ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS: 1. Synopsis Inspired by the most beloved of fables, the animated feature HAPPILY N’EVER AFTER is a satirical retelling of the classic story of Cinderella. 2. Abote the Production The world of fairy tales has always been a place where good prevails over evil. Cinderella, for all of her suffering at the hands of her Stepmother, finds herself marrying the Prince; and Sleeping Beauty, following days of slumber brought on by an evil fairy, is awakened with a kiss by her true love. 3. Fairy Tales Give Us All the Basic Human Archetypes While developing the story for HAPPILY N’EVER AFTER, screenwriter Rob Moreland incorporated elements from the Grimm Brothers’ classic fairy tales, which he found to have a visceral power all their own. 4. Fairy Tales Give Us All the Basic Human Archetypes: An Interview with the Screenwriter Rob Moreland While developing the story for HAPPILY N’EVER AFTER, screenwriter Rob Moreland incorporated elements from the Grimm Brothers’ classic fairy tales, which he found to have a visceral power all their own. 'Fairy tales give us all the basic human archetypes we find in movies and classic stories,' says Moreland. 5. Being the Anti Hero and Relentlessly, Irredeemably Wicked: An Interview with Freddy Prinze Jr. and Sigourney Weaver 'The great thing about Rick is that he's the anti-hero. He tries to fly under the radar, and is very reluctant to fight the good fight,' says Prinze, Jr. 'But he has these leadership qualities, and when push comes to shove he makes the right decision.' 6. Most Important Thing is Personality: A Talk with Director Paul J. Bolger and his Team Director Paul J. Bolger videotaped the voice sessions, and in some cases, he used the footage as reference for the animated characters. 'Sarah Michelle Gellar was used quite a bit for Ella: the way she moved, some of her facial expressions,' he says. 7. The Mandate: Change From 2D to 3D HAPPILY N’EVER AFTER began life as a 2D feature film project, with 97 characters and 44 locations. But as production began, the 3D CGI revolution had taken over the marketplace and it quickly became clear that major markets, from Europe to Asia to the U.S., were only considering 3D films for theatrical release.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

The world of fairy tales has always been a place where good prevails over evil. Cinderella, for all of her suffering at the hands of her Stepmother, finds herself marrying the Prince; and Sleeping Beauty, following days of slumber brought on by an evil fairy, is awakened with a kiss by her true love. But what would happen if these familiar tales ended differently and happy endings weren’t guaranteed? Lionsgate’s animated feature, HAPPILY N’EVER AFTER, offers a funny, highly original answer. What begins as a re-telling of the Cinderella story goes entertainingly awry when Frieda, the evil stepmother, gains behind-the-scenes control of her own story, as well as every other fairy tale in Fairy Tale Land. When the young Cinderella-like heroine Ella realizes her destined love affair with the Prince is in serious jeopardy, she embarks on an unpredictable journey of self-discovery – and arrives at a new ending she never could have imagined.

“What we wanted to do with HAPPILY N’EVER AFTER was set up the expectation that our story was going to be played out as a traditional, classic fairy tale, and then tell it in a very different way,” says producer John H. Williams, whose previous credits include SHREK and SHREK 2. “We started from a very foundational log line, which was: ‘The Wizard's away on vacation and the assistants are left in charge, and Cinderella's delusionally focused on a prince that isn't really the right object of her affection.’ That gave us the driving through-line for the movie.”

“I think audiences will love seeing these fairy tales that they know so well and watch them get turned inside out in such a delightful, funny way,” says actress Sigourney Weaver, the voice of Frieda. “It’s quite cathartic to see what happens when all the darker figures start running things. They turn out to be very human, too, and I think that’s refreshing. It's a very original, contemporary story in its own unique way.”

George Carlin, who provides the voice of the Wizard, found that HAPPILY N’EVER AFTER’s mischievous sense of humor shares similarities with his own acclaimed stand-up comedy. “I like it when the expected turns into the unexpected,” he says. “My comedy is all about overturning the applecart. Some of it’s a little more edgy than this project, but it’s all about disturbing the order of things, which is a great switch.”

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Fairy Tales Give Us All the Basic Human Archetypes
While developing the story for HAPPILY N’EVER AFTER, screenwriter Rob Moreland incorporated elements from the Grimm Brothers’ classic fairy tales, which he found to have a visceral power all their own.