Sometimes a movie title can be a dangerous omen. Names such as “Superbad“, “The Human Stain” and “Loser” were brought up by critics as prophetical titles. Likewise, overly optimistic titles were used against films as in “Some Kind of Wonderful – Not!”. So with a title such as Enchanted, the filmmakers opened themselves up to this kind of rebuke. Fortunately, this is one title that fit’s the film like a glass slipper on Cinderella’s – or Giselle’s – foot.

Enchanted is said to be Disney’s return back to what they do best. I’m going to take that a step further. Enchanted is what Disney does best at the perfect time. Not only does it feature great performances, a clever screenplay, beautiful music and clever lyrics, it also presents them in a form accessible to today’s audiences.

Disney took a symbolic shot to the chin with the success of Shrek, the ogre that rolled through Disney story-telling with a hip, modern sensibility. Since that time, Disney has not struck back. I believe that Enchanted not only does that, but it does it with a better film. In fact, early is Enchanted you see the animated Prince Edward bringing down a large, Shrek-like troll. Disney also acknowledges Enchanted with a huge compliment in the first moments of the film. We see the Walt Disney Pictures logo screen, a fly around of Cinderella castle, that usually results in a fade to black. But this time, we fly directly into one of the castles windows, inside finding the ‘fairy tale’ book of Enchanted.

Amy Adams is a one-time Academy Award nominee for Junebug who also did a several episode stint on the Office. Now she brings beautiful Princess Giselle to life, both in her Manhattan adventure, but also in the 2-D animated opening. Grey’s Anatomy’s Patrick Dempsey joins Adams as a single parent/attorney who has a couple things to learn from the innocence of true love. James Marsden of X-Men and the recent Superman Returns plays the perfect Prince Edward, singing his way to boastful perfection. Susan Sarandon chews up the scenery as the evil Stepmother.. And chews up even more when she transforms into a powerful dragon for the final battle high over the streets of the Big Apple. Other include Idina Menzel of Broadway’s original cast of “Wicked”, Little Mermaid’s Jodi Benson and Paige O’Hara, the voice of Belle in Disney’s animated masterwork, “Beauty and the Beast“.

It’s difficult to draw attention to the many high points in the film, its that well done. I’d love to see it receive an Academy Award Best Picture beyond its obvious best song and score nominations. Yes, Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz return to top form with Enchanted. Even better, these new songs don’t suffer what others in his films did, they don’t seem overly familiar as there hasn’t been a new Menken musical every year for the past five years.

If there is anything missing in Enchanted, it is a connection for younger boys. But girls of all ages and a large chunk of men will find much to celebrate in the film. I myself was thoroughly enchanted.