The character first appears in Enchanted as a cheerful maiden from the animated kingdom of Andalasia, whose plans to marry its prince are threatened when an evil queen banishes her to New York City.

Created by screenwriter Bill Kelly and director Kevin Lima, Giselle is both a parody of and homage to classic Disney princess characters, specifically borrowing inspiration from Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, and Ariel.

Although Lima had always wanted to cast an unknown performer as Giselle, Disney executives were initially hesitant to hire Adams due to her relative obscurity at the time.

Adams was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, and the role is credited with establishing her as a leading lady in Hollywood.

[6] Disoriented and homeless in an unfamiliar environment, Giselle meets Robert (Patrick Dempsey), a disillusioned divorce lawyer and single father to Morgan (Rachel Covey).

Their moment is interrupted by Narissa who, disguised as an old woman, offers Giselle a magic apple promising that it will erase all memories of her time in New York so she can move on with Edward.

In the end, Giselle chooses to stay in New York with Robert and Morgan, and launches her own princess-themed clothing line called "Andalasia Fashions",[16][17] while Edward returns to Andalasia with Nancy, where they marry each other In the sequel Disenchanted, set 10 years later,[18] Giselle moves with Robert, her now-teenage stepdaughter Morgan (Gabriella Baldacchino), and their newborn daughter, Sophia, to the seemingly idyllic suburban town of Monroeville.

[19][20] Giselle hopes to achieve a more ideal life than what she has been experiencing in New York City since marrying Robert, but still struggles to adapt to her new environment,[21] finding herself at odds with Morgan and the town's "queen bee", Malvina Monroe (Maya Rudolph).

[26] Short said the hardest part of developing Giselle as a character was establishing a balance between her comedic antics and relatability, without simply making her a "fool" or evolving her at the expense of her happy personality.

[30] Similarly, Short credits Lima with establishing the proper tone for Giselle's evolution, without resorting to simply making fun of Disney's princess culture.

[44] However, Lima was immediately impressed by her audition, believing she looked like a Disney princess,[49] and described her as the only auditionee capable of inhabiting the role sincerely without mocking the character.

[55] She envisioned Giselle as a strong character despite her sweet nature, explaining that her innocence stems from inexperience as opposed to weakness,[33] and strove to preserve her kindness as she becomes more worldly and mature.

[57] She did not intentionally study Disney films to prepare for the role because she had watched them constantly growing up,[58] and wanted to avoid imitating any specific princess in favor of creating her own.

[33][53][55][57] May designed the gown based on Lima's instructions to deliver a distinct contrast to the film's hand-drawn scenes, sewing several layers of petticoats into the dress to make it appear as large as possible.

[62] Giselle's transformation into a modern woman and decision to remain human towards the film's climax culminates in a form-fitting gray-lavender evening gown devoid of "poofiness and silliness",[62][65] the design of which May intentionally kept secret from the audience.

[66] She designed the gown to appear as though she could have purchased it from a department store, and based it on dresses worn by actress Ginger Rogers during the 1930s and concept art of different Disney princesses.

[67] Character designer Harald Siepermann drew direct inspiration from the work of artists Alphonse Mucha and Maxfield Parrish for elements such as Giselle's hair,[67] which was drawn to resemble ocean waves.

[74] Adams wanted to continue the character 10 years removed from where she evolved by the end of Enchanted, without compromising the "joy, naïveté, innocence and purity that makes Giselle so special".

[76] The film's costumes were designed by Joan Bergin, who said Giselle's wardrobe morphs from "day clothes" that "have a little edge all the time", to "spectacular" once she adopts a split personality in her villainous form.

[83][84][85][86] Comparing her comedic timing to actresses Judy Holliday and Goldie Hawn, The Daily Telegraph's David Gritten noted Adams boasts the potential to become "a great screen comedienne ...

[59] Tricia Olszewski of the Washington City Paper compared her performance to her work in Junebug (2005), saying she "once again does an excellent job portraying a young woman whose smarts peep through her gee-gollyness".

[14] Several critics positively likened her performance to the work of Julie Andrews,[88][83][89][90] with Matt Brunson of Creative Loafing describing her as "practically perfect in every way",[91][note 3] and Peter Howell of the Toronto Star calling her "a most worthy successor".

[98] Both Kit Bowen of Hollywood.com and Phil Villarreal of the Arizona Daily Star agreed that Adams does her best work when her character starts evolving to become more human, believing the performance could potentially earn her a second Academy Award nomination.

[2][133][134][135][130] The company continued selling Giselle dolls and dresses that had already been manufactured,[17][136] but only advertised the animated version of the character in their tie-in products,[130] such as the Enchanted video game.

[143] In November 2007, May reported to California Apparel News that the character was expected to appear at Disneyland and Walt Disney World wearing a version of the wedding dress she had designed for the film.

[31] Siede wrote that Giselle’s positive influence on Robert and other Enchanted characters delivers a strong argument for appreciating the value of even the most archetypal Disney princesses.

[80] Olly Richards of Empire noted that Giselle delivered "a kick up the bustled butt and a good shot of cynicism" to Disney's roster of earnest heroines, prior to which the studio rarely made jokes at their own expense.

[13] Ellen Walker of Polygon said Disney's satirical yet loving treatment of Giselle greatly influenced how they would use comedy in subsequent films and compete with DreamWorks' Shrek franchise.

[27] Maddie Davis of Comic Book Resources called Giselle a feminist role model, believing she provided "a blueprint for strong femme-presenting fairytale characters".

[149] Guimarães noted that Giselle's successors began addressing common Disney tropes such as love at first sight and animal sidekicks with similar metatextual humor, namely in The Princess and the Frog (2009), Tangled (2010), Frozen and Moana.