Disenchantment

**Disenchantment** is an adult animated sitcom created by Matt Groening. Twenty episodes of this series have been ordered by Netflix with the first ten episodes released in August 17, 2018. The series is Groening's first production for Netflix; he previously created *The Simpsons* and *Futurama* for 20th Century Fox Television (Although Futurama was repeatedly gagged to have been made for 30th Century Fox). The first part consists of ten episodes.  Netflix renewed Disenchantment for a second part. The second part of season 1 was released on September 20, 2019. The second season debuted on January 15, 2021, and the second part of season 2 premiered on February 9, 2022. The fifth and final part premiered on September 1, 2023.

## Premise

*Main Article: List of episodes*
Set in the fictional patriarchal medieval European kingdom of Dreamland, the series follows the story of Bean, a rebellious, alcoholic, adventurous gentle, selfless and fearless princess, her naive elf companion Elfo, and her destructive but caring *personal demon* Luci (who was send to her by Cloyd and Becky) having adventures in different locations which was the overall storylines for Part 1 before it ended on a cliffhanger where Elfo dies, and Bean uses the magic Eternity Pendant to restore her petrified mother Queen Dagmar to life, not knowing that Dagmar is secretly evil. Dagmar petrifies all of Dreamland except King Zøg, kidnaps Luci and sets off to Maru with Bean being none the wiser.

Part 2 directly follows the cliffhanger with Bean discovering her mother's true motivations, saving Elfo and Luci while reuniting with her father in episode three, which are then followed by new episodic misadventures Bean, Elfo and Luci get into. The Elves from Elfwood move to Dreamland to settle in Elf Alley, and appear to be looking for something in Dreamland. Zøg and Queen Oona divorce, but Zøg finds a new lover; Ursula. The ending of Part 2 begins with an airship from the much more advanced country of Steamland falling into Dreamland territory with a pilot inside. Bean is intrigued and goes to Steamland with him despite having a basic understanding of science but then discovers a plot involving the assassination of her father, King Zøg and stops the plan from ever happening but accidentally shoots him once she returns to Dreamland. With Zøg injured, minister Odval makes Bean's younger brother Prince Derek king and has him sentence Bean to being burned at the stakes for Witchcraft along with Luci and Elfo. As they are about to die however, they falls into a cavern below the city and ends up seeing Dagmar once again, who is now leading a group of subterranean creatures called Trøgs.

Part 3 continues from where Part 2 left off and begins with Dagmar trying to manipulate Bean and *repair* their relationship but Bean sees through her lies, exposes her to the Trøgs and escapes with Elfo and Luci. Meanwhile, Odval and the Arch-Druidess try to assassinate Zøg by burrying him alive, but he escapes thans to the Trøgs. However, the burrying has done a number on his mind and as the season progresses he slowly succumbs to madness. Bean meanwhile faces new problems that leads her back to Steamland where she encounters its leader, Alva Gunderson, whom tries to marry her but Bean escapes once again and ends up having a romantic relationship with a mermaid named Mora. However, the two get seperated and Bean thinks it was all a dream during her return to Dreamland. After going back to Dreamland and resolving a conspiracy, she begins to see a green smoke moving towards Dreamland and tries everything she can to prepare for it while also trying to keep her father sane, but fails. When it is clear Zøg can no longer rule, Bean is made queen and Zøg is sent to the Twinkletown Insane Asylum. As Queen, Bean then faces an attack on her country by hostile Ogres, who want Elfo, and tries to keep them away but Elfo sacrifices himself to save everyone, much to her sadness. She then faces Dagmar, whom forces her into an elevator that takes them to Hell, while Luci ends up in heaven after being decapitated by the elevator doors.

Part 4 begins with Bean being forced by Dagmar to marry Satan to pay off the debt Maru has to hell, but Bean turns the tables and marries Dagmar off instead and escapes with a revived Luci and Jerry. Zøg escapes Twinkletown Insane Asylum, cured from his insanity. Bean reunites with Zøg and they learn that Cloyd and Becky have taken over Dreamland. Freckles, a dummy Zøg bought while still insane, is brought to life and teams up with Cloyd and Becky, who also have transformed into puppets. After they have been dealt with, Bean discovers that Dreamland is the lost home of the Elves, which is the reason the Elves have moved back now. Zøg goes to find Ursula, and discovers that she had given birth to a bear cub named Jasper, who is Zøg's second son. Zøg brings Jasper back to Dreamland after Ursula was presumably killed. Bean starts having nightmares about the Elves, Trøgs and Sea Trøgs, while the Elves plot to take back the land that was once theirs. In their attempt to do so, they learn Elves and Trøgs are actually the same species. Jasper and Derek begin fighting out of Jealousy, but eventually learn to get along. Freckles however reveals his treacherous nature when he tricks Derek and Jasper into running away from home to Steamland, where they get caught for the P.T. Freak Show, where Ursula also turns out to be. When Zøg and Odval follow the boys, they too are trapped. Bean meanwhile is confronted in her nightmares by an evil version of herself, who eventually splits from her as a seperate entity. Bean manages to defeat her evil self by decaptiating her, but then Dagmar and Satan arrive to take over Dreamland. Dagmar tries killing Bean by throwing her off the balcony into the sea. Fortunately, Mora finds Bean.

In Part 5, Bean has to defeat Dagmar before she can unleash dark magic to remake the world in her own image, but first she must rescue her father, brothers and friends. With Mora, she travels to Steamland and frees everyone, but in the escape she and Zøg get separated from the others. They end up in a hot air balloon that brings them to Maru, where Bean learns more about her powers from the Crones and has a final showdown with Cloyd and Becky. She and Zøg then accidentally end up in the insane asylum, but after escaping from there they make their way home to Dreamland. In Dreamland, Dagmar revives Bad Bean, while Elfo and Luci team up with Miri to start a rebellion against Dagmar. Elfo and Miri gradually fall in love. The season cumulates in a huge battle where Bean, assisted by all her allies and friends, finally defeats both her evil self and Dagmar. In the process, the hidden magic of Dreamland is released. With Dagmar finally gone, Bean and Zøg both step down as rulers to start new lives with their lovers, and Dreamland is handed back to the Elves, who make Elfo and Miri their rulers.

## Cast

* Abbi Jacobson as Princess, later Queen, Bean, Bad Bean
* Nat Faxon as Elfo
* Eric Andre as Luci, Pendergast and Porky
* John DiMaggio  as King Zøg, P.T. McGee, Freckles, and Giggles
* Sharon Horgan as Queen Dagmar
* Billy West  as Sorcerio, the Jester, Mertz, King Rulo, Leavo, Pops, and Scruffles
* Maurice LaMarche  as Odval, King Lorenzo I, Chancellor of Dankmire, Scribe, Junior, King Brock and Big Jo
* Meredith Hagner as Mora the Mermaid
* Tress MacNeille  as Queen Oona, Prince Derek, the Arch-Druidess, Gwen, Mrs. Mertz, Gretel, Mother Superior, Darrell, Edith, Queen Bunny, Queen Grogda, Sagatha and Jasper
* David Herman  as The Herald, Prince Guysbert, Chazzzzz, Hansel, Old Man Touchy, The Griffin, Wade Brody Sr., Superviso and Jerry
* Matt Berry  as Prince Merkimer
* Jeny Batten  as Kissy, Tess, and Ursula
* Rich Fulcher  as Cloyd, Turbish and Malfus
* Noel Fielding  as Stan the Executioner
* Lucy Montgomery as Bunty and Becky the Enchantress
* Lauren Tom as Trixy, Miri, Miss Moonpence and Stacianne LeBlatt
* Richard Ayoade as Alva Gunderson
* Phil LaMarr as God, Asmodium and Sky Gunderson

## Production

The series, created by *The Simpsons* and *Futurama* creator Matt Groening *will bear his trademark animation style*. The series is animated by Rough Draft Studios, the same studio that worked on *Futurama*,and is planned for a 10 episode first season in 2018. Groening has stated that while he has enjoyed fantasy since he was a child, the show was developed as a response to franchises such as *Lord of the Rings* and *Game of Thrones*.

In July 2017, it was announced Indigenous Australian rapper Adam Briggs is part of the writing team for the series.

## Trivia

* Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a huge influence on the show.
* Look for some sort of Easter Egg in the first shot of the show.
* Matt Groening said that this is the first time he's drawn a character (Bean) with five fingers.
* The series is full of cultural references, for an overview see here.

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Matt Groening Netflix Animated Comedy A Go With 20-Episode Order, Abbi Jacobson, Nat Faxon & Eric Andre Lead Voice Cast
2. ↑ Netflix Announces DISENCHANTMENT, a New Epic Fantasy Animated Series from Matt Groening
3. ↑ Abbi Jacobson to Lead Voice Cast for Netflix's Animated Matt Groening Comedy
4. ↑ IGN
5. ↑ Disenchantment Part 3 Trailer. *YouTube*
6. ↑ Variety
7. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_4YP-lD6R\_M
8. ↑ Matt Groening is making an animated medieval adult fantasy with Netflix
9. ↑ Burke, Justin. *Back to the Drawing Board*. *The Weekend Australian Review* August 11-12. 2018. Pages 8-9. Print
10. ↑ Briggs to be part of the writing team on Matt Groening's new Netflix series
11. ↑ Monty Python Holy Grail Influence *deadline.com*

## External Links

* Netflix Official Site
* Disenchantment Official Twitter
* Disenchantment Official Instagram
* Disenchantment on IMDb