Disenchantment
Matt Groening's new animated show set within a fairytale kingdom has plenty of magic, but not of the comedic kind that made The Simpsons and Futurama essential viewing
Matt Groening has lovingly satirised the modern blue collar family in The Simpsons (the longest running US TV show of all time) and imagined the workplace relationships and mind-boggling technology of the 31st century in the endlessly inventive, perennially underrated Futurama. With his new project, Disenchantment, Groening’s going back a long time ago to a fairytale land far, far away to tackle gender roles with an animated show following Bean, the heavy-drinking princess of medieval kingdom Dreamland. A pleasingly rebellious role model, she’d much rather be getting rat-arsed in the local tavern with Dreamland’s varios ne'er-do-wells than performing her royal duties.
It doesn't take long to spot Disenchantment is a Groening joint. From the distinctive character design to the densely-packed background jokes (one road sign reads “Now Entering Enchanted Forest: Beware of Racist Antelope”), this Netflix-produced show bears many of the characteristics of its predecessors. What it misses is those earlier shows’ bite. Adventures riffing on tales by the Brothers Grimm and Homer (the other one) can feel a tad baggy, like they’re Treehouse of Horror sketches that have been elongated to episode length. The fact those episodes, unencumbered by the need for an ad break, run closer to 30 minutes rather than the tight 22 minutes of The Simpsons and Futurama doesn’t help matters.
What keeps the show diverting is the character dynamics. Bean is joined on her quests by Luci, the onyx demon she’s cursed with in episode one – the rest of the castle's household mistake him for a talking cat. Forever by Bean’s side, he’s the proverbial devil on her shoulder, egging her on to make even worse choices than she’s currently making. They’re joined by Elfo, a cloying dweeb who’s in love with Bean and spends most of the series having his magic blood leached from his body.
What makes the series promising is that it improves with each episode. By the tenth instalment of this mini-Netflix series, it’s still to reach the heights of Groening’s earlier shows, but it’s moving in the right direction.
Streaming on Netflix