‘Godmothered’: A world of inclusive happily ever afters
Eleanor believes that happy endings come from following a simple, three-step formula. Because that’s what the aspiring fairy godmother has been trained to think.
“Godmothered,” available now on Disney+, tells the story of Eleanor, played by Jillian Bell, as she journeys to Boston in hopes of proving to humanity that magic is still something worth believing in. But to her surprise, she discovers that the 10-year-old girl she is looking to help has grown up into an adult, played by Isla Fisher, who is skeptical of the whole concept of happily ever afters.
“What’s wonderful about Eleanor is that she is a woefully naive, true believer that you have a formula for happiness,” said director Sharon Maguire. “The world she encounters just doesn’t meet those expectations at all, so she has to wrap her head around a whole different type of happily ever after.”
Bell pointed out that fairy tales just “need some updating sometimes” and it’s OK that “they need some slight tweaks.”
“It’s cool that we’re growing and evolving and stories are moving forward with the times,” said Bell. “I think that it’s so beautiful that in this movie, happily ever after can look different for every person.”
The story for “Godmothered” originated from writer Kari Granlund’s love for “the little old ladies who are just these master magicians” that just show up in fairy tales.
“I thought it would be funny if you had a world full of women like that and then you have a young character who’s overeager and saying, ‘I’m ready to go! Put me in the game, coach,’ ” said Granlund. “And then she goes out into the real world and is a fish out of water. It’s more than she bargained for.”
Eleanor’s enthusiasm and mishaps are, of course, part of the movie’s charm. But her relationship with Mackenzie Walsh, the local TV news producer and mother of two played by Fisher, takes center stage.Eleanor and Mackenzie are more than just a classic buddy comedy pair. Their different outlooks also affect how they interact with Mackenzie’s children, which reflects the complexities of parenting itself.
“You have in the godmother, somebody who is sort of always like, ‘You can do it,’ and believes in the absolute best possible result in spite of all evidence to the contrary,” said Melissa Stark, who co-wrote the screenplay. But “sometimes, as a mom in reality, you have those moments with your kids where you want to encourage them ... but you also don’t want to see them get hurt by a world that maybe doesn’t agree with your motherly enthusiasm. I thought there was a really interesting tension there between the two characters.”
For Fisher, “Godmothered” was an opportunity to be in a family-friendly film (“for once”) and she appreciated its modern twist.
“I think that often fairy tales unconsciously romanticize the damsel in distress,” said Fisher. “They often portray women as being vindictive toward
each other, or competing to be the most beautiful. That’s an outdated ideology. You don’t need a castle and a prince or a gown to be happy.”