Descendants

―Tagline

***Descendants*** is an American musical fantasy adventure-comedy television film directed and choreographed by Kenny Ortega. The film stars Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson, Booboo Stewart, and Cameron Boyce as the teenage children of Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Jafar, and Cruella de Vil, respectively. The film follows these teenagers adjusting to life outside their island prison, while on a mission to steal the Fairy Godmother's wand and free their parents from captivity. It debuted on July 31, 2015, as a Disney Channel Original Movie, to positive reviews and 6.6 million viewers.

## Synopsis

In a present-day idyllic kingdom, the benevolent teenaged son of the King and Queen (Beast and Belle from Disney's iconic "Beauty and the Beast") is poised to take the throne. His first proclamation: offer a chance at redemption to the trouble-making offspring of Cruella, Maleficent, the Evil Queen, and Jafar who have been imprisoned on a forbidden island with all the other villains, sidekicks, evil step-mothers and step-sisters. These villainous descendants (Carlos, Mal, Evie, and Jay (Descendants), respectively) are allowed into the kingdom to attend prep school alongside the offspring of iconic Disney heroes, including Fairy Godmother, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Mulan. However, the evil teens face a dilemma. Should they follow in their nefarious parents' footsteps and help all the villains regain power, or embrace their innate goodness and save the kingdom?

## Plot

Belle and Beast have married and become king and queen. Following the establishment of the United States of Auradon, they have created a prosperous new nation from the surrounding kingdoms, and banished the villains to the Isle of the Lost, an island slum surrounded by a barrier where magic is suspended. Now, twenty years later, their son, Ben, who will soon be crowned king, announces that his first proclamation is to give four selected children from the Isle of the Lost a chance to live in Auradon, away from the influence of their villainous parents, despite his father's protests. He chooses Carlos, son of Cruella de Vil; Jay, son of Jafar; Evie, daughter of the Evil Queen; and Mal, daughter of Maleficent. On the island, Maleficent instructs the quartet to steal the Fairy Godmother's magic wand to release the barrier so she can take over Auradon.

Traveling to Auradon Preparatory, the four meet Ben and his self-proclaimed girlfriend Audrey, daughter of Princess Aurora. They also meet the Fairy Godmother, the school's headmistress. Evie uses her mother's pocket-sized magic mirror to locate the wand in a nearby museum, and Mal uses her mother's spinning wheel from the museum to put the security guard to sleep, but they fail to steal the wand due to a barrier around it. After learning that the Fairy Godmother will use the wand at Ben's coronation, the four wait it out by attending classes, but start to fit in with the students. Jay is recruited into the school's "tourney" team (a sport similar to field hockey, hurling and lacrosse), while Carlos overcomes his fear of dogs by befriending the school's dog, Dude. Evie, though intelligent, acts vain to impress Chad, Cinderella's son, but ends up doing his homework for him. Dopey's son, Doug, encourages her not to pander to others and be herself.

Mal becomes popular, using Maleficent's spell book to improve the looks of Jane and Lonnie, the daughters of the Fairy Godmother and Mulan, respectively. Jane in particular dislikes her looks, especially because her mother won't use her own magic to change them. Learning that Ben's "girlfriend" will be seated close to the wand during the coronation, which is used during the ceremony, Mal bakes a cookie laced with a love potion and gives it to Ben, who falls madly in love with her, much to the shock of his friends, particularly Audrey. On a date with Ben, Mal becomes conflicted with her growing inner goodness and desire to please her mother, unsure of how to react to Ben's feelings towards her. During the school's family day, the villains' children are ostracized after an encounter with Audrey's grandmother, Queen Leah, who hates Mal because Maleficent's curse was the reason she missed Aurora's childhood, prompting an argument that drives Mal to end the beauty spell she used on Jane. Ben tries to reassure them that everything will be okay after the coronation. Doug tries to remain friendly towards Evie, but Chad forces him to distance himself from her.

At Ben's coronation, Mal gives him a brownie containing the love spell's antidote, believing it is unnecessary to keep him under the spell. It turns out, per Ben's admission, that he was already freed of the spell since their date when he went swimming in the Enchanted Lake, believing that Mal only did it because she really liked him. However, much to Mal's surprise, it turns out Ben has had feelings for her all along. During Ben's crowning, a disillusioned Jane grabs the wand from her mother, wanting to improve her beauty, only for her to accidentally destroy the Isle's barrier. Mal takes the wand from Jane, but torn over what to do, is encouraged by Ben to make her own choice rather than follow Maleficent's path. Mal recognizes that she and her friends have found happiness in Auradon and they choose to be good.

Maleficent crashes the coronation ceremony, freezing everyone except Mal and the VKs. When they defy her, Maleficent transforms into a dragon. Mal and her friends use a counterspell, turning Maleficent into a lizard, her tiny size based on the amount of love in her heart. Mal returns the Fairy Godmother her wand as she unfreezes everyone and tells her not to be hard on Jane. While the villains watch the celebration from afar, Auradon Prep's students party through the night. Mal's eyes turn green as she addresses the audience, telling them the story is not over yet.

## Cast

* Dove Cameron as **Mal**

* Cameron Boyce as Carlos
* Booboo Stewart as Jay
* Sofia Carson as Evie
* Mitchell Hope as Ben

* Melanie Paxson as Fairy Godmother
* Brenna D'Amico as Jane
* Sarah Jeffery as Audrey
* Zachary Gibson as Doug
* Jedidiah Goodacre as Chad Charming
* Dianne Doan as Lonnie
* Dan Payne as Beast
* Keegan Connor Tracy as Belle
* Wendy Raquel Robinson as Cruella De Vil
* Maz Jobrani as Jafar
* Kathy Najimy as Evil Queen
* Kristin Chenoweth as Maleficent
* Shaughnessy Redden as Limo Driver
* Reese Alexander as Coach Jenkins
* James Hibbard as Museum Guard
* Wesley Salter as Photographer
* Judith Maxie as Queen Leah
* Ken Lawson as Royal Tailor
* Stephanie Bennett as Snow White
* Johnathan Holmes as Mr. Deley
* Peter Schaad as Tourney Announcer
* Christian Lagasse as Footman #1
* Vancouver Children's Choir Choral Society as Children's Choir
* Paisley as Dude

## Sequel

At the 2015 Disney D23 Expo, it was confirmed that a sequel is being made. Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott were confirmed on October 15, 2015, to return as the writers, as well as being the executive producers.

## Trivia

* While still in production, the movie was under the working title *'Off The Island'*.
* Keegan Connor Tracy, who plays Belle, also plays the Blue Fairy/Mother Superior in *Once Upon a Time*.
* Cameron Boyce got his frost tips just for this movie.
* Sofia Carson and Dove Cameron used wigs during filming.
* This is the first time that the Classical Disney film canon united in a feature film.
* As the villain kids progress from bad to good, the changes are reflected in their attire. They start out in their Isle of the Lost outfits, slowly decreasing in rebellious imaging, and finally to their coronation outfits and party clothes worn during "Set It Off".
* This would've been the second time Dove Cameron and Cameron Boyce worked together. The first time was in Dove Cameron's show, *Liv & Maddie*.
* This film contains many references and allusions to previous and current Disney franchises.
* The video game Carlos plays when the group first arrives at Auradon was originally created for the Disney XD original series *Aaron Stone*.
* Auradon Prep's motto is "Goodness doesn't get any better."
* During Rotten to the Core, if one looks closely behind the group's dancing, the can see another "Long Live Evil" tag with Cruella's outline. And when you look behind Jay you can see the Jafar version of Long Live Evil.
* If one examines the stained glass windows of the church where the coronation is held, the images include Quasimodo, Snow White, Ariel, Aurora, Belle, and Prince Adam, Alice, Fa Mulan, Li Shang, Tiana, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Wendy Darling, Flynn Rider, various princes : Prince Florian, Prince Phillip, Prince Charming, Eric and what appears to be Kristoff. The last image suggests Arendelle is part of Auradon.
* In the film, the term "*prince*" seems to be synonymous with wimps as noted by Jay.
* 18.2 million total viewers (so far) have watched *Descendants*.
* Sofia Carson, who plays Evie, originally auditioned for the part of Audrey.
* *Descendants* is the #5 most-watched cable movie of all time.
* In "Set it Off" a lyric in the song was *"We got the keys. The kingdom's ours."* which Ben and Evie sang is a reference to Sleeping Beauty where there is a lyric in a song "*I got the keys to the kingdom*."
* Dude, the male dog that Carlos becomes attached to, is actually a female dog named Paisley in real life.
* Kenny Ortega saw 600+ actors before casting Mitchell Hope as Prince Ben.
* Dove Cameron was the first person cast in this movie.
* Carlos and Dude (the dog) matched outfits after they met.
* If you look closely during the coronation, the parents of Audrey (Aurora and Phillip), Chad (Cinderella and Prince Charming), Lonnie (Fa Mulan and Li Shang), and Doug (Dopey) are present.
* There was originally going to be a character named Aziz, son of Aladdin and Jasmine but was cut out for unknown reasons.
* Each offspring's name starts with the same initial letter as at least one of their parents.
	+ Jane doesn't count as an exception since her father's identity was never disclosed.

The Descendants Universe is discussed on Broadwaysted! in episode #201 The Descendents Get Broadwaysted! produced by The Broadway Podcast Network.

* During the Remedial Goodness 101 class, one of the questions that Fairy Godmother asks is what to do with a crying baby where one of the answers is to lock it in a tower, a reference to Tangled as Rapunzel had been locked up in a tower when she was kidnapped as a baby.

1. ↑ Descendants Sequel Ordered at Disney Channel
2. ↑ 'Descendants' Sequel Set At Disney Channel