BACKGROUND
For anyone who stopped watching the Descendants series after Descendants 3 (2019), you can be forgiven for assuming that this whole Disney movie series was done, completed, and finished. For those who stuck with it and watched the animated short film Descendants: The Royal Wedding (2021), you’ll have noticed that Disney were toying with the idea of expanding the series, looking to Alice in Wonderland (1951) for inspiration.
I did watch Descendants: The Royal Wedding, but I didn’t think they would be making another movie based on Wonderland and its characters. I thought it was just there to say “look what we can do”, assuming that not many people were going to be asking for a further movie, so it wouldn’t be made. I was wrong.
I forgot that Descendants as a franchise was a big property for The Walt Disney Company and that, to them, it would make perfect sense to make a fourth Descendants movie. To the rest of us, maybe a “Descendants 4” didn’t make sense.
Without a key member of the cast, Cameron Boyce, as well as seeing the effect his passing had on the rest of the cast and crew, it seemed unthinkable for Descendants to go on without him. I wasn’t happy with the idea of this new movie; others felt the same way.
I can’t say I kept up with any further news, other than to hear that Descendants 4 was in the works. I didn’t know when the release date was, I didn’t know who the cast were, I didn’t know what the plot was, and frankly, I didn’t care. As 2024 began, and trailers and interviews started popping up online, I paid a slight bit of attention. I knew that if I wanted to review the Descendants original trilogy, I couldn’t just ignore Descendants 4 – which came to be known as Descendants: The Rise of Red, to distance itself from the original films.
It is only fitting for Descendants: The Rise of Red to not be numbered, as it is not a sequel to Descendants, but a spin-off, with just two original cast members returning: Fairy Godmother, and, thankfully, Uma. When I heard Uma was back, I was vaguely intrigued.
Yet I still wasn’t excited. I only watched the movie this week, not being enough of a fan to watch it on its premiere date or even its premiere weekend, so by the time I got round to watching Descendants: The Rise of Red, the reviews were already circulating and the results were mixed.
After watching Descendants: The Rise of Red, I felt that the music was comparable to Descendants, as was the talent of the main cast, however, what really let it down was the story. Ten minutes before the end, I felt like the plot was leading up to something, and then – nothing happened. It was disappointing, because I thought so much more could’ve been done with the storyline, but the character development did not allow it to happen in the way I’d hoped it would. More on that later. On a more positive note, if you disregard the Descendants trilogy, which you can do here, Descendants: The Rise of Red is a pleasant enough movie, still full of colour and clever ideas. In the context of the Descendants series though, it fell a bit flat for me.
PLOT
Descendants: The Rise of Red begins with a voiceover from the one and only Uma, who says that Ben and Mal, now King and Queen of Auradon, along with Evie and Jay, have sailed away to other realms to promote harmony and peaceful relations with Auradon. Mal has named Uma as Principal of Auradon Prep in their absence.
Uma arrives at Auradon Prep and is welcomed by Fairy Godmother, who is also moving on to a new role as President of Auradon University. As her first order of business, Uma says she plans to invite Red, daughter of the Queen of Hearts, to come from her home of Wonderland to Auradon Prep, as part of the Villain Kid initiative that Ben started all those years ago. Fairy Godmother is uncertain by this addition to the school, as Wonderland is a hostile land, and its leader never wanted to join Auradon, therefore, the rabbit hole, the portal to Wonderland, was walled off, so no-one could enter Auradon from there. Uma says that the VKs would’ve wanted this, especially Carlos, who is no longer with them but had always believed other VKs would get their second chance in Auradon like he had. The invite is sent.
In Wonderland, we see that Red is actually quite the rebel. She doesn’t like her mother’s tyrannical way of ruling, has no desire to grow up to be like her, and just wants to get out of there – except the Queen of Hearts won’t allow it. Dodging the guards after vandalising the Wonderland Plaza, Red is rescued by her friend Maddox Hatter, son of the Mad Hatter. He tells her that perhaps someday she’ll be able to have a new life somewhere else, showing her a project he’s been working on: a pocket watch, which is actually a time machine. But Maddox quickly pulls it away from Red, telling her it’s much too dangerous; altering the fabric of time can lead to disastrous consequences. Red is then sent back home, sneakily taking the pocket watch with her. The next day, Red meets with her mother, the Queen, who is just about to punish her Army Captain, the Jack of Diamonds, for not finding the criminal who vandalised her plaza – not realising that the criminal was in fact her daughter! The Queen then tells Red to decide how the Captain should be punished. She isn’t able to do it, disappointing the Queen of Hearts, but the disappointment is short-lived, as Maddox arrives with a letter. It’s the letter from Auradon. Red doesn’t believe her mother would ever let her go to Auradon Prep, since the Queen despises Auradon, but surprisingly, the Queen readily accepts the invitation, telling Red to pack. She obviously has a plan…
Back in Auradon, we meet Cinderella and King Charming’s daughter, Chloe, sister of Chad Charming, who is practising for the Auradon Swords and Shields team with her dad. She is very excited to be heading to Auradon Prep, and her parents are very proud of her, so much so that she gets a gift of glass sneakers. Chloe and Cinderella head to the welcoming ceremony at Auradon Prep for the new students, with King Charming going to see Chad at college instead.
The Queen of Hearts drives Red through the rabbit hole over to Auradon for this same welcoming ceremony. Their car is thoroughly inspected by security and they able to proceed inside the castle. The two soon come face-to-face with Cinderella and Chloe. The Queen of Hearts and Cinderella clearly have some bad blood between them, with Cinderella referencing some sort of prank that happened to the Queen when they were at school together. We also learn that the Queen’s name is apparently Bridget. Chloe tries to be nice to Red, but Red has no time for “goody-goodies”.
At the welcoming ceremony, Fairy Godmother introduces Uma as the new principal of the school, but as Uma is giving her speech to the new students, she becomes distracted by the Queen of Hearts shuffling a deck of cards. Uma asks her to stop, but the Queen refuses, throwing the cards into the air. The cards then transform into soldiers from her army. Uma is captured, Fairy Godmother’s wand is broken, and everyone runs in terror – though the Queen of course blocks off all the exits. The people have no choice put to bow to the Queen of Hearts, the new ruler of Auradon. Except Cinderella will not kneel to the Queen. The Queen of Hearts tells her daughter to punish Cinderella for this act of treason, reiterating to Red that her plan is for the two to rule side-by-side, with the Queen’s hand-held looking glass even showing this future. Red, in a moment of weakness, sentences Cinderella to be beheaded. Seeing what she’s done, Red then pulls out Maddox’s time machine/pocket watch and plans to go back in time to fix this, except Chloe tries to attack Red at the same time, to stop her mother being taken away, and touches the pocket watch. The two go back in time together.
Confused as to where – and when – they are, since Red was never given instructions on how to use this pocket watch, Chloe and Red find themselves in an empty part of what they assume is still Auradon Prep. It’s not. It turns out instead of going back two minutes, like Red planned to just take her mother’s cards off her to stop the coup, they have actually gone back two decades, and this isn’t Auradon – it’s Merlin Academy, the school that existed prior to Belle and Beast’s creation of the United States of Auradon. Red and Chloe come up with a new plan to stop the Queen of Hearts’ takeover of Auradon; perhaps they can stop the prank that made the Queen so bitter in the first place.
Merlin, the Headmaster of Merlin Academy, obviously, finds the two girls and assumes they are transfer students, immediately taking them to his Alchemy class. The security here is much more lax than at Auradon Prep; apparently, anyone can just walk in! At Alchemy class, Red and Chloe are assigned mentors – their mothers. Well, the teenage versions of their mothers, known here as Bridget and Ella. Bridget and Ella don’t exactly fit in with the rest of the students, but Bridget tries to be kind to everyone – even the Villain Kids. Yes, more VKs – and some of these happen to be the teenage versions of the VK parents from the first three Descendants films! The leader of this VK group, which includes Captain Hook, Maleficent, and Hades, is actually Uliana, Ursula’s younger sister, so Uma’s aunt. She doesn’t like Bridget or Ella, tormenting them constantly. But as Bridget hands out cupcakes to everyone, complete with flamingo feathers, Uliana decides she wants some of the feathers and starts to eat them. Bridget warns her she shouldn’t have too many, but Uliana doesn’t listen and promptly turns into a flamingo. Despite falling into water and the spell wearing off, Uliana wants revenge on Bridget and starts to plan with her evil sidekicks.
Red and Chloe know that this act of revenge is due to take place at the Castlecoming dance – see what they did there? – and follow the VKs to find out exactly what it will be. They go to Ella’s house to get some advice, and find that she is being used as a servant by her stepmother. Ella informs them that Uliana is trying to live up to her sister’s meanness and that she picks on Bridget because she’s weak and won’t stop trying to be friends with them. Ella then tells Red and Chloe that the VKs normally hang out at the Black Lagoon. Red and Chloe go there, where they overhear their plan: to make a cupcake from the Sorcerer’s Cookbook that will turn Bridget into a monster in front of the whole school. No, there aren’t any buckets of pig blood here like in that infamous prom scene from Carrie (1976), so if that’s what you were hoping for, well, then you’ve got some major issues!
Since Bridget is a keen baker, Red and Chloe ask if she happens to own the Sorcerer’s Cookbook, but she does not, saying it is likely banned for student use, with Merlin probably having the only copy hidden in his office. Red knows to stop the prank they have to get that book before the VKs do; Chloe thinks they should just tell Merlin. Red goes alone to steal the book, with Chloe going to Ella for more help. Ella tells her that sometimes you have to cross that line between “good” and “bad” to do what’s right. Chloe goes to Merlin’s office to help Red. The VKs see the two go into the office and watch them. Red and Chloe fight off the magical defence systems in Merlin’s office, with some struggles, but the VKs enter at the last moment and grab the book. They are then frozen because the book can’t fall into the wrong hands, i.e., a villain cannot open it. Chloe tells Red to open it, to prove that she isn’t evil, and sure enough, the book opens for her. They hear Merlin coming to the office and escape through a window. Merlin sees the frozen VKs and gives them detention.
Red and Chloe hide the book, stopping the prank on Bridget. They then go back to the present, though Red is scared they haven’t done enough to change events. As they approach the ceremony in Auradon again, Red hears the Queen of Hearts refuse to stop playing with her cards during Uma’s speech, just like the first time. Red braces herself for the coup all over again, but it turns out the Queen is actually just excited for her daughter to be in Auradon and throws heart-shaped bubbles into the air. She is also wearing a white and red dress, not just red, as more evidence that she has changed.
And that’s the end of the story. Or is it? In typical Descendants fashion, we are then told by Uma that this isn’t the end of the story, and that we’ll have to wait and see whether Red and Chloe’s time-travelling escapades have actually done more harm than good…
CHARACTERS & CAST
Naturally, Descendants: The Rise of Red focuses on the new Villain Kid, Red. Although she is the daughter of the oppressive Queen of Hearts, Red is not evil. She doesn’t want to rule Wonderland, or want to be remotely like her mother. The only thing Red really wants is to get out of Wonderland and live her own life, where she doesn’t have to feel like a big disappointment. Red is a bit of a rebel though, even if not villainous, and doesn’t spend her time being sweet and kind to everyone. She breaks the rules, pushes the boundaries, and yet, she is still caring. She wants to change her mother’s past so that she doesn’t need to feel angry and hateful towards everyone. She is devoted to her mother both in the past and the present, despite herself, protecting Bridget from bullies in the past, and relenting to her mother’s wish for Red to be a strict ruler at times. Red is a complicated girl, figuring out everything as she goes along, but her heart is in the right place most of the time.
Kylie Cantrall was cast in the role of Red. Cantrall began her career online, singing and performing on YouTube, later releasing her own music. She gained a presence in acting from Disney Channel roles, like Raven’s Home (2017-23), in the role of Jasmine in 2018, and the lead of Gabby in Gabby Duran & the Unsittables (2019-21). In 2023, Cantrall was cast as Dani in Season 4 of the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (2019-23). She also provided the voice of Savannah in the movie Ron’s Gone Wrong (2021). Cantrall had a link to Descendants prior to her role as Red, appearing alongside Cheyenne Jackson in the TV special Descendants Remix Dance Party (2020).
Chloe is the daughter of Cinderella and King Charming, so she has been brought up to be kind, selfless, hard-working, and loyal – which is quite amusing since her brother, Chad, turned out to be a bit of a jerk! Chloe is intelligent and athletic, so would easily thrive in a school like Auradon Prep. She behaves like a princess should, however, she soon finds that this annoys Red, who isn’t your typical princess, villain or hero, and learns through their time-travelling journey together that it isn’t always so easy to determine what a “good” person or a “bad” person is, realising that she needs to decide what are the right and wrong actions for her, not just fitting everything and everyone into a simple category.
The part of Chloe went to Malia Baker. She began her acting career with a few small roles in series like The Flash (2014-23) and The Twilight Zone (2019-20), before starring as Mary Anne Spier in the Netflix series The Baby-Sitters Club (2020-21). After this, she appeared in the second revival series of Are You Afraid of the Dark? (2019-22), in the role of Gabby Lewis for its second season.
For their parents, we have the Queen of Hearts and Cinderella. In the present day, the Queen of Hearts is hard-to-please, easy-to-anger, and generally unlikeable. She rules Wonderland with an iron fist, everything being exactly to her satisfaction. On the other side of that, we have Cinderella. She is kind, caring, and the epitome of goodness. Despite her difficult upbringing, she has come out of it unscathed and unresentful, whereas the Queen of Hearts seems to blame everyone else for how she is feeling, turning her back on anyone who was cruel to her. They are the polar opposites of each other at this stage, with Cinderella trying to get the Queen to forget whatever prank was played on her at school, when they used to be friends, and let go of some of that hatred. It doesn’t work.
The Queen of Hearts was played by Rita Ora here. Rita Ora is best known for her singing career, where she has had such hits as “How We Do (Party)”, “R.I.P.”, “Anywhere”, and “Lonely Together”. She has also featured as a judge and host on talent shows such as The Masked Singer and The Voice. On screen, Ora was cast as Mia Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) and its two sequels, and later appeared as Dr. Laurent in Detective Pikachu (2019). She also voiced the character of Sir Luthera/Wandering Blade in the animated series Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight (2022-23).
Making a surprise appearance as Cinderella in Descendants: The Rise of Red was actually Brandy Norwood, who was cast in this same role for the 1997 live-action television movie Cinderella, which was produced by Disney but was based on Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical, not their animated movie. Although an unexpected casting choice, it was welcomed by many fans of the 1997 movie. Paolo Montalban, Brandy’s co-star, also returned to his role of Prince Charming, though now a king, for this Descendants movie. Brandy was originally known for her singing career though, releasing her debut album in 1993. She won an American Music Award in 1996 for Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist, a Grammy for her song “The Boy Is Mine” in 1999 for Best R&B Performance, a Teen Choice Award in 1999 for Choice Female Artist, and a Kids’ Choice Award in 1996 for Favorite Singer, amongst many accolades. Brandy was also a judge on the first season of America’s Got Talent (2006-present), was a contestant on Season 11 of Dancing with the Stars (2005-present), and has acted on various series including Zoe Ever After (2016) in the lead role, and Queens (2021-22) as Naomi Harris-Jones. Rita Ora was a big fan of Brandy when she was younger, so was so excited to be acting alongside her[1].
We also get to see the teenage versions of the Queen of Hearts and Cinderella, and their characters might surprise you. In actual fact, the Queen of Hearts, or Bridget as she is known at this point in time, is very kind, wanting to be friends with everyone, even the villains. It’s quite a shock for Red when she finds out that her mother changed so much just because of something that happened to her at school. Cinderella, or Ella as she is known, is not as nice and sweet as you might expect either. She is best friends with Bridget, and has a crush on Prince Charming, but despite Cinderella in many adaptations of the story not being angry with the fact she is treated as a servant and not seen to match up to people’s ideas of royalty, in this movie, Ella does seem to feel she has been treated unfairly and holds a grudge against the princesses, as we see in some of the scenes of Ella talking to Chloe. Ella tells Chloe “her princess is showing”, which isn’t the kindest thing to say to someone who has lived quite a sheltered life; there are better ways of voicing this! It’s also odd to hear Ella say her best friend is “weak”, when she talks to Red and Chloe about why the VKs pick on Bridget. It’s a very strange take on the character, but I guess it is more layered than many other versions. It is just at odds with Brandy’s portrayal of Cinderella, I think.
Bridget was played by Ruby Rose Turner, with Ella being portrayed by Morgan Dudley. Ruby Rose Turner had previously been cast as Cami in the series Coop & Cami Ask the World (2018-20) for Disney Channel before Descendants: The Rise of Red. Morgan Dudley recently appeared in the Netflix movie A Tourist’s Guide to Love (2023) as Robin.
Now, for the VKs. The leader of this new group is Uliana. As Ella says to Chloe and Red, she is trying to “out-mean” her older sister, Ursula, by bullying many of the royals. She has a group of sidekicks around her, including the mistress of all evil, Maleficent, and God of the Underworld, Hades, which is a little bit weird, seeing as I highly doubt those two would be anyone’s sidekick, but never mind. To be honest, I find the whole concept of these particular villains being at school odd, and it’s very hard not to get confused by all the multiple storylines from the animated films, as well as those in Descendants. Even though Descendants clearly has its own story, and is not related to the animated films, I can’t forget the canon of the animated films when it comes to the villain parents in Descendants.
Anyway, Dara Reneé was cast as Uliana, having been cast as Kourtney Greene in the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. She had also appeared in the Disney Channel Original Movie Freaky Friday (2018), and, alongside Kylie Cantrall and Cheyenne Jackson, was a part of the TV special Descendants Remix Dance Party (2020). Reneé is very much the star here, with the rest of VKs not making a big impression on me.
There are only two returning characters and cast members for Descendants: The Rise of Red, and they are China Anne McClain, returning in the role of Uma, and Melanie Paxson, returning as Fairy Godmother. Although the movie does not revolve around them, and they are minor, supporting roles this time around, it felt comforting to have these two back. It made me settle into the story a bit easier, knowing those two were there, even if Mal, Jay, Evie, and Ben were not.
MUSIC
The music of Descendants: The Rise of Red, on the whole, is decent. I do like the first song of “Red”, performed by Kylie Cantrall. This is our first introduction to the character of Red, and it’s a strong, powerful song, where we see that she is not her mother’s daughter and wants nothing more than to escape her. She also gets a kick out of destroying her mother’s castle grounds and dodging her guards apparently! On 21st June 2024, “Red” was released as the second single from the movie, and it was performed by Cantrall as part of “NerdNite” at Vidcon in Anaheim on 28th June[2]. Alex Boniello also performs on this song as the Jack of Diamonds, Head of the Queen of Hearts’ army. Boniello had previously performed the roles of Moritz and Connor Murphy in the Broadway productions of Spring Awakening, from 2015 to 2016, and Dear Evan Hansen, from 2018 to 2020, respectively.
Red then gets a duet with her mother, performed by Rita Ora, called “Love Ain’t It”, when they arrive at Auradon, as the Queen of Hearts tries to convince her daughter to rule Wonderland just like she does. This is also when we see the hostility between the Queen of Hearts and Cinderella. Honestly, I didn’t like this song much at all, and probably even found it worse than the duet Mal has with Hades in Descendants 3. It doesn’t match my style or taste in music and is nothing to do with the singers. I’m a big fan of Rita Ora’s music normally. Malia Baker, as Chloe, also gets to have a duet with Cantrall as Red, and that is “Fight of Our Lives”, when the two figure out how to work alongside each other, despite their differences, so they can fix everything and get back to Auradon. I don’t mind the chorus too much on this one, but I don’t love the rap portions particularly.
Chloe later has a duet with her mother, performed by Morgan Dudley, but when she’s younger. This is the song “Get Your Hands Dirty”. They are actually cleaning up Lady Tremaine’s courtyard together, though this is all about Ella telling Chloe that life isn’t always “black and white”, when Chloe isn’t sure what to do about stopping the villains; she knows breaking into Merlin’s office is wrong, but should she do it anyway “for the greater good”, to stop the VKs? This is quite a pleasant song, and I like the melody.
Now for the big group numbers. There are two of these. The first one is “Life Is Sweeter”, where Red and Chloe are introduced to all the students at Merlin Academy, as Bridget hands out cupcakes to everyone. This is my second favourite song in the soundtrack, after “Red”. It’s a hopeful, positive song with all the heroes, showing everyone in harmony – until the VKs come along. But that makes it all the more fun! It also gets a reprise at the end of the movie, performed by Ora and Cantrall. The other group number is just for the villains, and it’s called “Perfect Revenge”, whilst they are discussing the best revenge plan for Bridget. Again, it’s a bit too “rappy” for me, but Dara Renée is very good here as Uliana. I also liked the “poor unfortunate soul” line. Clever.
We also have three shorter songs that appear in the movie. One of these is “Shuffle of Love”, performed by Ruby Rose Turner as Bridget. The full version of the song appears on the soundtrack, but it only appears briefly in Descendants: The Rise of Red, when Red and Chloe are talking to Bridget in her room, and she mentions a new dance she’s created. It would’ve been a good song to use if they’d had the Castlecoming dance scene… It is played during the End Credits too. Then there is a brief version of Cinderella and Charming, performed by Brandy and Pablo Montalban, singing “So This Is Love” from Cinderella (1950). But the best one is “What’s My Name (Red Version)”. Uma performs this during the Welcoming Ceremony at Auradon Prep, just her and her pirates, which I very much enjoyed. The full version was actually the first single from the soundtrack to be released, on 26th April 2024, and features Kylie Cantrall as Red too.
Another song that appears on the soundtrack is a remix of “Life Is Sweeter”. Finally, a cover of Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” is also listed on the soundtrack, performed by Cantrall, along with “Descendants: The Rise of Red Score Suite instrumental”, composed by Torin Borrowdale. The song “Bad Reputation” might sound familiar to anyone who likes 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Shrek (2001), or Red, White & Royal Blue (2023).
Much like its predecessors, the soundtrack for Descendants: The Rise of Red topped the US Billboard Kid Albums and US Soundtrack Albums charts, however, it has so far only peaked at No. 60 on the Billboard 200 chart, whereas the previous three Descendants soundtracks had reached No. 1, No. 6, and No. 7 respectively on that same chart.
PRODUCTION
Although a potential new Descendants movie exploring the realm of Wonderland was teased at the end of the animated short film Descendants: The Royal Wedding in 2021, it wasn’t for another year that this movie would be announced.
At the D23 Expo in September 2022, a new Descendants film was officially confirmed as being in production, under the working title Descendants: The Pocketwatch, clearly referencing the pocket watch that Red uses to go back in time. This title was perhaps a bit too “on the nose” so in March 2023, the official movie name was announced as Descendants: The Rise of Red. It would also seem that Disney were careful not to refer to it as Descendants 4, not wanting to annoy original Descendants fans any more than they already had! It also makes it clearer that this was going to be a spin-off, not a sequel. It was also said that Descendants: The Rise of Red would premiere on Disney+.
In March 2023, it was also confirmed that the original VKs would not be returning but that Uma and Fairy Godmother would be. Other casting news at this time was that Brandy and Paolo Montalban would be reprising their roles of Cinderella and Prince Charming from Disney’s live-action 1997 film Cinderella. Rita Ora was named as the Queen of Hearts, Kylie Cantrall was named as Red, her daughter, and Malia Baker was cast as Chloe, Cinderella’s daughter, alongside a list of teen actors who would be portraying students at Merlin’s Academy, like Villain Kids and Princes and Princesses. One of these was going to be a younger version of Rapunzel, named Zellie, whose scenes ended up being cut for time.
It was also believed at this time that the basic plot would be that Chloe and Red would be using the magical pocket watch to go back in time after chaos breaks out during the celebration of a new royal baby. This got fans very excited over the possibility of this being the announcement of Mal and Ben’s baby, even though they weren’t scheduled to return, as well as speculation over who else in Auradon might be having a baby[3]. This storyline was still being written in articles talking about Descendants: The Rise of Red as close to the premiere date as May 2024. This idea was clearly scrapped, for unknown reasons. All I can say is that I’m glad Disney couldn’t write a storyline of Mal and Ben having a baby, despite some fans clearly wanting this. Ben and Mal must still be in their early-20s at this stage. Come on, give them a chance to live their own lives first!
This new movie meant new characters to the Descendants franchise, and as per usual, their costuming did not disappoint. Much like the earlier Descendants films, there is still the same emphasis on characters having signature colours. In this case, Red and the Queen of Hearts, obviously, wear red, with Chloe and Cinderella wearing the expected blue. Bridget, a kinder version of the Queen of Hearts, wears pink, and Ella actually has more turquoise than blue in her costume, probably to distinguish between her and Chloe. Because Ella has turquoise in her clothes, it means that Uliana has a mixture of colours, like purple, to reference Ursula, and turquoise, to reference Uma, so the family colour chart is still the same. Unlike the Descendants trilogy though, we don’t see nearly as many princes and princesses wearing pretty dresses and tailored suits. The “VK look” of leather trousers, boots, and jackets certainly seems to have caught on, even in the past! Chloe isn’t even wearing a dress in present day Auradon, whereas Audrey, Mulan, Chad, and Ben are all costumed in typical royal and aristocratic fashion in their pastels and soft fabrics in the earlier movies. Tony Award-nominated costume designer Emilio Sosa took over the costume designs from Kara Saun for Descendants: The Rise of Red. Like Saun, Sosa was also on Project Runway, becoming the runner-up in Season 7. He went on to design costumes for various musicals and plays, such as Porgy and Bess, for which he received his Tony Award nomination in 2012, Sweeney Todd, and Annie Live! (2021).
There were also all new sets, like Wonderland. Wonderland is set in picture-perfect landscaping, with perfectly manicured gardens, a huge red castle, and many references to their “wonderful” queen. It is a much better version of Wonderland than what we see in the ABC spin-off series Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (2013-14); also Disney, also live-action, but with the benefit of ten more years of CGI development. Anyone who has seen this series will know exactly what I’m talking about! Later, we get a brief look at the Villains’ hangout of the Black Lagoon, where they actually go inside an old, dead anglerfish… Eww. It might not even be dead, which makes it even more gross!
Again, similarly to the Descendants trilogy, the cast were put through tough training schedules, for dancing and sword-fighting. The dance routines aren’t quite as big as those in the first three Descendants movie. Although there are some ensemble dances, they don’t open and close the movie, and don’t feel like big celebratory moments with all the young cast, but the choreography is just as complicated and contemporary as you’d expect.
RECEPTION
Descendants: The Rise of Red held its red carpet on 10th July 2024 at the Disney Studios in Burbank, which the cast attended, before premiering on screen on 12th July; however, this was not on Disney Channel as you might expect. It was first shown on Disney+.
After Disney’s streaming service became such a huge success on its debut in the US and Canada in November 2019, before hitting the global markets in 2020, it was decided that Disney Channel would shut down in certain countries, the UK included, in the early 2020s, with content moving online instead, although Disney Channel does remain in America. Descendants: The Rise of Red will have a Disney Channel premiere on 9th August.
Luckily, having its release on Disney+ only increases a movie’s chances of having high viewing figures, and Descendants: The Rise of Red was no different. It became the most viewed Disney Channel Original Movie premiere in Disney+ history – though in all fairness, I don’t think there have been too many of those so far – having 6.7 million views in its first three days on the platform. This is comparable to Descendants 3, which was viewed by 8 million total in the three days after its premiere date[4].
However, high viewership does not always correlate with audience reaction. In this case, Descendants: The Rise of Red suffered more negative reviews than those within the original Descendants trilogy. Some of these opinions were established from the point that production of Descendants: The Rise of Red was confirmed, due to the fact that making a new Descendants movie without Cameron Boyce was seen as an insult to his memory by a small proportion of fans. The fact that some of the original cast members confirmed they would not be returning to this “sequel” as well, having moved on to other projects since, made this original opinion even stronger, as these fans felt that the original cast were also against a new Descendants film. Some of these fans even debated “boycotting” Descendants: The Rise of Red for this reason, but whether they did or not, I don’t know.
Others were excited by this movie, and were quick to point out that Descendants: The Rise of Red was not being promoted as a sequel, and is in fact a spin-off. These fans liked the idea of new universes being explored outside of Mal and her friends in Auradon.
This was prior to the movie’s premiere, and yet even after the premiere, the reviews seem to fit into two different camps once again. The more positive camp say that the movie does feel like an extension of the Descendants franchise, with some great music, costuming, and set pieces, and just said that it was not better than the original trilogy because it was different, so perhaps shouldn’t be compared to the original movies anyway. It was deemed “good enough” but not exactly special.
The more negative side said that there was some confusion over the characters, especially as the original actors from the 1997 Cinderella film were brought back for Descendants: The Rise of Red, even though their backstory wasn’t going to be the same as the 1997 film. I will admit this did take a bit of time for me to get my head around. I had to basically forget everything that I had seen in Cinderella (1997) and adjust to the fact that Cinderella and Prince Charming actually met at school here. I have only recently watched Cinderella, so it wasn’t too difficult for me to do, but had you been a huge fan of that movie, watching it multiple times throughout your life, I can understand this new backstory being too much to get on board with. Others also felt that the story was rushed, and full of plot holes, which is a typical comment with many time-travel-based movies; everyone gets confused.
So, what did I think of Descendants: The Rise of Red? I thought it was alright, but I won’t be rushing back to watch it. Some of the music did feel similar to the Descendants trilogy; I liked Uma returning, if only for a few brief scenes; and I found many of the new characters quite likeable and well-acted, such as Red, Chloe, and Bridget. But parts of the story did confuse me. The biggest issue I had was that it felt to me like the story had been leading us in a new direction, a big twist, which never came to pass. Instead, we got the ending we’d all been expecting, which isn’t new or exciting. This relates to the “prank” that is played on Bridget. Although Red and Chloe believe the VKs would be carrying out this prank on Bridget, I thought that this was going to be red herring, and that Ella was going to have played the prank on her. I felt this because Ella wasn’t overly nice about Bridget, saying she was “weak”, and not accepting Bridget for the nice, sweet person she was. I wondered if maybe Red and Chloe would have stopped the VKs in their tracks, but then at the dance would come to find that Ella, Chloe’s mother, had actually done something to hurt or embarrass Bridget there, perhaps to try and impress her Prince Charming. This might have explained why Cinderella seemed to feel guilty over Bridget’s past in the present time, and why she became so kind and good, as a way of righting her past wrongs. This would have also fixed the “plot hole” of the VKs being frozen by touching the Sorcerer’s Cookbook, which would have surely happened in the original timeline, since Chloe and Red didn’t put magic on it, so they couldn’t have even carried out their plan. Anyway, we got what we got, and it was a predictable ending, which felt like a big let-down and a missed opportunity.
LEGACY
Much like the first three Descendants movies, clothing, novels, and toys were available to purchase around the time of Descendants: The Rise of Red’s release date. Some of these toys included dolls, produced by Mattel, of the new characters, like Uliana, Red, Chloe, and Bridget. Some of these dolls were also produced with a version of the Sorcerer’s Cookbook[5].
It would also seem like Descendants: The Rise of Red was made with a sequel already in mind. Uma’s voiceover at the end of the movie suggests that Chloe and Red have messed up the timeline by going back in time, and that the consequences of this have yet to be discovered. This turned out to be exactly the set-up for another movie that it intended to be, with “Descendants 5” first announced in February 2025. An official title for the movie was announced on 6th May 2025: Descendants: Wicked Wonderland, signalling that this movie will take place in Wonderland.
Furthermore, at the D23 Expo in August 2024, it was announced that some of the cast of Descendants: The Rise of Red would be reuniting for a concert tour in Summer 2025. But this isn’t just a concert for Descendants fans, because this concert tour also involves cast members from the ZOMBIES franchise, making this the Descendants/ZOMBIES: Worlds Collide Tour. From Descendants: The Rise of Red, fans can look forward to seeing Kylie Cantrall, Dara Reneé, Malia Baker, and Joshua Colley on stage, alongside stars of ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires Freya Skye, Malachi Burton, and Mekonnen Knife. The tour kicked off in San Diego on 17th July 2025, and will end in Fort Worth, Texas on 16th September 2025.
Within the Disney Parks, costumes and props from Descendants: The Rise of Red have been spotted at the attraction Walt Disney Presents at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort. Costumes of Red, Chloe, Bridget, and the Queen of Hearts, along with a replica of the Sorcerer’s Cookbook, are currently on show in one of the exhibits, as promotion for the new film. These exhibits swap out constantly, so it will likely only be around until hype for the film has died down.
This Halloween season, a new version of the DescenDANCE party that first debuted in 2019 after the release of Descendants 3 played at the Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween parties in 2024 at Rockettower Plaza Stage in Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, this time using music from Descendants: The Rise of Red[6].
FINAL THOUGHTS
Descendants: The Rise of Red received mixed reviews on its release. This may have surprised those at Disney, but it really shouldn’t have done. It was always going to be difficult to follow something as popular as the first three Descendants films, especially when Descendants 3 and Descendants: The Royal Wedding tied up everything pretty well. Without Cameron Boyce, it didn’t seem right to some fans to continue the franchise, so selling Descendants: The Rise of Red on this loyal group had to be tough.
I didn’t think Descendants: The Rise of Red was a bad movie, and if it hadn’t been linked to the Descendants franchise, I might have liked it more. It reminded me a little bit of The School for Good and Evil (2022), which I very much did like, probably more so because it wasn’t linked to Disney animated films. Having characters go back in time to see these great villains of Disney Animation just seemed strange; seeing them in the future is much easier to accept than seeing them in the past, when we already think we know what they’ve done from some of the best Disney animated movies ever made. It didn’t work so well.
The time-travel angle does give Disney some scope to rectify some of the viewer complaints and comments, such as around character development and predictable storylines, but it remains to be seen whether Disney can live up to this potential.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Entertainment Tonight, ‘Descendants: Rise of Red: Go Behind the Scenes of Brandy’s Cinderella Return! (Exclusive)’, Entertainment Tonight YouTube Channel, 7th July 2024.
[2] Credit: Disney, ‘Kylie Cantrall Paints Wonderland “Red” In New Music Video From “Descendants: The Rise of Red”’, DisneyPlus.com, 21st June 2024.
[3] Credit: Author Unknown, ‘Descendants 4: The Rise of Red – what we know about the new Disney film’, BBC.co.uk, 27th March 2023.
[4] Credit: Phil Wood, ‘‘Descendants: The Rise of Red’ Breaks Three-Day Disney+ Viewership Record’, WDWNT.com, 17th July 2024.
[5] Credit: Author Unknown, ‘Celebrate the Release of Descendants: The Rise of Red with New Products and Soundtrack!’, D23.com, 12th July 2024.
[6] Credit: Cade Handley, ‘New ‘Descendants: The Rise of Red’ Exhibit at Disney’s Hollywood Studios’, WDWNT.com, 12th July 2024.
The Disney Purist 