Release Date, Cast, Renewed or Canceled

By clockspider On Jul 15, 2019

‘Disenchantment’ is an American adult animated fantasy sitcom that airs on Netflix. It first premiered on August 17, 2018. The series which is generous with its black and off-color comedy has been created by Matt Groening and marks his first production for the streaming giants. If the man’s name sounds so familiar, it is because he has also created ‘Futurama’, and more popularly, ‘The Simpsons‘ for 20th Century Fox Television.

The premise of the show is set in a medieval fantasy kingdom by the name of Dreamland, and it follows the story of Bean, who is an alcoholic and rebellious princess. This naturally, puts her at odds to our expectations of how princesses should be from classic fantasy literature. Anyhow, we are also introduced to Elfo, her naive elf companion, and her destructive ‘personal demon’ who goes by the name Luci. While these do not sound like the ideal travel companions for a princess, our princess is nowhere close to the ideal herself, and this is what the show tries to capture. Needless to say, having Groening’s name attached has drawn a lot of fans. However, critics have been a bit hesitant in praising the show outright. Although they have noted that Groening’s trademark humor is present, and is extremely satisfying, in some parts, the show decides to play it a little safe, and perhaps this might not bode too well for the future.

Disenchantment Cast: Who is in it?

The cast of ‘Disenchantment’ is led by Abbi Jacobson, of ‘Broad City‘ fame, who plays Princess Bean. She is the 19-year-old alcoholic from Dreamland, and her full name is Princess Tiabeanie Mariabeanie de la Rochambeau Grunkwitz. Eric Andre of Adult Swim’s popular ‘The Eric Andre Show‘ also stars in the role of Luci, the ‘personal demon’ to Princess Bean. Nat Faxon, who has worked on ‘The Descendants’, rounds off the trio, as he plays Elfo, the naive elf companion who happens to like candy. Other cast members include John DiMaggio as Bean’s father, King Zog; Tress MacNeille as Queen Oona, Zog’s second wife and Bean’s stepmother; Sharon Horgan as Queen Dagmar, Bean’s biological mother; Noel Fielding as Stan the Executioner, the good-natured royal executioner and the manager of the torture chamber.

Hopefully, the main cast will return in the upcoming season, and we hope to see some new characters thrown into the mix because they are bound to make things exciting.

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Disenchantment Plot: What is it about?

‘Disenchantment’ is set in a fictional medieval kingdom known as Dreamland. The Princess loves alcohol. She has an elf companion “Elfo” and a “personal demon” Luci. This show features all their misadventures as they go looking for adventures. Though ‘Disenchantment’ is a sitcom, it features adult comedy. The princess is annoyed at her imminent marriage to Prince Merkimer. This marriage has been arranged without her consent, and she decides to act out and go on these adventures, which not only forms the basis of the show but is also the source of a lot of fun and excitement. The series takes the Disney princess tropes and turns them on their heads, viewing the entire thing through a satirical lens.

However, for all of Groening’s brilliance, the series does not seem all that magical as some of the jokes and humor feels a little rehashed. A criticism that aptly sums up the show, goes thus, “‘Disenchanted’ never fully engages with the genre it’s riffing on, either. A series about an alcoholic princess with no desire to conform to social norms and an elf hungry to seek greater heights provides a natural opportunity to comment on gender expectations and the limited worldview that most fairy tales serve to impressionable children. But Disenchanted doesn’t seem interested in wrestling with tropes or, for that matter, anything too deep. It’s more focused on finding easy comedy in the pockets of the universe it’s invented.” That being said, Rough Draft, the animation studio behind the project, does a fantastic job of bringing the world to life and is more mature than Groening’s other projects in terms of visuals.

The journey of the three characters takes place in a world where the magical creatures are not all that magical and seem to border on the raunchier side of things. For example, the fairy they come across is actually a sex worker. What stands out about the show is not the goofball humor or snazzy jokes that it seems so interested in, but rather the dynamic among the three characters. Bean is a protagonist who manages to be delightfully messy, reminding us of our own imperfections, Luci also becomes more than just a narrative device as the demon pushes Bean to misbehave.

The entire performance comes across as a mixture of being cajoling and sinister, so Luci’s motives are never quite clear. Amidst all this plotting and scheming, Faxon delivers the most humane performance as the besotted Elfo who always remains optimistic. He has an unrequited crush on Bean. As a critic rightly surmised, the show makes a slight mistake as “The dynamics between the central trio are more interesting than their episodes-spanning, overcomplicated journey. (By contrast, that almost nothing has long-term consequences on “The Simpsons” is the sort of constraint that helps build comedy.) More time is spent moving the characters around than exploring their comic possibilities. ”

Hopefully, in the upcoming season, the show will slow down on the pace, and give the three central characters some screentime so that the audience can actually come to care about them and invest in the fact whether they will get their happily ever after or not. In terms of plot, the series initially showed us almost everyone in Dreamland turning to stone, so probably the upcoming series will pick up from there and it will be left to Bean to reverse this situation and restore some amount of normalcy. Spoilers ahead, but we also saw Elfo die, but he might not stay dead as we witnessed strange hands dragging his body away, so he will somehow come back to life in the upcoming season.

Disenchantment Season 2 Release Date: When will it premiere?

‘Disenchantment’ Season 1 premiered on August 17, 2018. As far as the next season goes, we have good news for the fans. In October 2018, Netflix renewed the series for another season. ‘Disenchantment’ season 2 is all set to release September 20, 2019. It’s time to mark your calendars, so that you don’t miss out on your favorite show.

Disenchantment Trailer:

While we wait for ‘Disenchantment’ season 2, you can refresh your memory about the show by checking out the trailer for Season 1 below. If you haven’t seen the show yet head over to Netflix to catch all the episodes of the previous season.

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