Happily Ever After

When I was a kid, I got this movie for Christmas. It was one of those videos I really loved. At that time, there was a magical quality it had that most children experience in animation/fantasy films. It made me smile.

I went down memory lane and watched it again. I enjoyed it, but in a different sort of way. I caught all Lord Malice's gay innuendos, and laughed my butt off, because I never saw it that way before.

Unlike what some people may say, I think this is a fun movie, and the music isn't really that bad considering the expenses that went into the feature. Disney always has a grand orchestra, while Filmation, if you listen closely during Thunderella's song, had only a couple keyboards. The strange part is that the lady who played snow white actually has singing talent, but she didn't get a big song like most main characters do in animated films. She sings the song in the credits. I think they should have done more with her vocal talent. Other than that, it's a fun film.

This was a fun movie when I was young. There were a lot of things I liked about this one, even if it is often considered a lousy film. One thing that really bothers me (and has bothered me since I was like 6 or something) is the prince. Who on earth could fall for that pansy! geez. The Dwarfelles are the most adorable magical pint-sized ladies ever (especially Moonbeam!). On it's own it's a pretty cool kid's movie. I liked the songs, even if some consider them lame. I recently popped it into the good ol' VCR to watch out of boredom and nostalgia. I sang along with every song. I could still remember all the words....

It's just when compared to the Disney movie it runs into problems. The movie varies too much from Disney to be considered a sequel, and most people forget that, and reject this film for that reason. If Disney had intended on a sequel they would have made one. It's cute and stuffed to bursting with morals! It is a bit on the cheesy side, but who doesn't like a little cheese?

I stumbled upon this one day in my local library when I was about six, and I wanted to rent it right away. I was pleasantly surprise when I started to watch it that it became one of my favorite movies. I think at one point I had all the lines memorized. I remembered that it was indeed frightening, but in an exciting, mysterious way that I don't think most children would be bothered with (if a six year old didn't find it scary, please, I doubt anyone else really will.) I've read some comments on here with people complaining about how scary it was, and all I can conclude is that you need to get out a whole lot more. This film is like Barney compared to some of the things I've seen kids these days watch. Now, years later being a horror movie fan I can only giggle at how I thought everything was so scary about this movie.

Did the animation suck? Yes it did. I recently rented this from the library again, curious to see it years later (one of those trips down memory lane) and as I watched I began to count all the continuity/animation errors and I wound up with a very high number lol. But was the story that bad? No, I actually remember liking it more than the original fairytale as a kid. This was much more exciting, and to this day I still love the villain, Lord Maliss. He's so deliciously evil, how could anyone refuse him? Getting to characters, was Snow White a cardboard cutout in this film? Yes, she was. But was she even flatter than a piece of paper in the original Disney classic? Yes, I found the original Snow White to be whiny and annoying. I also thought this Snow White was a lot prettier, excusing her unexplained hairstyle change every few minutes (I found it strange that sometimes her hair would be seen up in a ponytail, hanging down loosely or just wearing this strange, gravity-defying headband.) Scowl the owl had me laughing a couple of times, too. The only thing is that his sidekick, Batso, bothered me. He was, if anything, EXTREMELY annoying. I found myself wanting to slap him every now and then. The Dwarfelles, I thought, were some of the most original little creations to hit children's movies. Each one of the Dwarfelles carried a unique, fun, loving, and most of all interesting personality and had inspirational qualities to them. I found this especially true with Thunderella, such a cute little girl and I thought she had the most catchy tuned song as well.

Which now brings me to the music. Many people have accused the songs of being annoying wastes of time. I must disagree, I thought each one of the songs were original and likable in their own way, but I admire Thunderella's little song the most and it will always be my favorite. Even Scowl's song is fun, but I can only wish that Irene Cara was given a chance to sing.

I really don't know why this film flopped, to this day it's one of my favorite films of my childhood and will always have a special place in my heart.

8 stars outta 10

Although it was a little disturbing to see Snow White back in action, I thought the movie was cute and the music somewhat enjoyable. Decent movie for kids, definitely not a complete bomb. The dwarfettes are cute and are funny little characters, and Snow White is just as pure as ever.

Overview: Plot: Great Characters: Great Music: Good Animation: Fair Overview: The Film "Happily Ever After," to me, is, indeed, cheaply animated with some annoying voices, but I think the plot is enticing and the characters are very interesting, especially the Seven "Dwarfelles," the Cousins to the Seven Dwarfs. Also, there is a very interesting variation of "Mother Nature," voiced by the one and only Phyllis Diller. The song she sings is a the most enjoyable song in the movie, same with the catchy, poppy tune"Thunderella's Song," sung by Thunderella, the youngest dwarfelle, voiced by Tracey Ullman.

Basic Plot: In this Sequel to the original film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," Snow White (Voiced by Irene Cara of "Fame") is to be married to the Prince, but Lord Mallis (Voiced by Malcom McDowell of "Caligula"), the Evil Queen's brother, in revenge of his beloved sister's death, kidnaps the prince, but Snow White flees to the Dwarfs' Cottage only to find that the Seven Dwarfelles, their cousins, live there. When they are about to have their natural powers stripped away by Mother Nature, Lord Mallis attacks them and They are on a quest to save the prince...but will that creature lurking in the shadows be able to help them? It's not a very long film, but it's very engaging.

Benifits: Irene Cara sings the end theme, "Love is the Reason." It's a great song.

Flaws: A bit on the annoying side.

I give it an 8/10. 2 stars for the animation and the other 6 for the plot, therefore is 8 stars.