains five songs written by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz (the songwriters of Disney's Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame). Three of them, "Happy Working Song", "That's How You Know", and "So Close", scored Best Song Oscar nominations. However, the title number doesn't appear in the final film.

Story

Enchanted tells of Giselle (Amy Adams), a woman who hails from the animated kingdom of Andalasia. She becomes engaged to marry Prince Edward (James Marsden), but the evil Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) pushes her into a portal to contemporary, live-action New York City. As Edward searches for Giselle, the attorney Robert Phillip (Patrick Dempsey) helps her learn about life in the live-action world. At the Kings and Queens Ball, Giselle and Robert solidify their love with a dance, followed by True Love's Kiss. Meanwhile, Edward wins the affection of fashion designer Nancy Tremaine (Idina Menzel). After Giselle decides to stay in New York with Robert, Edward takes Nancy back to Andalsia, where she becomes his queen.

Background

According to Alan Menken, Edward and Nancy would have sung "Enchanted" after falling in love at the Kings and Queens Ball. Idina Menzel had previously worked with Stephen Schwartz on the Broadway musical Wicked. However, it became apparent during the production of Enchanted that it would not fit the story if Nancy sang a new song while still in New York.[1] In the movie, none of the named New York characters sing their own numbers. Some nameless denizens accompany Giselle in performing "That's How You Know", while real-life singer Jon McLaughlin croons "So Close" at the Ball. (Robert does croon along to a bit of "So Close", but at a volume at which only Giselle can hear him.) As Giselle adjusts to the live-action domain, she also doesn't sing for the final half or so of the movie, and the final song ("Ever Ever After") comes from a voice (recorded by Carrie Underwood) completely offscreen.

Menken's recollections that "Enchanted" would have played over a montage suggest that "Ever Ever After" replaced it, as it accompanies a montage of the main characters finding happiness in either Andalasia or New York, and works the word into the line, "Let yourself be enchanted...." Enchanted director Kevin Lima eventually confirmed this, when describing the context of the deleted song on Twitter. Edward and Nancy would have begun singing it after he perfectly fit Giselle's missing shoe on Nancy's foot, a la Cinderella, and then it would continue over the closing montage.[2]

Cancelled DVD Release

Alan Menken recorded a full demo of "Enchanted", while Idina Menzel and James Marsden recorded the intro before the song got cut.[3] When Menken discussed the song in interviews, he teased that it would appear on the Enchanted DVD. Unfortunately, when the first DVD came out in March 2008, this did not prove the case. Nancy appears in two of the six included deleted scenes, and still doesn't sing in either of them. One has her and her fashion assistant discuss Nancy's and Robert's romance issues and provides ironic foreshadowing for her marriage to a fairy tale prince. Another takes place after Narissa kidnaps Robert during the Ball, showing Nancy awaken Edward to follow after them and Giselle. Subsequent DVD re-releases of Enchanted used the same widescreen disc, so the song remained unheard by the public.

Aftermath

Idina Menzel went on to star in Disney's animated adaptation of The Snow Queen, Frozen. As Queen Elsa, she sang three songs, written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. The second of them, "Let It Go", earned a Best Song Oscar win.

After 15 years since Enchanted had been released in theaters, a sequel was released on November 18th, 2022 through Disney+, entitled Disenchanted. It includes seven new songs from Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, including a duet for King Edward and Queen Nancy (again played by James Marsden and Idina Menzel) called, "The Magic of Andalasia." Nancy also sings alone in "Love Power."

Leaked Materials

On June 23rd, 2024, an edited version of the deleted scene[4] and Alan Menken's demo[5] were posted onto the "Disney Ashman Demos" YouTube channel, being given to the channel's owner by an anonymous source. The unedited deleted scene and an unedited version of the intro recorded by Marsden and Menzel were also uploaded as unlisted videos.

Edited version of scene uploaded by Disney Ashman Demos.

The full unedited deleted scene.

See Also

Advertisements

Animation (Disney)

Animation (Pixar)

Audio

Live Action

Short Films

References

  1. ↑ Archived interview with Menzel and Menken about the song. Retrieved 03 Sep '17
  2. ↑ Tweet from Lima about the deleted number. Retrieved 15 Nov '21
  3. ↑ Another Tweet from Lima about the deleted number. Retrieved 16 Dec '21
  4. ↑ "Enchanted (cut title song) | Idina Menzel, James Marsden & Alan Menken." Disney Ashman Demos
  5. ↑ "Enchanted (cut title song) | Demo | Alan Menken" Disney Ashman Demos
Retrieved from "https://lostmediawiki.com/w/index.php?title=Enchanted_(found_deleted_song_from_Disney_live-action/animated_fantasy_comedy_film;_2007)&oldid=282368"