DisneyPlus - Godmothered on December 4th

By Mulder, 27 november 2020

December 4th will already have a little Christmas flavor with the arrival on the platform of Godmothered, a new Disney+ Original movie full of wonderful characters by Sharon Maguire (Bridget Jones' Diary (2001), Bridget Jones' Baby) (2016)), Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers) (2005), Now You See Me (2013), The Brothers Grimsby (2016)) and Jillian Bell (Bridesmaids (2011), 22 Jump Street (2014), Goosebumps (2015), Fist Fight (2017)) play the lead roles in this fairy-tale comedy which, although it is in the great tradition of Disney's Christmas movies, nevertheless diverts the codes of traditional tales by allowing reality to lead the hard life to fantasy. ..

Justin Springer and Sharon Maguire immediately grasped the comic potential of this fairy tale that is out of its element. "Eleanor is terribly naive. Eleanor is terribly naive. She expects things to happen like a fairy tale," says the producer. "But when she leaves Fairy Land to find herself in today's Boston, she realizes that the reality is quite different. The situation comedy is very much about her attempts to understand our world. ». The director continues: "There is a conflict between Eleanor's expectations and her definition of what a good fairy is. When faced with reality, all her expectations collapse and it's very funny. The film includes all the essentials of the great Disney classics - magic wands, fairies and forest animals - but with a hindsight that makes this comedy so salient. Eleanor hasn't finished her magician's training. As a result, her spells never have the desired effect and the happy ending is very different from what we have seen so far in Disney. »

From her first encounter with a much older than expected Mackenzie, it was clear that the mission would be complicated. The differences between the two women make them an unlikely duo, which is one of the ingredients of successful comedy. "Sweet, meek and rather naive, Eleanor meets a cynical, pragmatic woman who no longer believes in anything," says Justin Springer. "At first, Mackenzie was full of hope. She believed in fairies and magic. But now she is completely disillusioned and her own happiness is no longer a priority, let alone Prince Charming. She's just trying to get by. Eleanor is trying to put some salt back into her life, but for Mackenzie, this is no longer the case. "Discovering our world is a shock to Eleanor, just as the magic of a fairy godmother is a shock to a single mother from Boston," adds Sharon Maguire.

Eleanor and Mackenzie's characters are able to move audiences from laughter to tears. The producers chose Jillian Bell to play the young fairy, who says, "I fell madly in love with the character and the plot. Eleanor is sometimes naive, but she is also very intelligent. She wishes for the happiness of the whole world, and putting magic and wonder back into our daily lives is one of the ways to do that. Her dream is to prove that good fairies are indispensable, even in our time. »

For Mackenzie, the producers chose Australian actress Isla Fisher, whose memorable performance in Wedding Crashers (2005) earned her leading roles in films such as Wedding Daze (2006). "There are lots of good ideas in this film," she says. There's a lot of good ideas in this film," she says. "Magic, humor, the friendship between these two women. We get attached to them, we take their side, we hope they will get out of it. It's a comedy about a funny duet, which should appeal to all families. Moreover, it takes place at Christmas! » . Isla Fisher is also full of praise for Sharon Maguire: "I love shooting under her direction. I'm a fan of Bridget Jones. She's a director with whom you can really dig into the character's psychological profile. She's also a great technician. With her, the camera is rarely static. She lets us improvise and manages to reconcile comedy and emotion. »

And Justin Springer adds: "Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), Sharon has shown that she is capable of making a film that is both very funny and very moving, that puts you in the shoes of a modern woman. In my opinion, Godmothered has all the assets to be so successful. ». Mackenzie is still mourning her husband. The way the film shows her stress as a single mother, the sole breadwinner of her daughters, is both moving and very realistic. She doesn't want them to know the heartbreak and pain she experienced, but she eventually learns and accepts, like all parents, that her children will take risks and live their lives.

"I like the evolution of the character," says Fisher. In the beginning, this woman is in the sacrifice. She puts the needs of her daughters first and tries to grieve for her husband. She is emotionally frustrated because she refuses to be vulnerable. She needs to be assertive, and she pretends to cope when she is desperate. We will see her wake up to this good fairy, regain a taste for life, become a woman again who can have fun and, sometimes, pleasure. "When Eleanor finds out why Mackenzie doesn't believe in happy endings, she is caught off guard," says Sharon Maguire. "She has to challenge all of her preconceived notions about magic and ask herself what a happy ending really is. »

This is one of the main messages of the film: nowadays, contrary to what happens in fairy tales, the happy ending is not synonymous with marriage to a prince and life in a castle. It is an entirely subjective notion. For producer Justin Springer, "It's even important to redefine what each of us means by happy ending, so that the idea is more realistic and more in line with our real lives. And don't forget that, to find happiness, you sometimes have to take yourself in hand and become your own fairy godmother. »

"Mackenzie realizes that the love of her life is her children, and that she has always known this without realizing it," says Isla Fisher. Because of the circumstances - a thankless job, money problems, feeling overwhelmed in her role as a single mother - she could no longer see the magic in things. I think that's something that will speak to a lot of mothers. Happy endings don't just happen in movies. It's about being of service, trying to do the best you can, and being there for others, like Mackenzie and Eleanor at the end. That's what a happy ending is all about. »

Justin Springer adds: "The true magic of life is knowing how to recognize what brings us joy and happiness. That includes friendship, like the one between Eleanor and Mackenzie. Eleanor helps Mackenzie look at her life in a different way and realize that she already has everything she needs to be happy. The film also talks about the fact that our lives don't always need to be governed by pragmatism, and that we shouldn't give up being happy. It's important to keep hope. Many themes are addressed under the cover of this Christmas comedy. »

Installing the story in a modern and realistic world was a priority for the film crew. And the local television crew seemed to have everything they needed to serve the needs of the plot. "Regional news shows are often funny," says Justin Springer. "We spent a lot of time watching reports on American channels and used them to create real comedy moments. Eleanor's story fits perfectly into the process, as she comes out of nowhere and is at the center of these stories, making them very funny. »

Most of the time, Mackenzie and his colleague Hugh report on such exciting topics as snowstorms, Boston ice hockey team parties, or... fields where all the pumpkins have exploded (because of Eleanor!). And as in other films and series about the tribulations of a regional channel, there are eccentric characters and power struggles that are always pretexts for frank comedy sequences.

Godmothered takes place in two spheres, the fantastic universe of Fairy Land on the one hand and the real world on the other. For the latter, the producers wanted the action to be set in a real U.S. city, rather than an imaginary metropolis.

"We recognize the locations of many of the great classics of American comedy," Justin Springer says. "Trading Places (1983) was set in Philadelphia, all of John Hughes' films were shot in Chicago, so we looked for the city that best suited the story. The facts took place during the holiday season, so we thought of that winter paradise of glittering lights that is Boston. ». To showcase the city, the film team chose emblematic locations such as City Hall, the Public Garden and Copley Square. The team shot in the North End for the exteriors of Paula's apartment, and in the Financial District for some of the parade shots. The streets of Charlestown, around Bunker Hill, were used for the exteriors of Mackenzie's home and Jane's school. The outside of the range where Mackenzie works is located in Chelsea. There was also a disused military hangar in Weymouth for most of the parade and Jane's performance, an unoccupied office building in North Andover for the TV station's premises, and a garage in Malden. Two houses in Dedham were used for the interiors of Mackenzie's house while the sledding scenes were shot at the Nashoba Valley Ski Area in Westford. For the pumpkin patch and the road where Eleanor is hitchhiked by the truck, the team went to Ipswich.

For the fantasy world of Fairy Land, the producers wanted buildings in the Gothic style, like at Oxford or Yale, but overgrown with vegetation. As this type of building is relatively rare, the place was therefore created in computer-generated images, with cutting plans of Oxford. Fairy Land is inspired by various European universities and castles.

Even though Godmothered uses visual effects, the producers wanted to keep them to a minimum in order to maintain a certain realism. "There's some pretty spectacular footage in the film, but I think the funniest scenes are the ones that are shot without a lot of special effects, like the one where Eleanor is trying to cast a spell, but it's not working," says Justin Springer. To describe the scenes where Eleanor waves her magic wand, the film crew used "poof!" sequences. Because Eleanor is not a master of magic, some spells work (such as turning Mackenzie's outfit into what she thinks is a suitable evening gown) while others don't work at all, as in her attempt to turn a pumpkin patch into a carriage to get to the station where Mackenzie works.

"The poof! scenes are set in modern settings, which makes them a little more complicated but also very funny," says Maguire. "Eleanor triggers disasters because she doesn't master her magical powers. Of course, that makes us laugh. »

To be able to accomplish their "poof!", good fairies need a magic wand. In Godmothered, there are three kinds. The one of Eleanor, a simple apprentice, is made of a very simple wood that evokes a bleached bone. Moira, the director of Fairy Land, has a magnificent solid gold wand. The models of the other good fairies are in the in-between. They are all made of green resin, painted and equipped with a white LED inside.

At first, Eleanor is not too used to handle these wands, and hers collapses when she tries to cast a spell! For the purposes of the film, the prop designers created a mechanical wand that softens because of the young fairy's lack of experience. However, when she becomes more confident, her wand becomes straight again. Godmothered also features Gary, a magical creature in computer-generated images. He is a raccoon that Eleanor uses to help Mackenzie with her household chores: laundry, cleaning, Christmas decorations... Gary's character is in the tradition of the animals of the forest in traditional fairy tales... except that this time, he is not very resourceful. Shooting of Godmothered began on January 17, 2020 and ended on March 12, five days ahead of schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Synopsis :
Eleanor (Jillian Bell) is an apprentice fairy in doubt. Realizing that her craft no longer has much of a future, she is searching for a way to prove to the world that magic is still needed. When she discovers Mackenzie's (Isla Fisher) lost letter - an anguished preteen - hope is reborn. Leaving Fairy Land to search for her, Eleanor discovers that she has grown up well and is now a 40-year-old single mother, a reporter for a Boston news station. Widowed for several years, Mackenzie has given up her illusions and all hope of a life as happy as the one described in the stories. Determined to transform the life of her protégée, Eleanor will do everything in her power to prove her wrong... Even if it means causing the worst disasters or misunderstandings!

Godmothered
Directed by Sharon Maguire
Produced by Justin Springer
Written by Kari Granlund, Melissa Stack
Starring Isla Fisher, Jillian Bell
Music by Rachel Portman
Cinematography: Christopher Norr
Edited by Gary Dollner
Production company: Walt Disney Pictures, The Montecito Picture Company
Distributed by Disney+, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release date: December 4, 2020 (United States)
Running time: 110 minutes

Photos: Copyright Disney +

(Source: press notes)