Kevin Lima’s Enchanted (2007) is simply a pitch-perfect celebration of everything audiences love about Walt Disney animated features. It is a smart parody, but it is a parody that is filled with love for its source material. It straddles an even line between mocking the tropes and the stereotypes and faithfully indulging in them. The film may be 17 years old, but with Disney continuing to follow its decades-long formula it is as if Enchanted‘s jokes are never going to date.

The film begins in the traditionally animated kingdom of Andalasia, where the beautiful Giselle (Amy Adams) lives in a woodland cottage and sings with the animals. When she meets the troll-hunting Prince Edward (James Marsden), it is love at first sight – a problem for the reigning Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon), who loses her throne should her son ever marry. In short order Giselle is banished to a live-action New York City, where she falls – quite literally – into the arms of cynical divorce lawyer Robert (Patrick Dempsey).

Enchanted‘s opening scenes are not quite the last appearance of traditionally animation in Disney’s theatrical features – it was followed by The Princess and the Frog in 2009 and Winnie the Pooh in 2011 – but it does capture the end of an era in the company’s history. It is vividly designed and animated, as one might expect from director Kevin Lima (Disney’s Tarzan). It captures the likenesses of the voice cast perfectly, and works to set up the conventions and behaviour of the animated characters before they are contrasted in live-action.

Once the action shifts to New York, Enchanted juggles eating its cake and having it too with aplomb. There is never any doubt that Giselle and Robert will fall in love, that Narissa will be defeated, and that everyone will enjoy a happy ending. The joy of the film is in watching Giselle’s interactions with Robert’s world, and gradually changing it into a happier place.

There are a few select set pieces that represent the film at its best, including a Central Park musical number and a singalong clean-up of Robert’s apartment starring New York’s resident wildlife. The weakest part is actually the film’s climax – always a tough nut to crack – which struggles to find enough dramatic energy in such a deliberately light and airy story. It likely contributes to Susan Sarandon feeling underused: so much time is spent exploiting the comic potential of Giselle and Edward that there isn’t much room remaining to mock the villain as well.

It is Adams and Marsden as Giselle and Edward that stand out the most. Both actors show off hugely bold, primary-coloured performances. They embrace the ridiculous nature of their characters, and perfectly sell the film’s basic conceit: cartoon characters in a contemporary society. The film’s other key actors are hardly challenged by their roles, but they perform them well, including Dempsey, Timothy Spall, and Idina Menzel (ironically a Tony-winning actor of musical theatre, playing a non-singing role in a musical). There is a nice touch among the smaller roles, in Lima’s casting of Disney veterans Paige O’Hara (Beauty and the Beast), Judy Kuhn (Pocahontas), and Jodi Benson (The Little Mermaid). Benson in particular is recognisable the moment she starts talking.

This is not a movie for everyone. Viewers with a dim view of the Walt Disney animated princess formula will likely not find the savage genre take-down that they would like to see. It is, for better of worse, a love letter more than a deconstruction. That said, Enchanted feels significant in terms of Disney animation. Its self-awareness, and willing self mockery, seemed to first appear in The Emperor’s New Groove, and becomes more forthright here. Subsequently there has been a light biting-of-the-hand seen across Disney’s suite of films including Zootopia, Wreck-It Ralph, and Tangled. They all seem better for it.