# Godmothered
**Godmothered** is a 2020 American fantasy comedy film released as a Disney+ Original Movie, directed by Sharon Maguire and starring [Jillian Bell](https://www.edgepedia.org/jillian-bell) as Eleanor, an untrained fairy godmother-in-training who travels to Boston to prove that people still need fairy godmothers.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/godmothered) Set at Christmas time, it follows Eleanor as she answers a letter written years earlier by a 10-year-old girl, only to find that the writer, Mackenzie ([Isla Fisher](https://www.edgepedia.org/isla-fisher)), is now a 40-year-old widowed single mother of two who has given up on the idea of "happily ever after."[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/godmothered)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | Disney+ Original Movie, December 4, 2020; no theatrical release[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/godmothered) |
| Director | Sharon Maguire, previously director of *Bridget Jones's Diary* and *Bridget Jones's Baby*[2](https://d23.com/how-disney-movie-magic-was-made-in-godmothered/) |
| Writers | Kari Granlund and Melissa Stack (story and screenplay)[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Godmothered) |
| Lead cast | Jillian Bell (Eleanor), Isla Fisher (Mackenzie), Jane Curtin (Moira), June Squibb (Agnes), Santiago Cabrera (Hugh)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/godmothered) |
| Format | Live action, 1 hour 50 minutes, rated PG for some suggestive comments[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/godmothered) • [3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Godmothered) |
| Music | Score by Rachel Portman; Walt Disney Records released a 29-track album on December 4, 2020[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Godmothered) • [4](https://cineclaus.com/films/film-godmothered) |
| Reception | 68% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (73 reviews); 57% audience Popcornmeter; Metascore 49[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/godmothered) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/godmothered/critic-reviews/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
Eleanor is a young, inexperienced fairy godmother-in-training at a school in a fairy-tale world where the profession is facing extinction.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/godmothered) Finding a mislaid letter from a 10-year-old girl in distress, she tracks the writer to present-day Boston and discovers Mackenzie, now a single mother of two young daughters working at a television news station.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/godmothered) Having lost her husband several years earlier, Mackenzie has all but abandoned the storybook idea of happily ever after, and Eleanor sets out to give her a "happiness makeover" whether she wants one or not.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/godmothered)
The premise deliberately uses the stock furniture of Disney fairy tales, including magic, wands, fairy godmothers, woodland creatures, princes, and ball gowns, while subverting it for comedy.[6](https://news.disney.com/godmothered-director-qa) Because Eleanor is untrained, none of her spells go according to plan, and the film's message is that happily ever after is delivered in a very different way than in previous Disney movies.[6](https://news.disney.com/godmothered-director-qa) Writer Kari Granlund's starting point was her love for "the little old ladies who are just these master magicians" who appear in fairy tales.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-12-05/disney-godmothered-inclusive-fairy-tale)
## Production
**Casting and development.** Disney announced the project in January 2020 with Jillian Bell and Isla Fisher set to star and Sharon Maguire, the director of *Bridget Jones's Diary*, attached to direct.[8](https://www.thewrap.com/jillian-bell-and-isla-fisher-to-star-in-fairy-godmother-comedy-for-disney/) Maguire said she was sent the script about a year and a half before release and was drawn to the chance to work with Disney while playing with the studio's own legacy.[9](https://www.laughingplace.com/w/articles/2020/12/07/sharon-maguire-godmothered-interview/) The film was originally developed as a theatrical release for the 2020 holiday window, but Disney had already announced it as an original Disney+ title prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10](https://saturation.io/budgets/godmothered-2020) • [17](https://press.disneyplus.com/news/godmothered-starts-production)
**Pandemic disruption.** Production was forced to shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic before shooting was complete.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-12-05/disney-godmothered-inclusive-fairy-tale) The unfinished material was resolved with animation: in the summer of 2020, with its building closed and staff working remotely, the London studio Studio AKA was commissioned by Disney to create 7 minutes of feature-quality 2D animation to complement the existing live-action shots.[11](https://studioaka.co.uk/godmothered/) Art director Gergely Wootsch and production designer Dermot Flynn reimagined the live-action world as a stylized animated environment rooted in storybook illustration, with nods to Disney classics such as *101 Dalmatians*.[11](https://studioaka.co.uk/godmothered/) Maguire, who had never previously worked in animation, described the sequence as Eleanor finally getting her wish to be in a fairy tale.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-12-05/disney-godmothered-inclusive-fairy-tale)
**The pink gown.** Eleanor's signature dress was built with a boned corset and many layers of crepeline, a loose-weave fabric of the kind worn in Gothic times, dyed in period manner with rose petals so that it faded unevenly.[2](https://d23.com/how-disney-movie-magic-was-made-in-godmothered/) Maguire said the gown took a long time to get right so that it suited both the period and Bell, who wore it while filming in a pumpkin patch in minus-five degrees.[2](https://d23.com/how-disney-movie-magic-was-made-in-godmothered/)
## Themes and the ending
The film's closing animated sequence shows a new class of young fairy godmothers-in-training and includes a nonbinary child among them, a detail Bell called "huge and very inclusive," adding that the young trainee can also be seen as a boy.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-12-05/disney-godmothered-inclusive-fairy-tale) Co-writer Melissa Stack described the film's message as helping people see that they are already enough rather than changing them, so that "it becomes a lot easier to find your own fairy tale."[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-12-05/disney-godmothered-inclusive-fairy-tale)
Reviewers frequently compared the film to *Enchanted*, Disney's 2007 revisionist fairy tale, which likewise drops a naive storybook character into a large East Coast city; in *Godmothered* the animal sidekick role is filled by a raccoon named Gary.[12](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/dec/02/godmothered-review-disney-remixes-enchanted-minus-the-charm) Maguire herself acknowledged the comparison in interviews.[13](https://www.etonline.com/godmothered-bridget-jones-director-sharon-maguire-interview-157201)
## Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 68% Tomatometer score from 73 reviews, with an audience Popcornmeter score of 57%.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/godmothered) Its critics consensus reads, "More bippity boppity than boo, *Godmothered* tweaks fairytale conventions with just enough self-aware humor to overcome a disappointing deficit of genuine magic."[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/godmothered) On Metacritic it scored 49, in the site's "mixed or average" band, with 5 positive, 7 mixed, and 0 negative reviews among the 12 counted.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/godmothered/critic-reviews/)
Critics singled out the leads and the ending. Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com praised "the cuteness of *Godmothered*" and its playful humor and good heart.[14](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/godmothered-movie-review-2020) Several reviews, including those at TheWrap and [The A.V. Club](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-a-v-club), judged the ending emotionally satisfying enough to offset familiar plotting earlier in the film.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/godmothered/critic-reviews/) Common Sense Media found that the closing-act tribute to broader ideas of true love and happily ever after was not fully backed up by an otherwise traditional storyline, though it called Bell's central performance charming.[15](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/godmothered) The film received one win and two nominations in awards listings compiled by IMDbPro.[16](https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt11681250/)
## References
1. [Godmothered, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/godmothered)
2. [Director Sharon Maguire Reveals How Disney Movie Magic Was Made in Godmothered, D23](https://d23.com/how-disney-movie-magic-was-made-in-godmothered/)
3. [Godmothered (2020), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Godmothered)
4. [Godmothered (2020): story, verdict and family, CineClaus](https://cineclaus.com/films/film-godmothered)
5. [Godmothered critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/godmothered/critic-reviews/)
6. [Director Sharon Maguire Reveals the Magic Behind Godmothered, Disney News](https://news.disney.com/godmothered-director-qa)
7. ['Godmothered' on Disney+ and inclusive happily ever afters, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2020-12-05/disney-godmothered-inclusive-fairy-tale)
8. [Jillian Bell and Isla Fisher to Star in Fairy Godmother Comedy for Disney+, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/jillian-bell-and-isla-fisher-to-star-in-fairy-godmother-comedy-for-disney/)
9. ["Bridget Jones' Diary" Director Talks About "Godmothered," Her First Disney Film, Laughing Place](https://www.laughingplace.com/w/articles/2020/12/07/sharon-maguire-godmothered-interview/)
10. [Godmothered (2020) Budget & Box Office, Saturation](https://saturation.io/budgets/godmothered-2020)
11. [Godmothered, Studio AKA](https://studioaka.co.uk/godmothered/)
12. [Godmothered review – Disney remixes Enchanted … minus the charm, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/dec/02/godmothered-review-disney-remixes-enchanted-minus-the-charm)
13. [Director Sharon Maguire Talks 'Godmothered' and Another 'Bridget Jones' Sequel, Entertainment Tonight](https://www.etonline.com/godmothered-bridget-jones-director-sharon-maguire-interview-157201)
14. [Godmothered movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/godmothered-movie-review-2020)
15. [Godmothered Parents' Guide & Movie Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/godmothered)
16. [Godmothered, IMDbPro](https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt11681250/)
17. ["Godmothered" Starts Production](https://press.disneyplus.com/news/godmothered-starts-production)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Adaptations of literature, stage, and other media › Films based on fairy tales, myths, and legends › Fairy tale adaptations*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license