aspects distracting and opined that the entire project "could have been toned down a notch and still carried across plenty of the requisite spunk." While praising Brandy's subtlety, Richmond found Houston's interpretation of the Fairy Godmother to be an overzealous, "frightening caricature, one certain to send the kids scurrying into Mom's lap for reassurance that the good woman will soon go away." Similarly, television critic Ken Tucker, writing for Entertainment Weekly, praised Brandy and Alexander but found that Houston "strikes a wrong note as a sassy, vaguely hostile Fairy Godmother" while dismissing Montalban as "a drearily bland prince" and describing most of the musical numbers as "clunky", predicting that children "will sleep through" the film. Although Houston and Brandy's on-screen pairing was highly anticipated, the supporting cast of Peters, Goldberg and Alexander ultimately garnered most of the program's praise. Television critic Howard Rosenberg, in a review for the Los Angeles Times, described Brandy's singing as superior to her acting, resulting in "a tender, fresh Cinderella". Attributing most of the "magic" to Alexander, Peters and Goldberg, Rosenberg was unimpressed with Montalban and Houston, who he described as "pastel as a prince can get (although it's not his fault the character is written as a doofus)" and "not much of a fairy godmother", respectively. For Entertainment Weekly, Denise Lanctot praised the musical numbers and choreography but found Brandy's performance underwhelming, describing it as "oddly vacuous" and "Barbie-doll blank" while criticizing her singing. However, she called Montalban "perfectly charming" and "The real fairy tale". Despite praising Houston, Montalban, Alexander and Peters, People's Terry Kelleher found Brandy's vocals inferior to Houston's and "lack[ing] the vocal command and emotive power to" support the film's ballads. Harlene Ellin of the Chicago Tribune wrote that, despite its aesthetics and color-blind casting, the film "lacks the requisite charm and spark", concluding that the production "doesn't capture the heart" despite its beauty. While praising the performances of Houston, Peters and Montalban, Ellin joked that "Cinderella's glass slippers are far too big for Brandy", criticizing her acting while saying that the singer "delivers her lines so timidly and flatly that it's hard to stay focused on the story when Brandy is on the screen", concluding that her co-stars "only makes her weak acting all the more glaring", and causing her to wonder how the film would have turned out had Houston been cast as the lead instead. The Oxford Handbook