What is the meaning of “true love?” Is it how something or someone makes you feel? Is it the tiny moments that make life enjoyable? It is our friends and family? The definition of “true love” has taken on a new meaning, transforming how we view the “fairytale ending.”
Set at Christmas time, Disney+’s Godmothered is a comedy about Eleanor, a young, inexperienced naive fairy godmother-in-training (Jillian Bell), who upon hearing her chosen profession is facing extinction, decides to show the world people still need fairy godmothers. After finding a forgotten letter from a 10-year-old girl in distress, Eleanor tracks her down and discovers the girl, Mackenzie, is now a 40-year-old single mom (Isla Fisher) working at a news station in Boston. Having lost her husband several years earlier, Mackenzie has all but given up on the idea of “happily ever after,” but Eleanor is bound and determined to give Mackenzie a happiness makeover, whether she likes it or not. Though she has a lot to learn about the real world, Eleanor’s determination to help this family believe again in the power of love just may give the family the happiness they need.
During a press conference, Bell and Fisher joined Jillian, Shea Spaeder, who plays Mac’s eldest daughter Jane, in a conversation about the many themes of the film and the transformative meaning of “happily ever after.”
“What’s fun about this story is we kind of think of it as a hybrid; Muse meets Elf. We’ve got a lot of physical comedy and a lot of psych gags and slapstick. And then we have also word play and my character is more of the straight man in the story which is something I haven’t really had the opportunity to get to play,” Fisher said.
For Jillian, getting the opportunity to play in a modern fairytale movie was alluring and an actress’ dream.
“Who doesn’t grow up wanting to be a Disney princess? I mean that’s the goal. The script came along and I’d always been looking for some kind of magical being to play because my goal in life was to play a witch. And this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to it. She’s got magic and spells, and is trying to make Isla’s character’s dreams come true. I think this was definitely a goal and to get to do it, I’m still blown away that I got the part and got to act amongst all these people,” Jillian chimed in.
On the surface Godmothered at first feels like a tradition movie about finding your true love, however, the movie is a reflection of the times; happily ever after and fairytales having a different meaning to everyone. While true love is definitively out there, we might be looking in the wrong places. The cast felt it was important for children (and adults) to know happily ever after does not necessarily mean having a castle, a prince, and a dress. It is about the blessings in our life today, its about the people who make us happy.
With the world being in the state it’s in now, it is a perfect movie to reminds us of the connections we make and fairytales are everywhere.
Jane who plays Moira believes, “It also represents what the world is today in this-it’s-it’s not 1860 anymore. It’s not castles and all of this stuff. It’s, happily ever after is what you want. It’s what you believe and it’s a goal you can achieve on your own. If you want it, if you believe that you can get it, it’s something that’s not reliant on magic. It’s reliant on you and your spirit. And I think that’s really something we all have to remember. We are capable of such amazing things and such positive things for ourselves and for others. And that’s happily ever after.”
“And equally it’s nice to, let life [and] situations in life guide you into new beginnings or openings you might not have envisioned for yourself and push yourself out of your comfort zone by being open to doing something potentially that wasn’t necessarily in your wheelhouse, to quote Americans,” Isla finished.
To learn more about Godmothered check out the full press conference above.
