After nearly 30 years of The Simpsons and nearly 20 years of Futurama, Matt Groening and his alumni, Josh Weinstein and Bill Oakley, have created a new animated series. Disenchantment is the tale of Princess Tiabeanie 'Bean', the hard drinking and burping princess of Dreamland, a medieval fantasy land straight from tales of yore. She is fated to be married to a Prince of whatever land her father sees as the most politically advantageous. However, Bean is a driven woman and her fate is linked to Elfo, an elf who escapes his magical land of pure maniacal happiness and Luci, a demon with a dark and mysterious past.
The adventuresome trio. ©Netflix, Matt Groening
This trio end up together and the scene is set for an emotional roller-coaster for Bean as she battles her good and bad sides with the literal manifestations by her side. The first episodes ends on a literal cliff hanger and the scene is set for an animated series with a real story arc.
In a crowded animation market with the meta Rick and Morty, darkly philosophical Bojack Horseman, gently family-centric Bob's Burgers and those stalwarts South Park, Family Guy and of course, the grandaddy, the Simpsons, how does this new show fit in? Well, first off this show is definitely more mature and aimed at the teen and adult market. There are a few adult jokes in there, for example in the beginning there is a hanging scene and the phrase, "For once I won't go all the way," are said.
As for the art style, it is very Simpson-ish but with a less garish colour palette. In places the show is quite beautiful with lots of carefully lit scenes, lent pizzazz with flashy computerised transitioning shots. The humour is tres Simpsons, and as such the ebb and flow of the jokes are all present and correct.
The story is there and with the potential to world build with interesting characters, such as the extremely humble puritan farmer and wife, the old fairy who does 'tricks' and the arrogant but persistent Prince in pursuit of the Princess, the series could really take off.
For a first episode Disenchantment is off to a decent start. There is a long way to go before it becomes the hits of its predecessors but there is promise. I'm hoping to complete the rest of the series over the next couple of days and so will put up a whole series review later this week but if you haven't seen it, check it out. All 10 episodes have been put up for binge watching.