“Once Upon a Mattress:” Movie Highlight:
A silent king. A babied prince. An over-the-top queen. The most exhausting dance imaginable. Looking like you ate too many tarts from a knight you love. And a pea being the bane of your night.
Yes, indeed. The Princess and the Pea, a fairy tale splendor originally written by the charming talent, Hans Christain Anderson, is here in musical format as a colorful, engaging, humorous, and wonderfully feminist show that will cast a spell.
What a treat for a story that often gets shoved under…well, the mattress.
The original Broadway production was first performed in its witty greatness on November 25th, 1959, starring the legendary Carol Burnet as the oddball, lovable Princess Winnifred AKA Fred, who we all love. She won a World Theater award for this role in 1960. After 200+ shows in less than a year, it moved theaters, but the legacy went on. A revival was created in 1996 and once again in 2024.
When a musical has any bout of popularity or amazingness, it makes sense a movie version should eventually follow. Although it took over 45+ years, it happened through ABC (owned by Disney.) It was part of The Wonderful World of Disney series (like Brandy’s Cinderella, my favorite, in 1997,) and was their last original T.V. film in this segment.
The film is a love letter also to the original Broadway play’s mark for Mrs. Carol Burnet herself, instead of portraying the protagonist, Princess Fred, this time around, gets to waltz into the glittery, gaudy gowns of the antagonist, The Queen! What a chef’s kiss full circle for a performer and their beloved show!
The adaptation of this tale has an opening that makes you immediately feel for the prince and kingdom: Prince Dauntless (feel sorry for this kid right there…good grief, that name,) is the only child of the king and queen. The king is mute, cursed until ‘the mouse swallows the hawk,’ whatever that means, right? The queen is in charge and is the definition of a helicopter parent, babying her adult son to a comedic level. In a fictional world at least. Between not wanting to lose her power or proclaiming no princess is good enough for her son, the queen and her minion make these crazy tests that look fair, but will make the princess fail and seem a fool. It looks like Dauntless will never wed, even when his good friend and knight, Harry, rides off to the farthest reaches of the kingdom to try to find another princess.
This is all a problem not only for Dauntless but also for the people because the queen has declared until “the prince shares his wedding bed, no one in the kingdom shall wed.” Whoa. Pressure.
Lady Larkin, the love of Sir Henry’s life, also finds out she has a bun in the oven and if they cannot marry before she shows, she will be forced to leave the castle.
DRAMA! And some interesting topics for a made-for-TV Disney family friend movie.
Time is of the essence and after a couple of months, luck shines down on our seeking for love prince…or I should say, swims the moat and scales the castle walls to get there.
Princess Winnifred of the Swamp Kingdom is not like any other lady you’ll ever meet. Not afraid to get dirty or snort, not shy at all (although her opening song literally says she is the whole time, ha. Brilliant irony.) She is excitable, adorably awkward, and claims it, to strong, a great singer, dancer, and drinker (which we learn about in another song.) Not scared to wrestle down men. But she is also kind and willing to try anything even if she is afraid. Tracy Ullman (I recall her from “Robin Hood: Men in Tights,” so she is fantastic with campy fantasy roles) deserves the crown for her performances! I can picture what a symbol this character was for women with the original Broadway production in 1959 too!
The rest of the story…I will not spoil it, but it is humorous, charming, and goofy.
Why do I like this film so much?
The backdrops for this are stunning. They kept the charming storybook-inspired hues and prop-like designs. The towers look like well-painted cardboard that can be turned for amazing dance numbers. The queen’s room reminds me of a pretty painted pop-up book that a sweet child would want to jump into. The shades of golds used too…it screams fun time. The production team made it look like you were watching the Broadway play on TV (without the live set changes, curtain draws, or bloopers.) Does it make it look campy? A bit, but it fits the quirky pace and telling of this show.
Now I have to gush about the costumes! They are close to the vibrant epicness of Cinderella, but I absolutely love how over-the-top fairy tale medieval they are. The Queen is dripping in jewels to the point you can see Madame Burnet struggles to walk, but gosh does she own it! The puffy sleeves on the King and Prince add to their entertaining personas. Fred kills it in her gowns that fit her oddball traits and her swamp kingdom origins, always herself, and fabulous while doing it. Lady Larken and her knight have genetic outfits, but their duets make up for it. And the jester is wrapped in sunshine colors that burn your eyes, but brighten your soul, more flamboyant than even the most colorful jester you can imagine. His matching mini-me on a stick is the icing on the costume department’s cake!
For me personally, other than the whimsical story, the songs are where this movie shines. I mentioned “Shy” and “I’m in Love with a Girl (Named Fred)” earlier. Almost everyone has a song or at least a musical role to contribute, even the ingenious diddy where the mute King has to hand-sign his vocal roles to his eager-to-learn son about what happens on your wedding night. There even is an original song written for Carol Burnet as queen, “Baby of Mine.” The legend I believe of this is “The Spanish Panic,” a fast-paced dance number with so much life, moving parts, and wit. It’s a real earworm. I also love how in the stage productions (I saw one at my college,) they added modern songs mixed in, like “Time Warp” and “Thriller.” It is a riot.
This production in any form is a fairy tale from a quirky child’s imagination with sweeping music, humorous wit, and memorable characters, allowing you to escape on a roller coaster romance with Princess Fred, Prince Dauntless, and their colorful cast of legends.
