"Happily Never After" (2007) is a fantasy film based on the fairy tales of Brother's Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson. The first film begins with the introduction to the Wizard, who maintains the balance between good and evil and controls all the fairy tales. He has two assistants: the rule-adhering Munk and the mischief maker Mombo. When the Wizard travels on vacation, it is up to Munk and Mombo to maintain the balance. But, of course, Mombo, having been bored of the usual story endings, decides to literally tip the scales to be entertained.
Several other characters are introduced: the blonde naive prince charming, a dishwasher named Rick, and Ella, who works as a servant to her evil stepmother and stepsisters. When Mombo causes trouble, the evil stepmother, Freida decides to take control of the kingdom herself. Using the Wizard's staff, she summons all the villains to the palace to cause more chaos. With the help of Rick, the seven dwarves, Munk, and Mombo, Ella figures out a way to defeat her stepmother and save the land. (Frieda is pushed through a portal, and Ella eventually marries Rick).
The (badly produced) sequel: "Snow White - Another Bite at the Apple" (2009) was also known as "Happily Never After 2." This story follows Snow White, who lives with her caring parents, King Cole and Queen Grace. Her mother was kind to all the citizens, regardless of their positions in life. When she suddenly falls ill, she tells her daughter that "true beauty comes from helping others."
Years pass and Snow White becomes a spoiled typical teenager who values her appearance and nights out with her friends. King Cole soon wants someone to be queen and act as a mother figure to his disobedient daughter. After Mombo tips the scales, Lady Vain turns evil and Rumpelstiltskin appears to help her. Vain uses a magic mirror to turn her face into Queen Grace's and King Cole accepts her. Snow White is later rejected by her friends and the citizens after unwillingly spreading gossip about everyone, under the influence of Vain's magic apple.
Snow White meets the seven dwarves and learns how to help other fairy tale beings (despite being reluctant). With the help of her friends, a changed Snow White races back to the palace to stop the wedding between her father and Lady Vain. Vain is soon defeated after the magic mirror breaks and her face is returned to normal. Before the guards take her away, Snow White tells her that she doesn't need a magic mirror to be beautiful. Snow White finally accepts her role as queen and the film ends with the characters dancing.
Animation:
The first Happily Never After film has better animation and story than the sequel. The animation in the sequel looks like draft computer graphics were incorporated into the final product. This is in contrast to the "cleaner" and more vivid graphics of the first film.
Story and Messages:
The first film centers on the changing of destiny. Ella and Rick both believed at first, that Ella would marry the prince and live happily ever after. Yet, Ella eventually says that she wants more than what the fairy tale book indicates. When she hugs Rick after defeating Freida, Ella says that the victorious moment is "not an ending; a beginning." This implies that both she and Rick want to live lives with purpose and meaning. Life is more than just a fairy tale, even in Fairy Tale Land.
The second film sends the message that beauty is everything (along with the fact that kindness is more important).
This appears to be a paradox, but let's get into it. One of the biggest examples is when King Cole wants to have a wife who's as beautiful as Queen Grace. Queen Grace and Snow White both pursue being beautiful in their own ways. Eventually, Lady Vain gains the king's trust by looking like Queen Grace. (a bad example of parenting, instead of properly disciplining Snow White on his own like the average father would).
Also, it takes Snow White a while to learn from the seven dwarves...to the point that it become predictable as to when she would start to help others and learn her lesson in the first place).
Characters:
Ella is a more likable character than Snow White for several reasons. Ella is a kind, innocent romantic, who falls in love with the prince like many other young women. She wants a better life away from her cruel step family. Sadly, her parents are never shown nor mentioned. Though she is easily frightened, she has shown courage and a strong spirit. (Evidenced by when she helped the dwarves shot diamonds at the witches and villains. Also when she fought her stepmother toward the end of the movie). People can also relate to her trying to choose between Rick and the Prince in her mind.
In contrast, Snow White appears as a spoiled girl in the first part, and a self-centered teenager throughout the majority of the film. She is shown to care about her hair, nails, and the newest fashion trends along with her friends Goldilocks, Little Bo Peep, and Red Riding Hood. (Yes, I did notice that they diversified the races of Snow's friends, but it doesn't add up if the characters aren't well-developed). Though she reluctantly changes her ways and begins to help others, she doesn't show any kind of fighting spirit against Lady Vain.
Rick works as the palace dishwasher in the first film and is also Ella's best friend. He appears to be neutral on the side of good and evil (even serving the villain wolves their meals). Rick believes at first that Ella only wants to be with the prince and that she doesn't care about people like him. He secretly loves her and over time, he helps Munk and Mombo get into the palace to fix the scales and defeat Frieda. He even goes off looking for the prince for Ella, despite not wanting to.
Peter's design and clothing is based off of Rick's. (similar cotton shirt, jeans, and brown short hair). Peter falls in love with Snow White and mentions how caring her mother was. Snow falls in love with him too, but he rejects her when she displays her privileged status and values. Peter appears as more of a side character than Rick, though he does protect Snow with a shield in the final battle, though he gets knocked aside.
Frieda appears as a tall, seductive villain who wears a red corset and high heels. Rumpelstiltskin has some entertaining interactions with Frieda (ex. when he says, "I'll be your evil co-wizard!" which Frieda declines.) When the villains couldn't capture Ella, Frieda jumps on a magical broomstick and captures her instead. She even tries to kill Ella and Rick while they were hanging off a ledge. Though she appears to be highly sexualized, it also makes for some funny subtle moments. (Ex. Frieda says "Teach me!" to Munk and Mombo and when she says "which of my toys should I play with first?" Plus, she laughs manically several times, throughout the film.
Lady Vain looks like a standard evil queen, wearing a dress of purple. Instead of killing Snow White, she decides to humiliate her by putting her under a gossip spell. Vain often makes Rumpelstiltskin do the work for her (such as fixing Snow's hair in a cringe-worthy creepy manner). He also appears to be more of an idiot, as shown when he didn't know to give Snow the apple until the mirror showed an image of it to him. She only appears crazed at the end, then breaks down into tears after the spell wears out.
Munk and Mombo had more screen time in the first film and more funny moments as well. (ex. Mombo taunting Munk while dancing on the glass sphere). In the second film, they only make an appearance in the beginning and toward the end.
Fanfictions
Ella could help teach Snow White about the value of helping others (while still being a fighter at times). Though Snow White would, at first, taunt Ella about being low class "riff-raff", Ella would stand her ground and point out Snow's flaws.
Cole's adviser would play a greater role, questioning the king's decision to find a wife that looks like Queen Grace. He would also be suspicious of Lady Vain and would want to be sure that Snow White is safe.
Rick and Peter could be casual friends and exchange stories about their ordinary lives. Peter would become the Prince's servant and funny interactions would occur.
Lady Vain would actually try to poison Snow White, instead of putting her under a gossip spell. The plan would go wrong, and one of Snow's friends would end up getting poisoned instead. Worse still, Snow's friends would claim that Snow was the one who poisoned one of their own! Seeing the superficiality of her teen friends, Snow would begin to question her relationships and place.
Frieda and Lady Vain could appear to team up at first glance. However, their goals are somewhat different. Lady Vain wants to be queen and be beautiful like Queen Grace. Frieda wants to take over FairyTale Land and kill Ella. Lady Vain would likely be very jealous of Frieda's beauty and try to use the magic mirror to her advantage. However, with the wizard's staff, Frieda would be more powerful in terms of magic abilities. After being taken away, Lady Vain would be encouraged and comforted by both Snow White and Ella that it is what's on the inside that truly matters. This could result in Lady Vain teaming up with the good guys against Frieda. The two stepsisters would be orphans and Frieda would likely freeze to death after being pushed through the portal by Ella.
The Wizard would sit back and watch the battles while drinking whiskey.
Mombo and Munk would get a greater role (like it should have happened in the sequel).