Disenchanted (Netflix, Season 1)
Mar. 3rd, 2019 02:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chuckroThe kingdom of Dreamland is actually a pretty crappy place to live. That’s probably why the princess likes to sneak out and get drunk all the time.
In the same art style that we know and love from The Simpsons and Futurama comes a fantasy parody, in which hard-drinking tomboy Princess Bean tries to escape her inevitable destiny, with the help of a (Smurf-parody) elf named Elfo and a demon named Lucy. A lot of the voice-acting talent is familiar, too, which shouldn’t really come as a surprise.
I give them credit for actually acknowledging the serial format (and binge-culture of Netflix shows) and establishing running gags and continuity. What seem like one-off gags in early episodes come back later on. I thought the overarching plots were fairly trite for the majority of the season, but the side gags were generally very good. (“I’ll name them Winky, Blinky and Soul-Stealer!”) The political commentary was also pretty much what you’d expect—mildly-liberal “centrist” gags that seem only mildly scandalous to Middle America. They aren’t really taking risks here.
The second season promises more continuity and probably a more involved plot arc: They left a huge set of plot points hanging open for the second season. Elfo is only half-elf, half who-knows-what, and appears to be dead. The mysterious cult that summoned Lucy remains unexplained. Everybody except Zog (and possibly Una, here whereabouts are unknown) in Dreamland is petrified. The Queen has taken Bean to a strange ship of monsters to find her “destiny” because she’s some kind of evil sorceress/alchemist. So much to do!
Overall: Did you like Futurama and do you generally appreciate fantasy tropes? Then this is for you.
In the same art style that we know and love from The Simpsons and Futurama comes a fantasy parody, in which hard-drinking tomboy Princess Bean tries to escape her inevitable destiny, with the help of a (Smurf-parody) elf named Elfo and a demon named Lucy. A lot of the voice-acting talent is familiar, too, which shouldn’t really come as a surprise.
I give them credit for actually acknowledging the serial format (and binge-culture of Netflix shows) and establishing running gags and continuity. What seem like one-off gags in early episodes come back later on. I thought the overarching plots were fairly trite for the majority of the season, but the side gags were generally very good. (“I’ll name them Winky, Blinky and Soul-Stealer!”) The political commentary was also pretty much what you’d expect—mildly-liberal “centrist” gags that seem only mildly scandalous to Middle America. They aren’t really taking risks here.
The second season promises more continuity and probably a more involved plot arc: They left a huge set of plot points hanging open for the second season. Elfo is only half-elf, half who-knows-what, and appears to be dead. The mysterious cult that summoned Lucy remains unexplained. Everybody except Zog (and possibly Una, here whereabouts are unknown) in Dreamland is petrified. The Queen has taken Bean to a strange ship of monsters to find her “destiny” because she’s some kind of evil sorceress/alchemist. So much to do!
Overall: Did you like Futurama and do you generally appreciate fantasy tropes? Then this is for you.
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Date: 2019-03-03 08:35 pm (UTC)