"Enchanted" *** (out of four): Simple, relentlessly charming fairytale conjures some old-fashioned Mouse House magic – and a star-making turn from Amy Adams.

The opening sequence of Disney’s “Enchanted” is a typical piece of Mouse House fluff. The fair maiden Gisele (voiced by Amy Adams) sings a song about finding “true love’s kiss”, calling upon her animal friends to help construct a mannequin of her dream prince. It’s classic, kid’s-movie hokum, animated in the throw-back, hand-drawn style of “Snow White”, "The Little Mermaid" or, more recently, straight-to-DVD-animated-sequels. But something feels different about the scene. The onscreen characters, as they go through their cutesy jumping about, seem oddly self-aware - as though they realize “you just can’t make ‘em like this anymore.” And the old school animation has a soothing quality – like a balm for the rampant CGI of our time. Of course, Gisele’s animated world isn't all dwarves and singing chipmunks. There's the obligatory wicked Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon, having a blast) bent on keeping Gisele from marrying Prince Edward (James Marsden, amazingly playing this part for the first time) and stealing her crown. In order to keep the two love birds apart, Narissa casts Gisele into a strange, mysterious world full of all manner of wondrous creatures: New York City.

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