"True Love's Kiss" is a song from the Disney film '' Enchanted'' (2007), written and composed by

Stephen Schwartz Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as ''Godspell'' (1971), ''Pippin'' (1972), and ''Wicked'' (20 ...

and

Alan Menken Alan Irwin Menken (born July 22, 1949) is an American composer, best known for his scores and songs for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores and songs for ''The Little Mermaid'' (1989), ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1991), ''A ...

, and performed by

Amy Adams Amy Lou Adams (born August 20, 1974) is an American actress. Known for both her comedic and dramatic roles, she has been featured three times in annual rankings of the world's highest-paid actresses. She has received various accolades, incl ...

and

James Marsden James Paul Marsden (born September 18, 1973) is an American actor, singer, and former model. Marsden began his acting career guest starring in the television shows '' Saved by the Bell: The New Class'' (1993), '' Touched by an Angel'' (1995), ' ...

Production

"True Love's Kiss" is written as an homage to, and parody of, the

"I Want" song The "I Want" song (also called an "I Wish" song) is a popular type of song featured in musical theatre, and has become a particularly popular term through its use to describe a series of songs featured in Disney Renaissance films that had the main ...

s of early Disney princess films from the 1930s–1950s. Menken deemed it "the pivotal assignment ... because there were so many preconceptions with that number". It was a challenge to make it a satisfactory spoof of the songs from princess films, and it was hard to create a piece of music that satisfied Lima, Schwartz, and him. In creating this "Walt era reference", the songwriting duo thought about how the early princess movies were "musicalized"; Schwartz "tried to channel the classic Walt Disney sensibility and then just push it a little bit further in terms of choices of words or certain lyrics". The songwriters and director

Kevin Lima Kevin Rupert Lima (born June 12, 1962) is an American film director who has directed ''A Goofy Movie'' (1995), ''Tarzan'' (1999), '' 102 Dalmatians'' (2000), and '' Enchanted'' (2007). He is married to Brenda Chapman, the head of story for ''The L ...

originally struggled with how to create the "classic Walt" sound required for the send-up of

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

-era music – each person had a differing vision, and the music genre could not be settled on. Eventually, Lima was flown to Menken's New York studio where they worked on the song until the final piece of music was chosen. The eight-minute animated sequence sees the innocent girl Giselle sing about her desire for true love's kiss; a prayer that is answered by Prince Edward. The tune is "reminiscent of "I'm Wishing/One Song" and "

Someday My Prince Will Come "Someday My Prince Will Come" is a song from Walt Disney's 1937 animated movie ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs''. It was written by Larry Morey (lyrics) & Frank Churchill (music), and performed by Adriana Caselotti (Snow White's voice in the ...

". The song is intended to be a parody of the trope of the three oldest Disney princess movies: ''

Snow White "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as Ta ...

'', ''

'' and ''

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...

'', where the two protagonists meet, sing a song, then get married the following day. At the very end of

Carrie Underwood Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005. Her single "Inside Your Heaven" made her the only country artist to debut atop the ''Bill ...

's "

Ever Ever After "Ever Ever After" is a song by American singer Carrie Underwood, written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz for '' Enchanted ''(2007). The song, which was the last of several written for the film, appears as the fifth track o ...

" (the song sung during the credits), a line from the song is sampled.

Context

The song takes place during the animated portion at the very beginning of the film, where Giselle and Edward sing separately about love, bump into each other (after she is attacked by a troll), then sing about love together. The point of the song is to show that for both characters "the goal of True Love’s Kiss sa bit more important than actually being with a person they love."

Critical reception

''The Telegraph'' deemed it "pure parody – a sly dig at Disney's musty conventions", and added that the "wistful" number "belongs in a 19th-century operetta". ''Catholic News'' called it "an intentionally gooey duet", while ''SplashMagazine'' thought the song would earn a Best Original Song nomination at

the Oscars The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. ''FilmTracks'' liked Amy Adam's performance, but disliked the song's lack of memorability. ''MovieMusicUK'' described the "opening ditty" as "a sweeping prototypical Disney affair", and ''JewishJournal'' deemed it a "sweet opening".

References

{{Enchanted (film) Songs about kissing 2007 songs Male–female vocal duets Choral compositions Songs from Enchanted (film) Songs with music by Alan Menken Songs written by Stephen Schwartz (composer) Song recordings produced by Alan Menken