Happily N'ever After (2006)

4% of critics liked it
(80 reviews)
43% of users liked it
(240,421 ratings)

Cinderella's wicked stepmother has tipped the balance of power toward the dark side in Fairy Tale Land, and now it's up to the put-upon princess to restore order and ensure that good triumphs in an animated adventure featuring the voices of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., Sigourney… More Cinderella's wicked stepmother has tipped the balance of power toward the dark side in Fairy Tale Land, and now it's up to the put-upon princess to restore order and ensure that good triumphs in an animated adventure featuring the voices of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., Sigourney Weaver, and George Carlin. For years, the Wise Wizard has worked hard to ensure that the scales of good and evil were always well-balanced, but as with any hard worker the Wise Wizard needs a relaxing vacation every once in a while. When the Wise Wizard goes on holiday, his faithful assistants Munk and Mambo make the crucial mistake of allowing Cinderella's wicked stepmother, Frieda, come into possession of their master's magical staff. With time fast running out before Frieda casts a shadow of darkness and sorrow over Fairy Tale Land, Cinderella must now awaken from her romantic dreams to take on her fearsome stepmother with a little help from her best friend, Rick, and a virtual army of heroic dwarves and fairies. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 27 min.
Directed By: Paul J. Bolger
Written By: Rob Moreland
Genres: Animation, Kids & Family, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy

In Theaters: Dec 16, 2006 Wide
On DVD: May 1, 2007
Studio: Lionsgate

Critic Reviews

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
N'ever was an apostrophe so misplaced, n'ever was the prospect of good cheer so perversely defeated.
Susan Walker, Toronto Star
'As Grimm as it gets,' says the promotional tag for Happily N'Ever After. Make that grim.
Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle
The movie's animators have been quoted saying they sought to give it a classic look. Cheesy would be more accurate.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
Happily N'Ever After is proof-positive that Europeans may have us beaten in soccer, wine and luxury cars, but they still can't make a decent 3-D cartoon.
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger
[An] unfunny, trying-to-be-hip fairytale, with ugly CGI animation, a few bad songs, and Andy Dick and Patrick Warburton doing some of voices.
Lou Lumenick, New York Post
'I hate to tell you, but it gets worse,' one character promises midway through Happily N'Ever After. No kidding.
Rose Longhurst, Film4
Despite attempts to turn the fairytale genre on its head, the characters are predictable stereotypes.
Ann Kelly, BBC
Clunkingly obvious.
, Total Film
Happily N'Ever After finally arrives, looking like a cheapo knock-off of DreamWorks' ogre.
Simon Braund, Empire Magazine
Shrek this ain't. A lacklustre effort hampered by limp dialogue and lazy plotting.
David Fear, Time Out
The computerised animation is cut-rate; the script keeps piling on clunker jokes that even toddlers will find lame; and Prinze proves he isn't any better an actor in two dimensions than he is in three.
Bill Gibron, DVD Verdict
Happily N'Ever After is not a bad movie; it's just a soulless and lifeless one.
Eric D. Snider, EricDSnider.com
Deeply lame.
Brian Tallerico, UGO
If you're old enough to read this sentence, you should probably go see something else.
Sean McBride, Sean the Movie Guy
...lives up to the promise of it's title
Frank Lovece, Film Journal International
It ain't Shrek, but it ain't dreck.
Kamal 'The Diva' Larsuel, 3BlackChicks Review
I'll happily never watch it again..
David Fear, Time Out New York
You expect a certain amount of sugar and snark in a modern children's film, but this tossed-off retelling reeks of folks just out to make a cheap buck.

Read all 18 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Brad W

I hate this movie with a passion, truly god awful and stupid, its a terrible film, I will never watch it again.
Michael E

it was a brilliant spoof of the fairy tale stories and i dont care if everyone trolls me and thumbs my review down its my own opinion
Richard C

D
Bently L

Happily N'Ever After is a movie that re-defines the word, "suck", for eighty minutes. I watched this movie on DVD (so glad I didn't waste money to see this in the theater) and by the first quote was muttered, I knew this was going to suck. Like how The Wild… More
Happily N'Ever After is a movie that re-defines the word, "suck", for eighty minutes. I watched this movie on DVD (so glad I didn't waste money to see this in the theater) and by the first quote was muttered, I knew this was going to suck. Like how The Wild made Madagascar look bad, Happily N'Ever After makes Shrek look bad. EXTREMELY BAD!! I don't know how this happened but a few weeks ago, I felt like watching it again. But then the DVD was severely scratched. SO HAPPY! The movie offers no heart and the humor is so dry and bad. Even the voice acting is bad! This marks as the worst animated film I ever saw. If you have nothing to do on a boring day, watch paint dry instead of watching this.
Luke B

A recycled and uninteresting plot which lays the groundwork for the worst comedy I've ever seen. The animation is bland and looks very cheap. The animation wouldn't be so bad if the writing was good but alas it isn't meant to be. The B star cast pimp out their vocal… More
A recycled and uninteresting plot which lays the groundwork for the worst comedy I've ever seen. The animation is bland and looks very cheap. The animation wouldn't be so bad if the writing was good but alas it isn't meant to be. The B star cast pimp out their vocal talents for some safe cash but put know effort into convinving us of these boring and unlikeable characters. God knows what's up with the shiteriffic soundtrack either. If you see this film walking around, just kick it in the nuts.
Jose Z

it follows the same formula of Shrek, but I didn't feel the same impact. the story isn't very original and the plot is a little weak and so predictable from the very first minute when you realize that Rick is in love of Cinderella. The cast of voices is good and the… More
it follows the same formula of Shrek, but I didn't feel the same impact. the story isn't very original and the plot is a little weak and so predictable from the very first minute when you realize that Rick is in love of Cinderella. The cast of voices is good and the animation is good also, these two things maye the best of the movie.
Bradley W

I hate this movie with a passion, truly god awful and stupid, its a terrible film, I will never watch it again.
Bradley J

To be honest I was excited to see this movie but it failed to bring much laughs or wittiness. Not horrible though. Overall Rating:46
Dannielle A

Now I remember why I initially didn't want to see it... it's simply another Shrek wannabe... that is cheesy and predictable and not even that entertaining. It's just average though, not terrible.
Deb S

Sarah Michelle Gellar lends her voice to Cinderella/ Ella, who is smitten by the clueless Prince (Patrick Warburton). The new take on this fairytale is narrated by the cute palace dishwasher Rick (Freddie Prinze Jr.) who is secretly in love with Ella. He tries in vain to show Ella… More
Sarah Michelle Gellar lends her voice to Cinderella/ Ella, who is smitten by the clueless Prince (Patrick Warburton). The new take on this fairytale is narrated by the cute palace dishwasher Rick (Freddie Prinze Jr.) who is secretly in love with Ella. He tries in vain to show Ella that the Prince isn't all he's cut out to be while trying to save Fairytale Kingdom from the wicked but well endowed stepmother (Sigourney Weaver) who wears a low-cut, form-fitting dress that had a slit all the way up the a**. (Dang! She did look hot!) Frieda manages to get a hold of a wizard's magical staff (who was on a golf vacation in Scotland! After all every wise Wizard needs a relaxing vacation every once in a while) which allows her to upset the balance of good and evil and banishes his faithful assistants, Mambo and Munk (Andy Dick and Wallace Shawn). Suddenly, the whole magic kingdom is thrown into disarray as she rounds up the kingdom's villains and attempts to rewrite everyone's stories, so that her two homely daughters can woo the handsome Prince who`s an idiot. It's now up to Rick to save the day and rescue Ella, even though she has little faith in his abilities - after all, he's just a lowly dishwasher.
Yinalí R

The try of making a different movie which is kind of low-quality. But I think it didn't make the impression the director tried. But still, it's entertaining.
William G

Nigh unwatchable.
R?o?d?r?i?g?o? R

Nothing funny, a bit boring .... just bad.
Marion R

I felt sorry for all the animators who spent time on the film. They had a general not so great idea which then was not executed well. Even if I was a kid I could not see myself enjoying this film.
Leina R

The movie not only suffers from being a cheap Shrek knockoff but also, i'ts not really that entertaining. And Sarah Michelle Geller and Freddie Prinze Jr. as the main characters? Really?!?!?
Chad R

Poor mans Shrek
paganchild1979 p

Enjoyed every second of it!
*Kimberly *

Another movie that twists on classic fairytales. really similar to Shrek and the third Cinderella, but still, pretty cute.
Leo L

I'm not an avid animated film viewer! BUT, I LOVED THIS ONE.
Robert F

I took my 9 year old cousin to see this, and to be quite honest, neither of us had high hopes. I was seeing it because of Sarah Michelle Gellar. She was seeing it because it was either that or Hot Fuzz. While the graphics were fun and colourful, this didn't reflect on the movie… More
I took my 9 year old cousin to see this, and to be quite honest, neither of us had high hopes. I was seeing it because of Sarah Michelle Gellar. She was seeing it because it was either that or Hot Fuzz. While the graphics were fun and colourful, this didn't reflect on the movie as a whole - it was lackluster. I also thought the mouth movements were pretty crappy too.