Happily Ever After (1989 film) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Happily Ever After |
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Original film poster
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| Directed by | John Howley |
| Produced by | Lou Scheimer |
| Written by |
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| Starring | |
| Music by | Frank Becker |
| Editing by |
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| Studio | Filmation Associates |
| Distributed by | 1st National Film Corp. |
| Release date(s) | June 30, 1989 (Philippines) May 28, 1993 (United States) |
| Running time | 75 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Money made | $3.3 million |
Happily Ever After (originally released as Snow White: The Adventure Continues in the Philippines) is a 1989 American animated musical fantasy film written by Robby London and Martha Moran, directed by John Howley, and starring Irene Cara, Malcolm McDowell, Edward Asner, Carol Channing, Dom DeLuise and Phyllis Diller.
Its story is a continuation of the fairy tale "Snow White", wherein the titular heroine and the Prince are about to be married, but a new threat appears in the form of the late evil Queen's vengeful brother Lord Maliss. The film replaces the Dwarfs with their female cousins, called the Dwarfelles, who aid Snow White against Maliss.
Happily Ever After is unrelated to Filmation's fellow A Snow White Christmas, a television animated film that was the company's earlier Snow White sequel. It was troubled by severe legal problems with The Walt Disney Company, and had a poor financial and critical reception following its wide release in 1993. A video game adaptation was released in 1994.
Contents
Plot
The film starts as the Looking Glass recaps the story of "Snow White". The cruel Queen is gone forever and the kingdom is now at peace as Snow White and the Prince prepare to get married.
Meanwhile, back at the castle of the Queen, her animal minions celebrate their freedom by throwing a party for themselves. The Queen's equally evil brother, Lord Maliss, the wizard, arrives at the castle, looking for his sister. After learning about the Queen's recent demise, he vows to avenge her death by any means. He transforms into a wyvern and takes control of the castle, transforming the area surrounding the castle into a perilous wasteland. Afterwards, Scowl the owl starts training his companion, a purple bat named Batso, on how to be evil.
The next day, Snow White and the Prince are in the meadow picking flowers for their wedding, when Maliss, in his wyvern form, begins attacking Snow White and the Prince as they are traveling to the cottage of the Seven Dwarfs. He takes away the Prince, who tried to fight him, but Snow White manages to flee into the woods and reaches to the cottage of the Seven Dwarfs.
The next day, Snow White meets the Dwarves' female cousins, the Seven "Dwarfelles": Muddy, Sunburn, Blossom, Marina, Critterina, Moonbeam, and Thunderella. The Dwarves have left the cottage after they bought another mine in a different kingdom, but the Dwarfelles gladly assist Snow White, taking her to visit Mother Nature at Rainbow Falls. Mother Nature has given the Dwarfelles individual powers to assist her; she holds Thunderella accountable for not being able to master her powers correctly, accuses the other Dwarfelles of improperly using their powers, and threatens to take them away as punishment. Maliss attacks them, but Mother Nature shoots him with lightning, causing him to crash and return him to his human form. Before leaving, Maliss informs Snow White that the Prince is held captive in his castle.
Snow White and the Dwarfelles travel to Maliss' castle in the Realm of Doom, encountering a strange cloaked humanoid known as the Shadow Man, along the way. Maliss sends his horned wolves after the group and they manage to escape with the help of the Shadow Man. Maliss is furious at this failure and transforms into his wyvern form, finally succeeded in capturing Snow White by himself and taking her to his castle. The Dwarfelles follow them and sneak into the castle as well, while fending off Maliss's minions, including Scowl and Batso.
In the castle, Snow White is reunited with her Prince, who begins acting strangely, and takes her through a secret passage to supposedly escape. When Snow White realizes that he is not the real Prince but he is actually Lord Maliss in disguise. Maliss attempts to throw a magical red cloak on Snow White to petrify her into stone. He almost succeeds, but he is attacked by the Shadow Man, whom he overpowers and seemingly kills. As Maliss tries again to petrify Snow White, the seven Dwarfelles arrive and attack him as well, but fail to do so and become petrified by Maliss. The only one unharmed is Thunderella, who finally gains control of her powers and assists Snow White to defeat Maliss. The cloak is thrown on top of him and he is permanently petrified in mid-transition between his human and wyvern form.
As the sun shines onto the castle, the Dwarfelles are restored back to their normal selves. The Shadow Man wakes up and he turns out to be the Prince. The Prince reveals that Maliss had cast a spell on him and he has been watching over Snow White during her journey, guarding her with his life. Mother Nature decides to let the Dwarfelles keep their powers because they have finally proven themselves by working together as one, and she allows them to attend Snow White's wedding.
In the end, Mother Nature takes in Batso and Scowl to be trained as her new apprentices. Snow White and the Prince are reunited, as the two of them share a kiss, and begin to live happily ever after.
Cast
- Irene Cara as Snow White: the beautiful young princess who is now engaged to the Prince.
- Malcolm McDowell as Lord Maliss: a terrible and powerful wizard who seeks revenge for the death of his sister, the evil Queen by destroying his step niece, Snow White, and her prince.
- Phyllis Diller as Mother Nature: a ditsy embodiment of the forces of nature that gave the Seven Dwarfelles their powers.
- Michael Horton as the Prince: Snow White's handsome fiancé who is now being kidnapped by his fiancé’s step uncle, Lord Maliss.
- Dom DeLuise as the Looking Glass: a smart-alec mirror who had served the evil Queen and now does the bidding of Maliss and speaks in rhymes.
- Carol Channing as Muddy: a Dwarfelle who has power over the earth and the bossy leader of the Seven Dwarfelles.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor as Blossom: a Dwarfelle who has power over plants and flowers.
- Linda Gary as:
- Marina: a Dwarfelle who has power over all lakes and rivers.
- Critterina: a Dwarfelle who has power over animals.
- Jonathan Harris as the Sunflower: Mother Nature's rude assistant.
- Sally Kellerman as Sunburn: a Dwarfelle who has power over sunlight and a foul temper.
- Tracey Ullman as:
- Moonbeam: a Dwarfelle who has power over the night; according to Muddy, she is not herself during the daytime causing her to sleepwalk.
- Thunderella: a Dwarfelle who has power over the weather including thunder and lightning.
- Frank Welker as Batso: a timid bat who is Scowl's best friend.
- Welker also provides the uncredited vocal effects of Maliss' dragon form, the Shadow-Man and one-horned wolves.
- Ed Asner as Scowl: a sarcastic owl who enjoys smoking and tries to impress Maliss.
Songs
- "The Baddest" (music: Ashley Hall, lyrics: Stephanie Tyrell) - Ed Asner
- "Thunderella's Song" (music: Richard Kerr, lyrics: Tyrell) - Tracey Ullman
- "Mother Nature's Song" (music: Barry Mann, lyrics: Tyrell) - Phyllis Diller
- "Love is the Reason" (music and lyrics: John Lewis Parker) - Irene Cara
Video game
An unreleased Nintendo Entertainment System video game was planned in 1991. A Sega game was also considered in 1993. An eventual Super Nintendo Entertainment System version was developed by ASC Games and released by Imagitec Design four years later (and one year after the film's release) in 1994.
See also
In Spanish: Happily Ever After (película de 1990) para niños
