Starring Jillian Bell and Isla Fisher, Disney Plus’s Godmothered is a live-action film that takes place during Christmas time in Boston. The film, directed by Sharon Maguire, unfortunately did not get much press prior to its Dec. 4 release, so unfortunately many people don’t know about this wholesome family feature with a fantastic soundtrack, awesome visual effects and a clever modern day story inspired by the Disney classics.
Similar to films like Enchanted, the story of Godmothered begins when a magical being from the fairytale realm finds herself out of her element in a totally magic-free city. In this case, godmother-in-training Eleanor (Jillian bell) crosses-over after finding a letter written many years ago by a young girl named Mackenzie (Erica Parks).
After crossing over, Eleanor finds herself hopelessly lost in New England until a truck driver comes to her rescue and takes her to the news station where grown-up Mackenzie (Isla Fisher) now works as a producer. The only problem is, Mackenzie—along with the rest of the people in the Boston area—think that Eleanor is crazy.
Thankfully, Mackenzie feels so bad that she takes Eleanor home with her to have a place to sleep for the night. There, Eleanor meets Mackenzie’s two daughters, Jane (Jillian Shea Spader) and Mia (Willa Skye), and learns that their father passed away a few years ago and it has been very hard on them. From then on, Eleanor uses both her fairy godmother magic and her natural problem-solving ability to help Mackenzie, Jane and Mia in the short time she has before returning home to “fairy godmother land.”
The story of Godmothered was particularly intriguing because it took a classic fairytale character and introduced her to our reality in the most seamless way possible—something Enchanted also did well. We were blessed with the adorable character of Eleanor, who was a total fish-out-of-water that believes everything in life can work out with a touch of magic. Then add in Mackenzie, an over-worked single mom and modern woman who can’t catch a break, and you have the perfect pairing for drama.
Next, I must say that I was impressed by the way the film was mutually uplifting and socially conscious. Although there may have been a fairy godmother, her ultimate goal was not to make her subject “beautiful” and find her a prince to marry. Instead she helped out Jane and Mia—who were in need of some confidence and cheering up—and pushed Mackenzie to make a much-needed change in her career.
While I thoroughly enjoyed watching Godmothered myself, I can only imagine how amazing it would have been to see it from a child’s perspective. The first reason being that there was both Disney and Christmas music throughout the film. From “Joy to the World” and “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” to “Do-Re-Mi,” this film had it all covered. Also, the special effects such as the magic lights coming from Eleanor’s wand made it ideal for the young, easily-captivated viewer.
I urge all parents of young children (boys and girls) to watch Godmothered for your next family movie night—and if you don’t have kids, well you should do yourself a favor and watch it anyway because you deserve to smile too. Godmothered was by far my favorite Disney film of the year.
‘Godmothered’ is now streaming on Disney Plus.
By Blair Krassen @blairlyawake