Disenchantment is the latest cartoon from Matt Groening, who brought us Futurama and The Simpsons.
After the success of The Simpsons and the cult following Futurama gained, it was hard not to set our hopes high for Disenchantment. But did it live up to them? I’m not sure.
Disenchantment is a medieval fantasy set in the realm of ‘Dreamland’. It’s a generic medieval landscape with the odd elf of amphibious humanoid (shout out to the kingdom of Dankmire) here or there. Our protagonist this time around is female and an unlikely princess called Teabeanie, or ‘Bean’ for short.
We like the idea of a princess that rebels against stereotypes but other than that, the series remains pretty formulaic. Luci is essentially a reinvented version of Bender and the other characters are all pretty archetypal of a cartoon comedy. The characters lack depth and are just too two-dimensional to fully gauge are devoted attention.
In terms of what it’s trying to say, Disenchantment is pretty tame. There’s no relentless satire or vehement parody, just a pleasant enough, charming story. Having the leading protagonist a fiery, rebellious princess gave Groening the chance to make some strong, feminist statement but it seems that he shied away from anything that could be construed as political.
Still, the first season is entertaining and it is very creative. It might not have a ‘purpose’ but it has a constant narrative and characters who though two-dimensional, are easy to get behind and you want them to succeed. The series definitely peaks towards the final episodes and what we are left with is a pretty good story which doesn’t live up to The Simpsons but is a pretty decent cartoon with top animation nonetheless. Although it didn’t live up to its full potential, there is hope for a second season.
