piranha6612 Personally, I find this Disney version of Once Upon a Mattress extremely disappointing. It is drastically different from the stage version, even up to the point of completely eliminating one of the supporting leads (the Minstrel) from the movie. The actors and actresses playing the leads fell a little flat and most of the choreography was not as strong as it could have been.The change that I find most disturbing is the elimination of the Minstrel. In the stage version, the Minstrel is one of my favorite characters because of his great one-liners. In this movie, those are completely gone and so are all of the Minstrel's songs. "Many Moons Ago", which the Minstrel sings to open the show and introduce the story in the stage version, is cut down to a single verse at the beginning of the movie and "Normandy", while still present in the movie version, is sung by Harry and Larken instead of the Minstrel, the Jester, and Larken. The Minstrel's other song (The Minstrel, the Jester, and I), sung by the Minstrel and the Jester, with the King pantomiming many of the words, is also completely cut. I find these changes disturbing because they completely change the tone of the show.I was also very disappointed in Carol Burnett and Zooey Deschanel. The other leads I thought were acceptable, but Burnett and Deschanel fell flat for me. Burnett was an amazing Winnifred in the original production, but her rendition of Queen Aggravain was too muted and not nearly as dominant as the Queen should be played. As for Deschanel, it is my opinion that she was chosen for the role based more on her name and face than on her singing and acting. The normal high, sweet soprano voice of Lady Larken is brought down several tones to suit Deschanel's voice and it does not suit the character as well.

Fullhousefrk3566 all the people who have seen this movie thought Zooey Deschanel who plays Lady Larken was terrible but i thought she was OK She sings in a cabaret called "If all stars were pretty babies" so she has a jazz type of voice so people lay off the rude remarks! But MATTHEW MORRISON WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he is so gorgeous! and Denis o'hare disgusted me on how he acts like a little kid and even how he sings is like hearing nails on a chalkboard! Tracey Ullman was better than expected but she doesn't knock your socks off and carol Burnett is never bad! she always does a amazing job! and Micheal boatman who plays the Jester is hilarious! I give this movie one thumb up but its worth watching!

carol3135 As a fan of the musical, I was terribly disappointed at the Disneyfied TV version. First off, it appeared to me that it was simply a vehicle for Carol Burnett. Her costumes far outshone all others, her acting was way over the top, her singing (which was never good to begin with) was worse than usual, and to add insult to injury, they deleted better songs and added a new one for La Burnett.Tracey Ullman was far too old for Winnifred, Dennis O'Hare was far too fey for Dauntless, the girl who played Larkin was so boring that I can't even remember her name. Each time she and Matthew Morrison came on screen, I fast forwarded.As someone who would like to see more musicals shown on television, I thought this was a poor example. Boring, Boring, Boring.They should have shown this to Winnifred ... it would have knocked her right out!

bekayess Don't know what "innocent" version of ONCE UPON A MATTRESS you saw in your youth, but this version is even more sanitized than the Broadway show or either of the 2 TV versions.Your problem with "Pre-marital sex": Larken and Harry in the B'way show and 1972 TV version were not married. In the 1964 TV version, they were secretly married to appease the censors."Emphasis on the wedding night sex": the "Man To Man Talk" song between the King and Dauntless also was in the B'way show, and the 1972 TV version."Latent homosexuality": Not a part of the B'way show nor the TV versions, but, hey, what planet are you living on? "Will and Grace" airs in the so-called "family hour" on NBC. And Gay people have always been a part of the entertainment industry. Carol Burnett, on her classic TV variety show, often brought on guest stars who were suspected by the general public to be "known-homosexuals." (I can recall my rather naive mother telling me more than 35 years ago that Rock Hudson was gay.) Carol brought stars like Rock, Jim Nabors, Roddy McDowall, Nancy Walker, and many others onto her show. Carol was and is, in many ways, and honorary "friend of Dorothy." And don't let's talk about Bob Mackie. . .perhaps the greatest costumer designer ever!!!I'm surprised you didn't mention the quasi-incestuous relationship between Agravain and Dauntless, something glossed over in this PC/2005 conservative version. In the original play and 1964 and 1972 TV version the Queen--after manhandling and promising Dauntless that she knows best--actually says (in an aside to the audience) "Oh, God, if I were only 20 years younger." (MY ASIDE: I once saw a production of BRIGADOON at a Christian High School where the 2nd act nightclub scene was changed to a COFFEE SHOP!!! My, how the times have regressed from enlightenment to close-mindedness.BTW--I did like this version, but the earlier versions were better.