Happily N'Ever After Blu-ray Review

The Blu-ray presentation of "Happily N'Ever After" showcases a 1080p/MPEG-2 encode that brings the film’s unique and somewhat darker color palette to vibrant life. This direct digital telecine transfer is impressively clean, highlighting the bold and vivid colors that make the animation stand out. The transition of primary colors into deeper shades—crimson reds, midnight blues, and richer greens—creates a dynamic and visually appealing palette that enhances the viewing experience. Despite the film's simpler animation style, reminiscent of classic Disney but with a modern twist of moving backgrounds for added realism, the image quality retains excellent sharpness, detail, and depth. This offers a three-dimensional feel uncommon in this type of animation, especially with solid and deep blacks that anchor the visual presentation.

However, the video presentation isn't without its flaws. There are instances of noise, particularly noticeable on flat surfaces displaying solid intense red or blue colors, along with minor banding on smooth gradients. These occasional compression issues, while not pervasive, do detract from what is otherwise an exemplary video quality. Such imperfections prevent a fully perfect score but are generally not frequent enough to significantly hinder the overall viewing pleasure.

When compared to its DVD counterpart, the Blu-ray edition of "Happily N'Ever After" is significantly superior, offering a much clearer and more natural picture. The side-by-side comparison highlights a cleaner image on Blu-ray, with less noise and more pronouncedly vibrant colors, despite the DVD's inherent vividness. The difference is particularly noticeable in areas where the Blu-ray displays noise; these issues are exacerbated on the DVD version. Thus, the Blu-ray not only improves upon the visual aspects with its technical superiority but also provides a more immersive and pleasing viewing experience unmatched by the DVD release.

The audio presentation of "Happily N'Ever After" on Blu-ray delivers a solid auditory experience, predominantly through its DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, which shines in comparison to its Dolby Digital 5.1 counterparts available in both English and Spanish at a 448kbps bitrate. Despite current hardware limitations restricting access to only the core 1.5mbps of the DTS-HD track, the overall sound mix impressively fills the soundscape, with dynamic effects fluidly navigating the room without any unpleasant anomalies. Dialogues are crisp and directionally precise, ensuring clarity and audibility above the mix. The soundtrack's dynamics are commendable, maintaining integrity even at elevated volumes, though bass frequencies predominantly resonate through the LFE channel, leaving a scarcity of deep bass in the main channels.

The comparison between the main DTS MA track and the Dolby Digital tracks on both DVD and Blu-ray elucidates a distinct superiority in the DTS soundtrack. The Dolby Digital tracks, while similar to each other in encoding, fall short in providing the full auditory depth, with noticeable deficiencies in soundstage dimensionality, bass definition, and the overall refinement of instrumental textures and timbres. Sidewall imaging on the DTS track is markedly better, offering a more stable and defined sound movement beyond the physical confines of the room, although it falters slightly in creating a wholly immersive 360-degree sound field due to less effective rear wall imaging and a front-loaded musical score.

In essence, the audio experience of "Happily N'Ever After" on Blu-ray is marked by its potent and well-crafted DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, elevating it above its Dolby Digital alternatives despite some limitations. The vividness of discrete sound effects and the robustness of dynamics contribute to a lively soundscape, though the aspiration for a completely enveloping audio experience is somewhat curtailed by the predominance of front channel music playback and an underachievement in rear channel definition. Nonetheless, this release promises an engaging auditory journey that aptly complements its visual counterpart.

Despite its underwhelming performance at the box office, "Happily N'Ever After" receives a generous compilation of extras on its Blu-ray release courtesy of Lionsgate. Both reviews highlight the comprehensive range of supplemental materials, including all extras from the DVD release, meticulously ported over. The featured content kicks off with three informative featurettes helmed by Director Paul J. Bolger, providing a detailed exploration into the characters' development and the animated film's creation, along with a comparison between storyboards and final scenes. The inclusion of an audio commentary by Bolger offers further insights, although its appeal may vary given the film’s reception. Additionally, deleted scenes and an alternate ending are present but are deemed non-essential. For younger audiences, there are interactive games, though with simple graphics and limited replay value. Notably, all video-based extras are presented in a 4:3 full-screen aspect ratio using 480i/MPEG-2 encoding, which significantly contrasts with the main feature's quality.

Extras included in this disc:

• Journey of the Characters in the Enchanted Forest: A featurette exploring character development.
• Creating the Happily Story: Bringing N'Ever After to Life: Insights into the animation process.
• From Storyboard to Fairy Tale: A Comparison: Shows before-and-after scenes.
• Director Commentary by Paul J. Bolger: Bolger discusses various aspects of production.
• Lost in Fairy Tale Lane: Deleted scenes plus an alternate ending.
• Games from the Department of Fairy Tale Security: Includes Munk's Fairy Tale Fix, Mambo and Munk's Magical Matchmaker, and Create Your Own Witches Broom.

"Happily N'Ever After" finds itself mired in a quagmire of underwhelming storytelling and lackluster animation, a far cry from the high standards set by predecessors like "Cars" and "Shrek." Released on January 5, 2007, it fumbled at the box office with a disappointing haul of just under $31 million worldwide, a stark contrast to its $47 million budget. With critics lambasting it as a derivative work, it struggled to find its footing amidst accusations of being a mere shadow of the films produced by the same filmmakers behind the lauded "Shrek" series. This movie, unfortunately, stands as a textbook case on how not to execute an animated feature, bundling every conceivable cliché and worn-out joke into an 86-minute package that tests the patience of even the most forgiving audience members.

The premise offers a sliver of promise, weaving a narrative around classic fairytale characters whose happy endings are jeopardized when the Wizard, tasked with maintaining these narratives, goes on vacation. This leaves his naive assistants in charge, setting the stage for chaos when Cinderella's (Ella) evil stepmother seizes control. Despite the promising concept and a star-studded voice cast featuring talents like Sigourney Weaver and Sarah Michelle Gellar, "Happily N'Ever After" flounders. The characters fail to inspire, the humor misses more than it hits, and the animation quality is noticeably inferior, reminding viewers that having a solid voice cast is insufficient to salvage a fundamentally flawed film.

The film's attempt to ride on the coattails of "Shrek"'s success becomes its undoing, offering nothing new or innovative to the genre. It's disheartening to see such potential squandered, as "Happily N'Ever After" opts for easy mimicry over originality, resulting in a product that doesn't satisfy on any level—narratively, visually, or emotionally. Ultimately, it serves as a cautionary tale for animation studios: success hinges not just on assembling a stellar cast or capitalizing on familiar fairytales, but on delivering a fresh, compelling story that captivates the audience through genuine creativity and quality animation.

"Happily N'Ever After" on Blu-ray presents a puzzle that's hard to piece together into a satisfying viewing experience. Despite the earnest efforts of director Paul Bolger, who spent years in its creation, the final product fails to enchant. Drawing parallels to other animated fairy tales, notably Shrek, this film struggles to establish its unique identity amidst a crowded field. The narrative, while ambitious, ends up feeling convoluted and fragmented, diluting any potential charm. The critique is not aimed at the technical execution of the Blu-ray release itself; Lionsgate has commendably packaged the film with a high-quality transfer and sound, alongside a supplemental package that outshines the movie it accompanies. However, the superior presentation does little to elevate the core content beyond its intrinsic shortcomings.

The animation, an essential draw for enthusiasts of the genre, does not break new ground, appearing somewhat lackluster when compared against contemporaries. This aspect further hampers the film's appeal, leaving it ensconced in the shadow of predecessors that have elicited more substantial engagement from audiences. Commentary from Bolger offers insight into the dedication behind the scenes but inadvertently highlights what might be viewed as a misallocation of passion and resources towards a project that struggles to resonate on its intended levels.

In conclusion, while "Happily N'Ever After" seeks to carve out a niche within the animated realm on Blu-ray, it ultimately falls short. The amalgamation of stock elements fails to cook up a compelling narrative stew, and despite a technically sound Blu-ray delivery, the film lacks the substance and clarity required to stand out. Our recommendation aligns with the cautious approach of renting before considering purchase, primarily for those intrigued by the technical aspects of its Blu-ray presentation or fans of animation curious about every corner of the genre's expansive library.