Godmothered is a Disney fairy tale with a feminist twist. It’s a Christmas-adjacent tale perfect for the whole family to enjoy together during the holiday season.
Godmothered stars Jillian Bell as Eleanor, fairy godmother in training. The fairy godmother business is slowing down. The whole enterprise may have to shut down and all the unemployed godmothers will become tooth fairies if things don’t improve.
While in the motherland with the fairies, we meet the delightful Agnes (June Squibb) and Moira (Jane Curtin). Both are smashing good as fairy godmothers, of course.
Eleanor wants her chance to help someone find their happily ever after. She searches until she finds an unanswered wish from a 10 year old Boston girl named Mackenzie. She takes off on an unauthorized journey to fairy godmother Mackenzie.
Except when Eleanor finds her way to Boston, Mackenzie is a grown mother of two daughters. Mackenzie definitely is waaaay past believing in fairy tales and happy endings. Her daughters Mia (Willa Skye) and Jane (Jillian Shea Spaeder) have absorbed their mother’s gloomy outlook on life.
Mackenzie’s sister Paula (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) watches the kids while their mother works at a TV station, where the only thing that matters is getting that viral video. Paula also has the all-important job of finding a watermelon. (You’ll understand why when you watch it.)
Eleanor takes on the job of finding Mackenzie her happily ever after – even if she doesn’t want it. Eleanor is convinced that a guy Mackenzie works with, Hugh Prince (Santiago Cabrera), is the answer. He’s a prince, after all.
With so many gloomy attitudes and broken hearts to deal with, Eleanor soon realizes that a man isn’t what all these folks need. That’s the feminist part of the fairy tale.
All the Disney trademarks are there. Cute animals. Magic fairy dust. Happy endings. Music. It’s guaranteed to make you smile, especially because this modernized fairy tale doesn’t include a prince and princess getting married and living happily after at the end.
Credit to the women behind the scenes for making it so. Godmothered was directed by Sharon Maguire (who directed the Bridget Jones series) with a screenplay by Kari Granlund and Melissa Stack.
Check out the trailer.
Are you going to make this cheerful Disney tale part of your holiday viewing?