Of all the panels I attended at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, I had a pretty good feeling that 20 Years of Enchantment: A Love Letter to Disney was going to be one of my favorites. I’ve loved Enchanted since the first time I saw it, and anything that digs into the Disney details hidden throughout the movie is right up my alley, so attending this panel was a no-brainer.
What I wasn’t prepared for was just how much I had apparently missed in the actual film.
The panel featured Enchanted director Kevin Lima, with Nina West hosting, and one of the biggest parts of the presentation was a look at the nearly 200 Easter eggs intentionally worked into the film. I’ve watched Enchanted more times than I could possibly count, and there were a few references they pointed out that I had never noticed. Not once. Let’s take a look at some of my favorites and see which ones you spotted when you watched the movie!
And now, of course, I need to watch the entire movie again asap.
Every single one of those almost 200(!!!) Easter eggs was shown during the presentation. Seeing them pointed out one after another really drove home just how much Disney history is packed into this movie. Enchanted has always lovingly poked fun at the classic Disney fairy tale while simultaneously being one itself, but there is so much more happening in the background than I realized.
Then came the part I REALLY wasn’t expecting.
Amy Adams walked out.
I had a full-on fangirl moment. There is simply no pretending otherwise.
Amy Adams’ Giselle is such a huge part of why Enchanted works for me. She somehow made a character who could have easily become a parody feel completely sincere and lovable instead. Getting to see her there, at a panel celebrating a movie I’ve adored for years, was one of those D23 moments I’ll remember for a very long time. Here are more of the Easter eggs shared during the presentation.
The panel eventually turned into a huge audience sing-along, which somehow made it even better. Alan Menken joined in, along with Kevin Lima, Nina West, Judy Kuhn, and Disney Legends Paige O’Hara and Jodi Benson. Amy Adams was part of it too, and at that point I was basically in Disney fan heaven. I couldn’t capture the best image of them all because of where I was sitting, but it was the most amazing experience to be in the room with these incredibly talented people.
It was joyful and SO much fun.
D23 is completely packed with enormous announcements, first looks, celebrity appearances, merchandise, exhibits and more things happening at once than anyone could possibly see. But sometimes the thing you walk away remembering most isn’t one of the huge announcements.
For me, it was sitting in a room full of people who also love Enchanted, discovering details in a movie I thought I knew inside and out, and then suddenly realizing Giselle herself was standing right there.
Yeah. This one is going to be hard to top. Here are some more of my favorite Easter eggs.
