A Simple Wish [G]

When Anabel wishes for a fairy godmother, she gets more than she bargained for when a rookie fairy godmother named Murray attempts to make her wish come true, and ends up doing the complete opposite. Meanwhile an evil witch named Claudia has stolen all of the Manhattan fairy godmothers’ wands and with only Murray and his broken wand left, will Anabel get her wish? 

I remember seeing this film years and years and years ago in primary school and here I am, over twelve years later, watching it and reliving childhood memories. I guess it’s the truth universally acknowledged that things that were brilliant when you were a child, prove not to be so brilliant when you’re an adult. It’s sad but true. 

Anabel’s father is a struggling musical actor who spends his time driving sightseeing tourists around in a horse-drawn carriage. When he finally gets a callback for a part in a musical version of Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, Anabel wishes for a fairy godmother so that she could wish for her father to get the role. But she get’s more than she bargained for when a rookie male fairy godmother named Murray appears and turns her simple wish into a complicated nightmare. After accidentally turning her dad into a statue, his carriage into a pumpkin, and his horse into a mouse, Anabel and Murray go to the fairy godmother headquarters for help, but are shocked to discover that all the fairy godmothers of Manhattan have had their wands stolen by an evil witch named Claudia. With all the wands gone, and only Murray with his broken wand left, can the spell be lifted and Anabel’s wish granted in time? 

A Simple Wish is a cute little film, good for the younglings really. It’s a fun story with quite a few elements of Cinderella thrown in, and cute and funny performances from Mara Wilson, Martin Short, Robert Pastorelli, Amanda Plummer, and Kathleen Turner.  Filled with magic spells, slapstick comedy, fairy godmothers, rain-drenched frogs, and magic mirrors, A Simple Wish is a fun little family movie. I’m not so keen to add it to my collection, but it was a fun and light-hearted little flick. Good to watch if you don’t want to think about anything.