Disenchantment Why Matt Groening S Show Needs More Love And Shouldn T Be Canceled

If you’ve watched Matt Groening’s 2018 series Disenchantment, you know that it falls into a unique genre, that of an animated, satirical, fantasy sitcom. After all of Groening’s success with The Simpsons and Futurama, his new project starring a badass princess, a love-drunk elf, and a sarcastic demon was pretty unexpected. However, according to an article by Exclaim, Groening has been thinking about quirky characters in a fantasy setting for a long time.

In high school, Groening used to draw up a comic strip for his friends called Tales of an Enchanted Forest, and “it was always stuck in the back of [his] mind since then.” While Groening claims that while the creation of The Simpsons was “a fluke,” Disenchantment is much more story-driven with humor inserted throughout. Disenchantment is deliberate, smart, entertaining, and includes characters that grow.

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What is Disenchantment About?

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The animated fantasy series follows the rebellious Princess Bean, voiced by Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson, who escapes an arranged marriage with the help of a badly behaved demon, Luci, voiced by Eric Andre of Man Seeking Woman and his surreal late-night talk show. Bean and Luci encounter Elfo, a highly optimistic elf from isolated Elfwood, voiced by Nat Faxon, co-writer of The Descendants. Together, the trio goes on many adventures to ultimately save their home, Dreamland.

Disenchantment has a strong 65% on Rotten Tomatoes with praise for Groening’s “trademark humor” but critiques the show’s tendency to play it safe and move through pieces of the story too slowly. Despite what may be weaknesses for some, the series is still lovable and deserves more attention for its many engaging characters and plot points. Here is why Disenchantment deserves more love and shouldn’t be canceled.

Disenchantment Rebels Against the Fantasy Genre’s Expectations

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This series takes most fantasy stereotypes and turns them upside down. The show allows Bean, a princess who in any other story would be helpless, to defend herself and take the lead. Although there are forces attempting to dictate her future, she always makes her own decisions and represents a feminist point of view. Originally, Elfo was supposed to be the center of the story, but co-creator Josh Weinstein pushed for Bean to be in the spotlight. Groening also deliberately steered away from stereotypes and the “good versus evil” narrative. Groening tells Gamespot that there is an example of this with King Zog, who started out a wicked ruler and eventually turned out to be an understanding and supportive father.

The fact that we cannot assume anything about these characters is what makes the series so satisfying and unpredictable. Even though Elfo has a crush on Bean, it doesn’t mean they’ll end up together, nor does it mean Elfo will be obsessed with her forever. The characters respond and change to the things that happen to them in a rewarding way.

The Voice Actors in Disenchantment Are Iconic

Groening’s fantasy show actually includes many stars from his previous project Futurama, including John Dimaggio, David Herman, Tress Macneill, and Billy West. Although each of these actors played totally different characters, they nail the British accents of their quirky roles in Dreamland. For example, John Dimaggio voices the scattered King Zog in contrast to his Futurama character, Bender. In addition to the team of Futurama veterans, the series actually incorporates some iconic British stars that make the show that much more charming. Co-creator Josh Weinstein previously developed a puppet show for BBC that tried to make its way onto the US TV station Fox, with the pilot starring What We Do in the Shadows’ Matt Berry and Rich Fulcher of The Mighty Boosh, but the series failed to be picked up.

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Despite the project failing, this connected Weinstein to Matt Berry, Rich Fulcher, and eventually Noel Fielding, who also worked on the series The Mighty Boosh. In Disenchantment, Matt Berry voices Mortimer, Rich Fulcher voices Turbish, and Noel Fielding voices the Executioner, and they add wonders to the excellent voice acting cast.

Disenchantment is Filled With The Simpsons and Futurama Easter Eggs

One thing to appreciate about creators like Matt Groening is that they often make references and callbacks to their other successful work. Sometimes these Easter Eggs suggest that the shows’ universes exist side by side or represent different periods of the same timeline. For example, at the beginning of Disenchantment, Luci and Zog access a crystal ball that replays the past, and the characters of Futurama appear in the ball for a brief moment. In a Dreamland wig shop, Fry’s hairstyle can be spotted on a mannequin. Other Easter Eggs also refer to series outside of Groening’s work, including Game of Thrones and Monty Python. In the beginning, Bean’s suitor, Prince Guysbert, accidentally severs himself on a throne with many blades, a pretty obvious reference to Game of Thrones.

Despite all of Disenchantment’s lovable pieces, there is some speculation that the series may not be renewed for a fifth season. Although there are rumors, Disenchantment still carries an extensive fan base and the creators are adamant that they have more Dreamland stories to tell, making it likely that the show will be given another chance. Currently, there are four seasons of Disenchantment available for streaming on Netflix.