Happily Never After
I recently watched a move called "Happily Never After" Yes that's right. NEVER after.
You see, the title ties into the movie's internal logic. The story takes place in aKingdom called "Fairy Tale Land". In this place, all the fairy tales you know and love: Cindrella, Snow White, Frog Prince, Little Red Ridding Hood, etc happen over and over again. They always end the same way, that is, the traditional happy ending.
THis is because there is a place the narrator calls 'Fairy Tale Land's Homeland Security' It's a tower in the castle l where three people live: The Wizard(who is never named) and his two assistants, Munk and Mumbo. These three watch over the Scales of Good and Evil. As long as these Scales stay balanced, Endings stay happy.
However, the endings are only happy for the main charactere of each story. Cinderlla, for instance, always marries the prince, she always gets her happy ending. The Scales exclude everyone else, like Rick, the prince's servant. He likes Ella but she's obbessed with the prince.
Anyway, the Wicked Step mother, Frieda, discovers the Scales just after The Wizard goes on vacation. She steals the Wizard's staff, tips the Scales toward Evil and takes over. Most of the movie is about Ella, Munk and Mumbo searching for The Prince because they are convinced only he can save the day. After all, he's the prince. The prince always saves the day. But the prince is idiot. In fact, he bases all his decisions on his 'how to be a prince' handbook. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but with the Scales tipped toward Evil, he is no longer protected by Fate and is quickly captured.
So, Rick the Servant teams up with Ella and the bumbling assiastants to save the day on their own merit.
This time, Ella marries a dishwasher instead of a prince and they open a resturant together. The Prince, on the other hand, throws away his book and goes on a journey.
The point of reworked fairy tale, as I saw it, was every one can write their own stories. You don't need a script to find a happy ending.