Disney has combined homage and satire in a modern fairytale that draws from the studio’s many animated features in the genre. That it comes off so well is partly because it’s clear that the studio has the highest regard for its own classics. The jokes in Enchanted are all in good fun -- there’s not one bit of humor that doesn’t fondly recall a past memory.

Enchanted opens in the land of Andalasia, a kingdom in the fantasy world of animation. Giselle (Amy Adams), a girl destined to be a princess, is found by Prince Edward (James Marsden) -- or rather is caught by him when she literally falls into his lap. After one day’s courtship, a wedding is planned, and it is assumed, since we are in storybook land, that they will live happily ever after. But Edward’s wicked stepmother, Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon), hates Giselle enough to banish her to the worst place on earth -- Times Square, in New York City -- and the girl pops up through a manhole into live-action reality. Prince Edward follows, in a quest to find her, and both are followed by one of Narissa’s minions as well as the chipmunk Pip, one of Giselle’s favorite animal friends.

In Manhattan, Giselle meets Robert (Patrick Dempsey), a divorce lawyer and single parent to Morgan (Rachel Covey), his precocious six-year-old daughter. Robert takes pity on this girl stranded in an enormous hooped gown in the middle of New York, and takes her in. Giselle maintains her storybook attitudes, charming Robert and a good portion of New York into behaving as if they were in a fairytale. In Andalasia she had but to sing the magic tones and birds and furry woodland creatures would come to do her bidding, just as in Cinderella. Seeing that Robert’s apartment is totally disorganized, she warbles her song, but this time conjures up rats, pigeons, and cockroaches. They might not be as pretty as the animals she’s used to, but they do the job.

Giselle’s personality is so magnetic that every time she bursts into song, New York turns into a production number to rival any on the Broadway stage. Eventually Prince Edward -- he sings too -- finds her, but by that time our reality has touched Giselle’s feelings. Although duty dictates that she return to Andalasia with Edward, Giselle has fallen for Robert. It is about this time that Queen Narissa realizes that she must come to New York herself to dispatch Giselle with a poisoned apple.

Narissa is a twin to the wicked queen in Snow White. When she turns herself into a hag to offer her apple to Giselle, she looks exactly like the animated version come to life. Giselle herself is an amalgam of all Disney princesses -- a Sleeping Beauty with the personality of Snow White. Prince Edward dashes to and fro, a caricature of an animated prince. There are many other such references, but I won’t spoil the fun.

Amy Adams, radiant and sweet to just the right degree, carries the bulk of Enchanted on her pretty shoulders, investing the character with such sincerity that I found it entirely believable that she was a live version of an animated heroine. Patrick Dempsey is appealing in a befuddled, rumpled sort of way, and James Marsden is dashing as the prince. Pip is CGI-animated in both Andalasia and New York, but in our world he can’t speak. Kevin Lima, who also directed Disney’s 102 Dalmatians (2000) and Tarzan (1999), knows his way around the Disney history and ethic, and keeps things moving at just the right pace.

The music is by Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin), the lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Pocahontas) -- more tie-ins to the world of Disney animation. It had been a long time since I’d left a theater whistling a happy tune, but thanks to Menken’s way of writing new music that seems comfortably familiar, Enchanted broke the drought.

Enchanted lacks a winter-holiday theme, but its good nature and winning spirit seem just right for this time of the year. It’s very mildly PG -- you can take the whole family. If you’re happy when you go in, you’ll be deliriously happy when you exit. If you’re in a grumpy mood, Enchanted will put a smile on your face.

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