For many people, a familiar pastime in the weeks leading up to major winter holidays is gathering with family members and watching holiday movies, be they in a theater or on television. This year, such plans will have changed for individuals not living with the people they often spend time with during the holiday season, and curfews and lock-downs have forced movie theaters to close. However, this shouldn’t stop us from enjoying holiday movies with friends and family.
During the month of December, therefore, the Falls Free Press will present “The 12 Films of Christmas,” focusing on new holiday movies for the year 2020—a year that can do with plenty of spirit. We will review each film, whether naughty or nice, and let you know where to watch it.
For almost a century, Disney films have revolved around fairy tales and the happily ever after. It wasn’t until their series Once Upon A Time and the blockbuster film Frozen that these types of stories truly began to change though. Upon seeing that “true love’s kiss” did not have to come from a romantic interest, but a person who truly loves the character—like a family member—audiences were happy to see the overused patriarchal tropes evolving at long last.
Godmothered, Disney’s newest live-action fairy tale classic has continued this re-rendering of the fairy tale formula. Jillian Bell plays Eleanor, a fairy godmother in training who has memorized her textbooks, but is extremely unskilled at magic and convinced she will one day get a job in the “field.” Unbeknownst to her, the real world has grown away from fairy tales and needing fairies to save the day with the usual “formula,” i.e. gown, finding true love, and living happily ever after. This has forced the school’s teacher, Moira (portrayed perfectly by Jane Curtin) to shut them down and make all trainees into tooth fairies. When Eleanor finds one remaining letter from a child, she decides to prove herself by traveling to Boston and helping this girl find true love.
Upon finding the letter’s sender, 10-year-old named Mackenzie, Eleanor learns that she found the letter far too late; Mackenzie is now grown, working a dead-end job, and raising 2 daughters with the help of her sister since the passing of her husband. Having not had time for herself in ages, Mackenzie (Isla Fisher) has forgotten how to be happy, which, using a number of tactics that include hiring a raccoon to clean the kitchen and hang Christmas decorations, redecorating the living room to look like a castle, and transforming the family dog into a piglet, Eleanor attempts to change. These hijinks do not help her change, though—it’s the time she spends with the family, encouraging each of them to be happy and not let past losses hold them back, as is the case with Mackenzie’s oldest daughter, Jane, who suffers stage fright but shows musical prowess. Godmothered’s story shows that while finding a partner who loves you is wonderful, it’s the love of oneself and those dear to their hearts that is important.
Considering that filming began in January of this year, the movie was especially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which altered many scenes in the movie, including the end. Upon wrapping up the story for Mackenzie’s family, Eleanor returns to the fairy motherland for one final sequence, which is completely animated. This is a stark contrast with the rest of the film, as even the opening was shot live-action. In the animated sequence, voice over from Eleanor explains how the fairy godmother school has changed their lesson plans, and she has become a teacher. Sadly, this does very little for the movie, and the sudden change of aesthetics is a bit unnerving.
Overall, there is enough cuteness in this movie—between Eleanor’s terrible singing to The Sound of Music and the antics of Gary the raccoon—that it is perfect viewing for children of all ages. Mackenzie’s life story and her work disputes at the television station along with concerns over keeping her daughters safe help blend the childlike wonder of the story with topics more millennial parents face, a group who were more than likely not raised on the Disney fairy tale films that focused on the previously mentioned formula.
The real question about Godmothered, particularly given its inclusion in this review series, is whether or not it can be considered a Christmas movie. Like Die Hard, this story is set at Christmas time. While the holiday is not celebrated much in the film, the family does decorate their home, and Jane has a solo in her school’s concert during the Christmas parade. The music performed at the concert, however, is not holiday-related, nor is the atmosphere of Boston for a majority of the film aside from garland on a couple lampposts and the occasional area with snow. The very lack of snow through most of the story actually makes it harder to remember that this is happening in December in the Northeast—especially when filming had been pushed back at the start of production because of snow in Massachusetts that is nonexistent in the movie, except one scene with Eleanor sledding down a hill. Nevertheless, Disney+ has labeled Godmothered as a holiday film, and given that the holiday decorating scenes are what bring the family together the most, this reporter agrees about their decision.
Godmothered is available to watch on Disney+.
