1. BACKGROUND
2. PLOT
3. CHARACTERS & CAST
4. MUSIC
5. PRODUCTION
6. RECEPTION
7. LEGACY
8. FINAL THOUGHTS
9. REFERENCES

BACKGROUND

Descendants had become a huge entertainment property for The Walt Disney Company in the space of just a couple of years. With two movies, a few television spin-offs, a series of novels, costumes, and merchandising, Descendants was great for business.

So, it made sense for the Descendants franchise to increase its potential with one more movie, to create a trilogy. Uma had told us at the end of Descendants 2 (2017) that the story still wasn’t over after all, so a “threequel” just made sense.

Disney film trilogies aren’t actually all that common. No Disney animated film has currently stretched to three movies, with sequels even being relatively rare, although it has been said that Frozen III is in the works. Only Pixar’s Cars and Toy Story franchises have gone as far as three movies, although Toy Story has of course reached four, with a fifth apparently in development.

In Disney Channel movie history, Descendants became the fifth franchise to reach at least three films, after Zenon, Halloweentown, The Cheetah Girls, and High School Musical, but making Descendants 3 was still a big deal. The identity of Mal’s father was being teased; Uma was going to make a return and she wasn’t going to be happy; plus, Descendants 2 talked about a whole new generation of Villain Kids making their way to Auradon. A lot was going to happen and the fans were excited about where Descendants 3 would take them.

Little did we know that the hype train was about to come to a crushing stop.

On 6th July 2019, the news broke that Cameron Boyce, the actor who played Carlos, had suddenly passed away, at the age of just 20, a month before Descendants 3 would be released. I remember where I was when I found out, because I was away on holiday. My thoughts instantly turned to Cameron’s family, and to the cast of Descendants, who I knew would be absolutely devastated to lose one of their closest friends, and someone they had been working alongside for four years. Promoting this movie was going to be a struggle for them, and watching the movie was going to be difficult for the fans.

I was in my late-20s when I watched Descendants 3 and I was not looking forward to it. I knew it would be difficult to watch, even for me, someone who hadn’t grown up watching this cast. They were a similar age to me, so I was just devastated for them. I can’t imagine how the young fans of the franchise must have felt at this news. It might have felt to them like a close friend had suddenly gone from their lives and they didn’t know how to handle it.

Before this week, I had only watched Descendants 3 once, on its premiere date in the UK. After that, I had bought the DVD but I hadn’t watched it again. In all honesty, I wasn’t a fan of the story or the music. I was not sure whether or not the news of Cameron’s passing had been the main factor in me not enjoying Descendants 3. On re-watching it this week, I found my opinion had only changed slightly. It is most definitely my least favourite of the three, although I did like the ending and felt that the finality of it was fitting, as well as ending the series on a high note, especially in light of the tragic news.

PLOT

Descendants 3 begins with Mal giving us all a brief recap about the journey of the VKs in Auradon so far. We then find that the four VKs, Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos, are at the Isle of the Lost to announce the new VKs that have been selected to come to Auradon, to study at Auradon Prep as they did. At a ceremony for “VK Day”, it is confirmed that Dizzy, daughter of Drizella; Celia, daughter of Dr. Facilier; and Squirmy and Squeaky, twin sons of Mr. Smee, will be the next four to go to Auradon. They will be picked up and brought to Auradon soon.

Back in Auradon, Mal has been keeping watch for Uma as she is worried about her return and what threat she may bring to Auradon when she does. Ben tells her not to worry and that they’d better get going to pick up the new VKs. They go outside, where many other Auradon residents are, supposedly to watch the new VKs journey to Auradon on television. It then turns out that this is a surprise proposal, with Ben proposing to Mal. She happily accepts, and everyone is so happy for them both. All except Audrey, Aurora’s daughter, who has returned to Auradon. Her grandmother, Queen Leah, is furious with Audrey for ruining their family’s legacy by not becoming Ben’s queen. But there’s no time for bad vibes, because Mal, Ben, Carlos, Jay, and Evie have to get to the Isle to collect the new VKs.

As the group are about to leave the Isle through the barrier, disaster strikes. Hades rushes towards the closing barrier and tries to pull himself through. Mal transforms into her dragon form to try and fight him off, but Hades attacks her, using his “ember” to drain her of her magic. Using the last bit of strength she has, Mal successfully pushes Hades back through the barrier, and they return to Auradon. But that’s not all. Audrey, angry at Mal for “ruining her life”, goes to the Museum of Cultural History to steal the Queen of Auradon’s crown. At the same time, she is drawn to Maleficent’s sceptre, which also resides there as an exhibit. Audrey takes both the sceptre and the crown and becomes a villain.

With all this happening, Belle and Beast, and Fairy Godmother, are concerned about the safety of Auradon. Mal proposes that the best solution is to close the barrier forever. Ben is not happy with this solution, as it ruins his whole plan to unite Auradon and the Isle of the Lost eventually. Mal says it is their only choice and he reluctantly agrees to it. Mal goes to talk this all through with Evie, however, Mal does not mention that it was actually her idea to close the barrier and Evie believes Mal won’t let that happen, pleased that Mal is soon to be an official royal and she can make important decisions like that. At Evie’s house or company headquarters, because she’s now a big-time fashion designer, Audrey arrives, showing that she was the one who stole the artefacts. Mal tells Audrey not to use Maleficent’s sceptre, because the magic is too dangerous and too powerful. Audrey doesn’t care, having gone full villain at this point, and turns Mal into an old hag. Evie, Carlos, and Jay see what has happened and ask if Mal’s magic can reverse the spell on her. Mal says that there is only one thing that can reverse the magic of the sceptre; Hades’ ember.

The four VKs, and Celia, because she knows where Hades’ lair is, head to the Isle on their scooters, using the same magic spell that Mal used in Descendants 2 to get across the water without opening the barrier. Meanwhile, at a birthday party for Jane, Carlos’ girlfriend and Fairy Godmother’s daughter, Audrey has arrived and puts a sleeping curse on the gathering. Jane avoids the spell by jumping into the Enchanted Lake, whose waters can reverse magic spells, until it dissipates. She then calls Ben to tell him what has happened to the others. When the VKs arrive on the Isle, Mal is freed from the “old hag” spell, since there is no magic on the Isle. They go to Dr. Facilier’s Voodoo Arcade where Carlos sees a news report on television saying that all of Auradon is under a sleeping curse. This further motivates Mal to get Hades’ ember. The others try to retrieve their scooters from Harry and Gil, who have stolen them, whilst Mal and Celia rush over to Hades’ lair, where we learn that Hades is in fact Mal’s father. Hades naturally does not want to part with the ember, but after some persuasion, he hands it over to Mal, warning her that she is only “half Hades” so its powers won’t work in the same way. Mal says she’ll take her chances and leaves with it, being told not to get it wet. Who knew magic embers were like gremlins?

Back in Auradon, Audrey appears to Ben, saying she’ll reverse the curse if he makes her his queen. Obviously, Ben refuses this, so instead of putting Ben to sleep, Audrey curses him with something else, and then she starts turning some of the Auradon residents to stone.

The VKs then leave the Isle – via the barrier that Jay has the remote control for. Which is odd, because they arrived on their magic scooters over the water; why didn’t they just drive on the road to the Isle? Anyway, they couldn’t retrieve the scooters, so I guess they are walking now, but just as the barrier is about to close, Harry and Gil jump through it. The ember is knocked out of Mal’s hand, but luckily, Uma appears in the water and catches it. She turns into her human self again, and says that she’s been looking for a hole in the barrier, but couldn’t find one, though she did get to see from afar all the wonderful things that Auradon has that the Isle does not. Uma says she’ll drop the ember in the ocean unless Mal agrees that all the VKs on the Isle be given the chance to go to Auradon. Mal agrees through desperation. Uma, Harry, and Gil then join the others on the quest to lift the curse.

In Auradon, Carlos’ dog, Dude, still talking after the events of Descendants 2, tells them that Audrey put some of the residents to sleep and others turned to stone. The group go to the castle to find Ben, but Audrey has been watching them through the sceptre and curses the suits of armour to attack them. Luckily, the VKs outsmart the spell and move on. They then go to Audrey’s school dorm room to try and find her. She’s not there, but Uma reads her diary and discovers that she spends a lot of time at Fairy Cottage. The team then split up, with the boys going to find Ben, and the girls going to Evie’s house.

At the house, they find Doug, Evie’s boyfriend, asleep, and she wakes him with true love’s kiss. But Audrey tries to use magic to trap them in the house. Using both their magic powers combined, Uma and Mal manage to defeat the spell, showing that they actually make a good team. Meanwhile, the boys discover that Ben has been turned into a beast. Carlos gets him to calm down by removing a thorn from his paw, and then Jane comes along and shoots him with water from the Enchanted Lake to – mostly – remove the curse. It seems the water is not all-powerful though and leaves Ben with fangs and some grizzly facial hair!

They then meet the others at Evie’s house, before heading out to Fairy Cottage, with Ben leading the way since Audrey had taken him there before. Only a traumatised Chad, Cinderella’s son, is found, as he had been helping Audrey until she went a bit too evil. Afterwards, Ben wonders why Uma is helping them, to which Evie says it’s because Mal promised to let all the VKs leave the Isle. Mal then confesses that her plan was, and still is, to close the barrier to the Isle – forever. Celia is angry that she will have to choose between her new life and seeing her father again, and snatches the ember, throwing it into some water. Uma and Harry angrily leave, and Evie tells Mal how disappointed she is in her, for getting her “happy ending” but not letting anyone else get theirs. Evie, Jay, Carlos, and Ben are then turned to stone by Audrey. Mal seems lost about what to do next.

She hears Celia calling for help and follows the sound, to see Audrey holding her hostage at the top of a tower. Mal still has the unlit ember and using her dragon form tries to relight it, but it doesn’t work. Uma sees Mal struggling and uses her magic to help relight the ember. It works and Mal battles Audrey. The ember breaks all the spells, but wounds Audrey.

An unconscious Audrey is being watched over by Leah, as Ben, Mal, and his parents discuss what to do next. Mal knows that only Hades can revive her with the ember, but Ben doesn’t believe he’ll ever do that for them. Mal tells Ben that Hades is in fact her father, so he should help. Ben orders his guards to bring Hades to them. Hades then arrives handcuffed. He is reluctant to do anything for them, since Audrey is a villain, and why should she be helped just because she’s “one of them”? She went evil and should be treated as all the other villains have been. Mal eventually convinces him to use his ember to help Audrey and she is revived. Audrey is very apologetic about what she’s done, with Leah saying sorry for putting pressure on her, and Ben and Mal apologising for how they hurt her. Hades then hands the ember over to Mal to keep.

Later, there is an engagement party for Mal and Ben in Auradon. Mal gets up to give a speech, but says that she does not want to be Queen of Auradon because it is not a united realm. She tells everyone that without the help of “the villains”, Auradon would be in ruins. Good and bad can come from anywhere, regardless of who your parents are, so fear of the villains doesn’t help deal with anything. Mal proposes that they do finally unite the Isle and Auradon, by destroying the barrier once and for all. Ben and Fairy Godmother approve, and with the wand, the barrier is replaced with a bridge. All the residents from both the Isle and Auradon come together to celebrate, in a display of unity.

The movie then ends with Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos walking across the bridge to the Isle to finally see their parents again.

CHARACTERS & CAST

There is plenty of action in Descendants 3, but unlike in the other two movies, quite a few of the main characters aren’t really used, sadly. At least not to their fullest. The movie is instead mostly about Mal and Audrey, or about Mal and Uma, with Evie, Jay, Carlos, Ben, and the others only being used as sidekicks, in my opinion anyway. I think this is why I struggled with the film in part, because I feel like this movie is too plot-driven, and not character-driven.

Mal seems to have settled in very comfortably to her new royal role. Her and Ben are making serious decisions about Auradon together, and the thought of becoming queen after the two of them get engaged doesn’t faze her one bit, which is quite the transition from how she was in Descendants 2. It’s also a surprise that she would want to take down the barrier between the Isle and Auradon forever, since she was set on staying there in the previous movie when she was having a crisis of confidence. It just seems like Mal’s whole behaviour has changed so much between Descendants 2 and Descendants 3, and I couldn’t get on board with it. She’s no longer Mal, she’s Queen Mal, which is fine; I get that royal life would change a person, but I thought Mal didn’t want to change herself…

I also struggled with her and Ben’s engagement. It seems to me that between each of the Descendants movies, only a few months can have passed, despite the movie’s being made two years apart. Supposedly, Descendants 3 is set after they have graduated from Auradon Prep, though it is not mentioned[1], so, in my mind, I’m watching two 18-year-olds get engaged, which seems odd to me to put in a Disney Channel movie. I understand that in fairy tales and Disney’s animated movies many of the princes and princesses get married when they are young, but Descendants feels too much like real-life to me that this doesn’t feel overly appropriate. Obviously, they are in love and they are a cute couple, but I just don’t think this plot point was necessary to the overall story. She didn’t need to get engaged to Ben to be able to get her opinions across on Auradon matters; Ben would’ve wanted to hear them regardless of whether she was an “official royal” or not. It is possible these two are 20-years-old at the time of Descendants 3, because four years passed between the making of the movies, but I find it hard to believe that Dizzy has waited two years since her official invitation from King Ben to join Auradon Prep before actually being confirmed as coming over. I get that they’d need to do health and safety assessments, and educational plans, and emergency contact forms, and all that paperwork, but two years is just ridiculous!

As for Evie, Jay, and Carlos, they unfortunately don’t seem to have much to do in Descendants 3. Evie’s biggest plot point is around her having her first kiss with Doug and worrying that it may not be true love as she tries to wake him from the curse, but this is all resolved in one song. She’s got her fashion business empire now, and a house, and she seems to be the mentor for the new VKs, but that’s about it. Jay has no sports team to be involved with here, so his main story is about his blossoming bromance with Gil as they plan to travel the world together at the end of the movie. Carlos is concerned about missing Jane’s birthday party at the start of Descendants 3, and then not much else happens. They just seem to be helping hands, and it’s a shame that they didn’t get to do more, whereas in Descendants 2, they had a lot of time together to talk as a group, about how they were feeling, and each one had an important emotional breakthrough in one way or another.

Dove Cameron, Mitchell Hope, Sofia Carson, Booboo Stewart, and Cameron Boyce all returned to reprise their roles of Mal, Ben, Evie, Jay, and Carlos, respectively. Dove Cameron received the Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actress for her role as Mal in 2020, and since Descendants, Dove Cameron has continued to act on screen, for example in the musical comedy series Schmigadoon! (2021-23), and having a voice role in the animated series Big Nate (2022-present). She released her debut album Alchemical: Volume 1 in December 2023 and her song “Boyfriend” was a viral sensation in 2022. Mitchell Hope continues to appear in films, such as Let It Snow (2019) and the Prime Video film Don’t Make Me Go (2022).  

After receiving a main role in Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists (2019) – which was great and definitely deserved a second season – Sofia Carson went on to appear in multiple Netflix films including Feel the Beat (2020) and Purple Hearts (2022), where she also wrote for and performed on the soundtrack. Carson also performed at the Oscars in 2023 alongside Diane Warren, singing the song “Applause” from the movie Tell It Like a Woman (2022), which was up for Best Original Song that year.

After Descendants, Booboo Stewart was cast in Season 4 and 5 of the series Good Trouble (2022-24), and is a member of the band That Band Honey, as well as being a mixed media artist. The world lost a very gifted actor when Cameron Boyce passed away due to complications from epilepsy in July 2019. He would’ve gone on to have a successful career. Boyce was set to co-star in Adam Sandler’s Hubie Halloween (2020) at the time of his death. 

Uma, Harry, and Gil also returned to Descendants 3, and I must say, I wasn’t enjoying the movie all that much until Uma came back. She gave some much-needed energy to the film. Uma and Mal learning to get along and using their magic together is very touching, as is seeing them reconcile when the barrier goes down, since you can see how much that means to Uma, and how upset she was when it seemed that Mal was going to go back on her word just to get Uma to help her fix Auradon. Harry and Gil don’t add too much to the overall story, but they gave a much-needed injection of humour, from how they find Auradon to be a weird but wonderful place, stealing people’s money and eating too much fruit! At the end of the movie, Harry is rejected by Uma as he’ll flirt with anything that moves, so randomly, he seems to get together with Audrey, which is an amusing twist.

China Anne McClain, Thomas Doherty, and Dylan Playfair returned to portray their characters of Uma, Harry, and Gil, respectively. After Descendants, China Anne McClain was cast in Hubie Halloween (2020) and returned to Tyler Perry’s House of Payne (2006-present) where she plays the character Jazmine Payne. Doherty went on to star as Max Wolfe in the reboot of Gossip Girl (2021-23) and appeared in the horror film The Invitation (2022). Playfair continued to appear in the sitcom Letterkenny (2016-23) as Reilly, and then played Coach T in The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers (2021-22).

After missing out on Descendants 2, Audrey made her return to Auradon for Descendants 3. She was the resident mean girl of Auradon back in the first movie, but things certainly take a turn here, as she becomes a full villain, thanks to Maleficent’s magic, which is ironic given her family’s history with her! Audrey uses magic to try and “fix” her life, by convincing Ben to make her queen. It’s not the most tragic backstory for a villain, but it’s not the worst. She does have a lot of pressure from her grandmother to marry a king and become a queen, so it wasn’t entirely her fault that she went off the rails. For me, Audrey wasn’t an entirely convincing villain, as she seemed more crazed and hysterical than evil, though I did like her menacing singing of “Happy Birthday” as she cursed Jane’s birthday party. Sarah Jeffery returned to play Audrey. She had provided the worse of Audrey in the animated series Descendants: Wicked World (2015-17), despite missing out on Descendants 2. Jeffery went on to appear as Cristina Santos in crime drama Shades of Blue (2016-18) and was later cast as Maggie Vera in the reboot of the series Charmed (2018-22).

There is also the new VK, Celia. She seems to be close friends with Dizzy, another VK who is getting the chance to go to Auradon, but since Dizzy spends much of her time asleep, it is Celia’s opportunity to bond with the original VKs; Dizzy got to do that in Descendants 2. Celia is a trickster, like her father, Dr. Facilier, but wants to go to Auradon, and is very excited about the opportunity she’s being given. She is an immense help to the VKs as they look to find Hades, as she used to run errands for him so knows where he spends much of his time – which is how she avoids that pesky sleeping curse. Jadah Marie was cast in this new role of Celia, younger sister of Freddie, who appeared in the animated series. Before her casting in Descendants, she had appeared as Tasha in the sitcom Mann & Wife (2015-17). She also sang alongside Sarah Jeffery for the Christmas song “Audrey’s Christmas Rewind”, released in December 2019, and appeared in the Netflix series Julie and the Phantoms (2020), which was partly directed by Kenny Ortega.

Now to the last new character to mention: Hades. I’ve already said my bit about the Descendants’ villain portrayals being a bit weak for the parents. I can’t exactly say that for Hades, because he looks like a rock ‘n’ roll singer crossed with a biker, and he certainly is not flamboyant. He can indeed be menacing, but these moments do not last long, since he doesn’t want to be too mean to his own daughter. I can, however, say that I did not like this portrayal of Hades, although I know the majority of Descendants 3 viewers and critics did enjoy it. This Hades is nothing at all like the Hades that James Woods voiced for Hercules (1997). That was apparently the point, since Cheyenne Jackson, the actor who was cast as Hades for Descendants 3, did not want to use anything of Woods’ interpretation of the character[2]. This disappoints, but does not surprise, me. Kenny Ortega did want the actors to have their own take on these famous Disney villains, so it fits for the movie. The character himself is not actually that bad, much like how I felt about Kristin Chenoweth’s Maleficent, but they aren’t my Maleficent or Hades. The reveal of Hades as Mal’s father put an end to months of speculation. This couple pairing did please me though, as it makes quite a bit of sense, because, going back to the animated series House of Mouse (2001-03), there was an episode where Hades was trying to ask Maleficent out on a date.

Cheyenne Jackson began his career on the stage, appearing on Broadway in musicals such as understudy roles for Thoroughly Modern Millie and Aida in the early 2000s and later in Xanadu as Sonny from 2007 to 2008. More recently, Jackson played The Wolf and Cinderella’s Prince in Into the Woods on Broadway in 2022. On screen, he has had roles in the anthology series American Horror Story from 2015 to 2018. He also had a recurring role in the series Julie and the Phantoms (2020), alongside Jadah Marie and Booboo Stewart, and was cast as Max in the sitcom Call Me Kat (2021-23), with Mayim Bialik. Jackson also came third in Season 7 of The Masked Singer (2019-present).

MUSIC

Unlike Descendants and Descendants 2, there are more songs on this soundtrack that I don’t like than I do like. There is actually only one that I really like and unsurprisingly, that is “My Once Upon a Time”; I always like the big emotional songs. It’s a bit of a power ballad, with Mal knowing that she has made a mess of things with her plans for the barrier, upsetting her friends, and that she’ll have to find a way to fix them without the support of Evie, Jay, Carlos, and Ben who have been turned to stone. It’s a lovely song, and Dove Cameron’s vocals are stunning. The only problem is that in the movie, the song is not its full length and it is broken up with a scene of Mal pleading with Uma to help her, which kind of spoils it a bit.

There is one other song that I don’t mind too much and that is “Night Falls”, performed as the group battle the suits of armour. It has some great harmonies, and it has a good beat to it, but when they, in true Disney fashion, defeat them with a dance battle, it gets a bit weird for me! It charted at No. 84 on the Billboard Hot 100. I also have mixed feelings about “Queen of Mean”, Audrey’s solo about how she’s going to get what she wants once and for all. I don’t like the rap portions, but the more melodic sections are quite nice. “Queen of Mean” reached No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and spent eight consecutive weeks in that chart, making it the longest charting Descendants song. I know it was definitely the most popular song when the film came out.

Then we’ve got the two big production numbers, one to open the movie, and another to close, as per the first two Descendants movies. The opening number is “Good to Be Bad”, a hip-hop number with street dance choreography to match. It’s not about being evil or mean, unlike “Rotten to the Core” and “Ways to Be Wicked”, but instead it’s a celebration about the new VKs getting their chance to go to Auradon, as well as the original VKs recognising the importance of the Isle in their upbringing. It’s a catchy number, but I don’t prefer it to the other two opening songs. “Break This Down”, the final song, I also don’t prefer to “Set It Off” from Descendants, or “You and Me” from Descendants 2, but it is a cheerful song all about unity, and it is nice to see residents from the Isle and Auradon dance together.

So, for two songs that I unfortunately don’t like at all. The first is the rock ‘n’ roll duet between Mal and Hades, “Do What You Gotta Do”. She’d already had a duet with her mother in the first film, so I suppose it made sense for her to have a duet with her father, but this is odd. The two are mostly just trading barbs with each other, about how Hades wasn’t there for her as a child. It’s a strange song, I think, and it doesn’t move any of the plot forward. “Evil Like Me” at least showed the power Maleficent had over Mal, and how she felt she had to follow in her mother’s footsteps to make her happy.

The other is “One Kiss”, performed by Sofia Carson as Evie when she is readying herself to kiss Doug and wake him from the sleeping curse. Sofia Carson has a beautiful singing voice, and she hadn’t had a solo in Descendants prior to this, so it was nice to see that. However, again, this song felt like an unnecessary addition to the soundtrack, other than to showcase Sofia. I felt very much like Mal and Uma, thinking just kiss him already!

There are a few other songs on the soundtrack that vaguely appear in the main movie. One of these is China Anne McClain’s cover of “Dig a Little Deeper” from The Princess and the Frog (2009) in the End Credits. This matches the two The Little Mermaid (1989) covers that appeared on Descendants 2, to show that the new VK is the child of that film’s villain. Another is Audrey’s sinister version of “Happy Birthday”, which I very much like, and Ben’s reprise of “Did I Mention” from the first film which he sings as he proposes to Mal.

Outside of this, there are also two other songs that are additional to the movie. One is “Rotten to the Core” (D3 Remix), which features other VKs other than the original four, including Harry, Uma, Audrey, and Celia. I’ve never really liked remixes, but it’s good to update the original song with these other VKs to give them a chance to shine too. The other is “VK Mashup”, which is, as you’d expect, a mashup of some of the big VKs songs from all three movies. An excerpt of the Descendants 3 score, composed by David Lawrence once more, also features on the soundtrack. All cast sing for their characters in Descendants 3.

The Descendants 3 soundtrack peaked at No. 7 on the US Billboard 200 album chart, in a lower position than either of the two movies before it. It did, however, still top the US Kid Albums and US Soundtrack Albums charts. It was also nominated for Top Soundtrack at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards, but lost out to the soundtrack of Frozen II (2019).

PRODUCTION

Descendants 3 begins in a different place emotionally to the first two films. In the first movie, the Villain Kids only know the Isle and how to be evil or mean. In the second movie, they are adjusting to their new lives in Auradon, some quicker than others. Descendants 3 already feels more like there is unity between the Isle and Auradon, as the VKs are no longer ashamed of their past in the Isle, and know that the young VKs who still remain there should be able to choose their own path, which is why they are letting more attend Auradon Prep.

With this in mind, we see that the Isle of the Lost is actually cleaner, brighter, and the residents are much happier, because they know that Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos are now championing their rights over in Auradon. I did say that the villains would clean up the place if they felt properly motivated! Unless the residents of Auradon did it as some sort of community project, or by way of apology for twenty years of banishment and neglect… Either way, it looks pretty good and to properly pay tribute to their four “success stories”, each one now has an area of the Isle named after them: Carlos’ House, Evie’s Alley, Jay’s Way, and Mal’s Court.

There are also new sets featured on the Isle again. One of these is Hades’ Cave, which looks like a typical “man cave”. It’s dark, there is stuff all over the place, and he must’ve taken some interior design tips from Gaston, because there are sheep-skin rugs everywhere. This is the place where Hades wants to sit and be angry by himself, so naturally, the front entrance has a big sign saying “GET LOST” across it. Another new set on the Isle is Dr. Facilier’s Voodoo Arcade, which is huge, brightly lit, and features lots of games and stands, like a carnival would look. There are also references to Dr. Facilier’s “friends on the other side”, with a giant picture of one on the entrance way. The actor who played Dr. Facilier in Descendants 3 in a few brief scenes was Jamal Sims, who happened to be the choreographer on this movie. Sims had previously worked with Miley Cyrus, on the choreography of her song “Hoedown Throwdown” from Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009) and on her Wonder World Tour in 2009. He has also regularly appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race (2009-present) as a choreographer and guest judge.

The costumes for Descendants 3 were made to feel more couture and be more finessed this time around, though there is still plenty of leather and high-heeled boots in the characters’ outfits. There are less cutesy dresses and suits though, probably because the characters spend more time on the Isle and battling evil in this story. There is also a layer of added sophistication to some of the characters, such as Uma, Harry, and Gil. In Descendants 2, their costumes were a little bit tatty, because of their difficult time on the Isle and the lack of access to high-quality fabrics, I guess. This time, they look more stylish and classier than in Descendants 2. China Anne McClain stated in a behind-the-scenes video that Uma’s costume was made to look like it was glistening; to reference the fact she had been in the ocean for a long time as she tried to find a way into Auradon.

Audrey also got a new look. She is wearing a pink dress reminiscent of her mother, Aurora’s, at the start of the movie, and has pink and blue streaks in her hair, to reference the Good Fairies’ fight over what colour Aurora’s dress should be in Sleeping Beauty (1959). I don’t particularly like that look. Her evil villainess look seems to suit her much better. She looks like a younger, brighter, more modern version of Maleficent.

As for Hades, gone are the flowing robes that we are used to, and instead we get a biker, rock ‘n’ roll outfit for the character, which matches Cheyenne Jackson’s choices for his portrayal of Hades, but not Disney Animation’s. We also got to see Ben briefly made up like the Beast. It apparently took five or six hours to put all the prosthetics on, which must have been a pain, but luckily, I doubt it took more than a day or two to film those scenes[3]!

As the premiere date came closer and closer, the cast obviously went out to promote the movie. At Disney Channel Fan Fest at Disney California Adventure Park at Disneyland on 27^th April 2019, Booboo Stewart, Sofia Carson, Dove Cameron, Cheyenne Jackson, Anna Cathcart and Jadah Marie came on stage to talk about their new movie. A video introducing the character of Hades was shown as well as some teaser trailers. It was also confirmed that Descendants 3 would air in August.

Following on from that, there were the usual interviews and behind-the-scenes videos released on Disney Channel to hype up the new movie. Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson, Cheyenne Jackson, Booboo Stewart, and Kenny Ortega even appeared on Celebrity Family Feud, on 28^th July 2019, where they won $10,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

A fan dance party event was also held at the Marketplace Stage at Disney Springs at the Walt Disney World Resort from 26^th July to 11^th August 2019, showcasing some of the music from the movies. This was then moved to Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café at Magic Kingdom for the Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween parties. It seemed to just be a single DJ hosting the event there, however when it came to Disneyland for the Oogie Boogie Bash that same year, there were a group of dancers teaching guests specific dance routines to go along with music from Descendants[4].

There was also an addition to the A Descendants Short Story series and that was Audrey’s Royal Return, which aired on 5^th July 2019. It sees Audrey going to a spa and recapping the events of Descendants and Descendants 2 from her point of view, basically saying how Mal coming to Auradon has put everyone in danger, and that is why she stayed away from Auradon for a while, taking a break from it all at Fairy Cottage in the forest. But she misses Auradon and wanted to make a big entrance, so she has had a makeover at the spa to get her ready for that day. If this biased recap of events wasn’t enough for you, a more factual “Story So Far” video was also shown on Disney Channel.

RECEPTION

After all that build-up, everyone was ready for Descendants 3, however, in light of Cameron Boyce’s death, the red-carpet premiere that was scheduled for 22^nd July 2019 was cancelled. The Walt Disney Company instead made a donation to the Thirst Project, a charity organisation that Cameron supported. He had received the Pioneering Spirit Award in April 2019 for raising $30,000 for the Thirst Project, which aims to bring awareness and aid for the global water crisis. It was also announced at this time that Disney Channel would dedicate the telecast of Descendants 3 in Cameron’s memory[5].

Descendants 3 aired on Disney Channel in the US on 2^nd August 2019, where it was watched by around 4.5 million viewers on the night. It came to other Disney Channels worldwide in October that year. Most viewers liked the positive message of the movie, that good and evil aren’t destined, and that it’s the choices you make that define you, not where you’ve come from. This is basically what the whole series had been leading up to, as they could be seen as a discussion around what heroes and villains are. It was also appreciated that a three-minute tribute video to Cameron Boyce had been included in the original premiere. It showed behind-the-scenes moments from his career, such as making Michelle Obama laugh on the set of the series Jessie (2011-15), as well as some advice to the young viewers on how they can cope with grief.

Outside of that, there are some quite conflicting views. Many agreed that the film was tinged with melancholy as we all knew that this would be the last time all four of the VKs would ever be seen on screen together. It also made some of the lines that the characters speak even more poignant. Some absolutely loved the music and the film, claiming Descendants 3 as the best movie in the trilogy. Others didn’t agree with that statement, but did still find it to be a satisfying ending to the series.

That is my overall opinion on Descendants 3, but I also have some gripes about it too. One of these is around the music. I felt that some of the songs seemed to be shoe-horned into the movie, with very little purpose or story progression. I think some of the main cast were sidelined in Descendants 3 as well, with this story being about the fight between Mal and Audrey, with a little Uma thrown in, but not much from anyone else, which was disappointing, since the VKs friendship had been a key part of both Descendants and Descendants 2. The plot was also quite simplistic with many easy resolutions, such as Mal only needing to ask Hades twice to hand over the ember, despite that being the only piece of magic he has and the fact that he hadn’t spent much time with his daughter at all in her life up until that point, and the final battle between Mal and Audrey being underwhelming to say the least. It just seemed that every moment of peril or conflict was over within a few seconds.

LEGACY

Descendants 3 seemed to put an end to the story as the realms of Auradon and the Isle of the Lost were finally combined, but that wasn’t quite the full finale.

In October 2019, for the Halloween season, a stop-motion short was released titled Wicked Woods: A Descendants Halloween story. In this five-minute short film, the four VKs, Uma, and Audrey are being hunted by the Headless Horseman from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow on Halloween night in the forest around Auradon, as the Horseman searches for a new head. It turns out he just wanted some candy and leaves the group alone once he’s got some! There was a song written for this short, “Keep Your Head on Halloween”, and the original cast returned to voice their characters, so it must’ve been recorded before Cameron Boyce’s passing as Carlos is a part of this story.

After that, in August 2020, an animated series of shorts aired on Disney Channel that followed Evie and Mal’s preparations for Mal and Ben’s upcoming wedding, titled The Planning of the Royal Wedding. These episodes are only a few minutes long, and look at typical wedding planning activities, such as cake tasting and seeing the wedding dress. This series was made to build anticipation for the 20-minute-long Descendants: The Royal Wedding that would air the following year. Sofia Carson and Dove Cameron returned to reprise their characters here.

On 13^th August 2021, Descendants: The Royal Wedding aired on Disney Channel. Much like the series of shorts around the planning of the wedding, but unlike the three main films in the series, Descendants: The Royal Wedding is an animated short film. Naturally, it centres around the wedding of Ben and Mal. Everything is seemingly going to plan, however, Hades accidentally sets fire to all of the decorations at the church and goes off back to the Isle. Mal, Jay, Evie, Ben – and Audrey, who has turned nice for once and become the official wedding planner – go to speak with him as Mal needs her father at her wedding. Whilst in the Isle, Fairy Godmother and Ben’s parents magic themselves there, and Ben and Mal decide that, as all the people they love are here, they should have a small ceremony in the forest. After this ceremony, everyone is reunited at the wedding reception at the castle. All the cast members return to voice their character roles, although a few characters are missing such as Jane, Harry, and Gil for unknown reasons. Carlos is also not here, however, there is a touching tribute made to him. Jay and Evie give Mal a wedding gift of a charm bracelet featuring charms that reference each of the four VKs, which is sweet. I personally didn’t need this entry in the Descendants series, and I don’t like the animation style, but I understand that many viewers would’ve wanted to see this to fully complete the storyline. The short film does also end with a reference to new stories beginning. A rabbit hole, as well as painted red roses, are shown at the very end of the special, hinting at a new Descendants story potentially coming.

So, those were the official Descendants entries that specifically tie up the stories of Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos. Aside from those, sing-along editions of all three Descendants movies later aired on Disney Channel. There was also another television special, Descendants Remix Dance Party, that was shown on Disney Channel on 20^th March 2020. It was a one-night only dance party hosted by Cheyenne Jackson as Hades, set in his “Club Ember”, where songs from all three movies were featured. Disney’s Descendants: The Musical also became available for licensing for local productions to stage in 2020, following in the legacy of other Disney Channel Original Movies, like High School Musical (2006) and Camp Rock (2008)[6].

FINAL THOUGHTS

By making Descendants 3 and then the animated short film Descendants: The Royal Wedding, Disney successfully brought the stories of Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos to a close. It made sense to make three feature-length movies because Descendants was one of few Disney franchises that had matched the popularity of High School Musical on any level.

Yet, all good series must come to an end and it was only right that Descendants ended in the way it did for the four original VKs. There was an air of finality to the series, and I was happy with how it finished. Even though I am not a fan of Descendants: The Royal Wedding, with its creation, viewers did not have to feel cheated of seeing Mal get her “happily ever after” with Ben.

Some time has passed since these features were released, and the actors have moved on to other projects. Not having Cameron Boyce and Carlos involved in feature Descendants projects would make any look back on these VKs quite unlikely.            

However, Descendants has remained a popular franchise and with its fairy tale setting, similarly to the ABC series Once Upon a Time (2011-18), there are opportunities to explore other characters. Rightly or wrongly, Disney Channel have done just that with their most recent Descendants entry: Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024).

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Alex Reif, ‘Film Review: “Descendants 3” (Disney Channel)’, LaughingPlace.com, 25^th July 2019.

[2] Credit: Zach Johnson, ‘Bringing Down the Barrier: Behind the Scenes of Descendants 3’, D23.com, 2^nd August 2019.

[3] Credit: Disney, ‘Behind the Scenes of Descendants 3! Compilation: Road to Auradon: Descendants 3’, Disney Descendants YouTube Channel, 6^th September 2019.

[4] Credit: Sieera Vieregge, ‘Just Announced! The DescenDANCE Party Is Coming to Walt Disney World!’, DisneyFoodBlog.com, date unknown.

[5] Credit: Denise Petski, ‘‘Descendants 3’ Red Carpet Premiere Event Canceled In Wake Of Cameron Boyce’s Death’, Deadline.com, 11^th July 2019.

[6] Credit: Logan Culwell-Block, ‘Stage Adaptation of Disney Channel’s Descendants Now Available for Licensing’, Playbill.com, 5^th March 2020.

1. BACKGROUND
2. PLOT
3. CHARACTERS & CAST
4. MUSIC
5. PRODUCTION
6. RECEPTION
7. LEGACY
8. FINAL THOUGHTS
9. REFERENCES

BACKGROUND

Since Descendants (2015) ended with Mal saying that this wasn’t the end of the story, it was only too obvious that Disney were planning a sequel. Plus, the fact that Descendants turned out to be a hugely successful Disney Channel Original Movie meant that the decision was even more simple. A no-brainer really.

With the potential for new villain kids to be introduced to the series, as well as the incredibly talented and likeable original cast returning, Descendants 2 intended to be bigger and better than Descendants. It didn’t disappoint.

The music is amazing, the sets are fantastic, the new characters are just as entertaining as the originals, and it followed a very relatable story, about struggling to fit in and trying to find your place in the world. In this case, it is Mal who isn’t coping so well in Auradon, whilst the other three have settled in extremely easily. Everyone can relate to this, that first day of school, or first day of a new job, when everything has changed and you have no choice but to just get on with things, even if it seems like you’ll never manage it.

Despite being 24 at the time of Descendants 2 being released, I’m not ashamed to admit that I was very excited for the movie and was counting down the days to its air date. I had actually recently started a new job and it wasn’t at all what I had expected, so I needed something to look forward to. That just so happened to be Descendants 2. I’d also missed out on the excitement of Descendants, choosing to watch it on DVD months after its release instead of seeing it live on Disney Channel, so I wanted to recapture that feeling I used to get about DCOM premieres when I was younger.

Thankfully all that build-up hadn’t been for nothing, because I loved Descendants 2. It was thoughtful, sweet, and for once, I actually liked every song that appeared in the movie – that doesn’t happen very often with me. I listened to the soundtrack on the drive to work for a little while, as a way of calming myself down since I didn’t like driving.

Sadly, it didn’t work and I stopped driving; I still don’t. I also did not manage to stick it out in that job and quit, but although Descendants 2 doesn’t exactly remind me of great times in my life, it hasn’t been tainted and rewatching it this week, it made me smile. It is my favourite movie in the series and I was so pleased to see that it had done well, because the talent of the main actors continues to shine through here.

PLOT

Descendants 2 begins with Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos crowded around a cauldron, clearly trying to enact some kind of spell. Cursed apples start to appear inside the cauldron, at which point, the VKs pass these apples out to all the students and teachers of Auradon Prep. Beast and Belle, King Ben’s parents, even fall for the trick. But don’t worry too much, because this isn’t like the Evil Queen’s poison apples; nobody is dying or falling into a coma. They just make everyone less well-behaved. No school work gets done, graffiti gets sprayed everywhere, and they all seem to be goofing off in one way or another!

We then see that this whole scene had only been happening in Mal’s mind. She is in fact standing in front of a crowd of press, sporting a new blonde hair-do, struggling to find the right things to say as photos of her are being snapped. Luckily, Ben comes to the rescue and tells all of the reporters to get lost. He then has to leave to do king stuff, so Mal is left alone with her thoughts again, which are quite disturbing at this point in time. Mal is dealing with the pressures of being the King’s official girlfriend, having to make visits to royalty, do interviews, and she is soon to become a Lady of the Court, which will be officially announced at Auradon’s upcoming Cotillion dance. It would be an understatement to say that Mal is nervous and stressed out. She has been using spells to try and make herself fit in and be perfect for everyone, and not understanding why she still has these impulses to be go back to her evil ways, whereas Jay, Carlos, and Evie do not feel that way at all. Evie is loving life in Auradon, making dresses and designing clothes for all of the students; Jay is still very much a jock, now captain of the school’s Swords and Shields team; and Carlos has a crush on Jane, Fairy Godmother’s daughter, and has his dog, Dude, to look after.

Meanwhile, over in the Isle of the Lost, Uma, the daughter of Ursula, and Harry, the son of Captain Hook, are angry that Mal is living the royal life over in Auradon, whilst they have been left in the dismal ruins of the Isle, not being allowed to get their “second chance” like the others had. Seeing Mal on TV in news reports only makes them more furious.

Back in Auradon, Mal takes Ben out on a picnic with all of his favourite foods, as he keeps giving her extravagant gifts, like a purple scooter. However, Mal actually forgot what day it was and had to use her spell book to make all of this. As Ben searches for napkins in their picnic basket, he finds the spell book and is annoyed that Mal would lie to him about still having it, and not turning it over to the museum like she promised. Ben doesn’t seem to understand how hard this transition has been for Mal, and upset, she packs up all of her stuff, including her mother, Maleficent, who is still a little lizard from the events of the first movie, and flees back to the Isle, using a spell and her scooter to get across the water.

Once in the Isle, Mal heads to Lady Tremaine’s hair salon where she asks Dizzy, Drizella’s daughter, to give her a new look, to make her feel more like her old self, which she does by turning Mal’s hair purple again. As Mal and Dizzy are finishing up, Harry enters the hair salon and orders Dizzy to hand over all the money in the till. Mal says hello to her “old friend”. Harry responds that Uma won’t be giving Mal back her turf, but she isn’t concerned; she says she’ll just take it back as she plans to stay in the Isle.

Evie has realised that Mal has run away and goes to Ben for help. He says that he has to go to the Isle to get her back, but Evie reminds him he knows nothing about that place. Despite not wanting to go back there, Evie says she, Jay, and Carlos will go with him. They take the limo over the barrier to the Isle and cover it up with a tarpaulin so no-one will know they are there. After a brief makeover and lesson in how to behave correctly on the Isle, the four go to Mal’s old hideout to find her, except Gil, son of Gaston, spots them and runs to tell Uma the king is here.

Ben manages to speak to Mal, and tells her he loves her. Mal says that she isn’t good for him or for Auradon and that she is going to remain in the Isle where she belongs. Heartbroken, Ben leaves as she wishes, but Evie, Carlos, and Jay take their eyes off him for one minute, and he’s gone. Uma has him and she wants a meeting with Mal. Mal, irritated at her friends for being so careless, goes to Uma where Uma announces her terms for Ben’s release: she wants Fairy Godmother’s wand by noon tomorrow or else Ben dies.

The VKs come up with a plan. Carlos and Jay go back to Auradon so they can 3D print an exact copy of the wand, whilst Evie and Mal go to the hair salon to make smoke bombs to use as a distraction during the swap, since Uma will realise that the wand is a fake quite quickly. Evie and Mal also have a heart-to-heart, where Mal reiterates that she doesn’t want to go back to Auradon. Evie offers to stay too, but Mal says she belongs in Auradon.

The next day, Ben and Uma talk as they await Mal and the others. He invites her to Auradon, to get her second chance, but Uma doesn’t want a pity hand-out; she wants to make her own way there. Mal and the VKs, plus Dude the dog who snuck back with Carlos and Jay, and Lonnie, Mulan’s daughter, who blackmailed her way into this plan, arrive at Uma’s boat with the fake wand, ordering her to give Ben to them. Uma’s not an idiot though, and she wants proof the wand works. Mal puts a spell on Dude to make him talk – and Dude starts talking, but only because he ate a magic truth gummy the day before and has been talking ever since! This is enough evidence for Uma though who doesn’t know this, and the swap is done. But Uma then immediately tries to destroy the barrier between Auradon and the Isle, which she is unable to do. A fight ensues and after a – quite lengthy – sword fight, a huge smoke bomb is thrown, giving the VKs, Ben, and Lonnie their chance to escape. They pile into the limo and head back – with Mal’s spell book accidentally being left on the Isle.

Back in Auradon, Mal is told by Ben that she doesn’t have to attend Cotillion if she doesn’t want to. Jay, Evie, and Carlos then talk to her, saying that she should’ve told them how she was feeling because they all think about their old lives on the Isle from time to time. Again, she is told she doesn’t have to go to Cotillion that night, but she should probably give it a try and if it doesn’t work out, then they won’t stop her returning to the Isle.

As everyone arrives at Cotillion, which is being held onboard a ship, Mal makes her big entrance, having decided to attend after all. However, as Ben is about to enter, he makes a shocking announcement – that Uma is here and he is in love with her! Everyone is rightly angry with Ben for hurting and humiliating Mal, even his parents who can’t understand what has happened. Jane then reveals the stained-glass window of Ben and Mal that he had commissioned, showing Mal that Ben does love her for who she is, not for the princess she tried to be. Uma is fuming though, and orders Ben to declare his love for her, by giving her the ultimate gift: destroying the barrier between Auradon and the Isle. Fairy Godmother refuses to do this, and Mal realises that Uma must have put a spell on Ben. She then declares her love for Ben and kisses him, with true love’s first kiss breaking the spell.

 Uma then dives into the water, and using her mother’s magic necklace, transforms herself into a cecaelia – half-human, half-octopus, like Ursula – and starts to attack the boat. Mal shocks everyone, including herself, by transforming herself into a dragon to fight Uma. Ben jumps into the water to break up the fight, saying that this is not the way to resolve their differences. The two do stop fighting, with Uma simply turning away from the party and heading back to the Isle. Mal returns to her human form and her and Ben reunite. Mal’s spell book is returned to her, as Uma did steal it, but she hands it over to Fairy Godmother to put in the museum. Evie then asks Ben if Dizzy could be invited to Auradon, saying she has a whole list of kids from the Isle who would benefit from spending time there. Ben happily agrees, and everyone at Cotillion then parties away, much like they did at the end of Descendants, glad to see that the craziness has ebbed once more.

 Uma then appears to the audience, saying the story is still not over…

CHARACTERS & CAST

Since Descendants ended with Mal and Ben embracing their feelings for each other, it is only fitting that Descendants 2 would focus on their new relationship – except everything isn’t all happy and rosy with them. Mal is struggling to fit in with her new “princess” role now that she’s Ben’s official girlfriend, using spells to make everything she does perfect. Ben is unfortunately too busy with King duties to help her and is quite unsympathetic when she tries to explain why she’s turned to magic again. This causes a huge falling out between the two of them, and even when Ben goes to the Isle to try and win Mal back, the conversation ends up taking a turn and Mal tells him to go back to Auradon without her – and then Ben is snatched by Uma and her gang, in a nice little twist on the usual “damsel in distress”! It’s not until the Cotillion dance that the two are able to reconcile again, and that’s after Uma has come in to try and spoil everything. Mal is really put through the wringer in this movie! Luckily, it’s a happy ending for Mal and Ben by the end of Descendants 2. Dove Cameron and Mitchell Hope reprised their roles here from the first film.

Whilst Mal begins to look back at their times on the Isle, Evie is having a great time in Auradon, now becoming the resident designer at the school, and is excitedly preparing everyone’s outfits for Cotillion. Evie is also happy in a relationship with Doug, Dopey’s son, who is helping Evie run her new fashion business. When Evie is forced back to the Isle to convince Mal to return to Auradon, she instantly sees the difficulties that the children there are still facing, and begins to feel guilty about the fact she was given a fresh start and these kids aren’t allowed to. One of these is Dizzy, Drizella’s daughter, as in one of Cinderella’s stepsisters. Dizzy shares Evie’s love of fashion and is not evil at all. In fact, she’s being treated badly by her grandmother, Lady Tremaine, much in the same way that Cinderella was. This gives Evie the idea to ask King Ben to give some other villain children a chance in Auradon like she got, and he’s very happy to do so.

Sofia Carson returned to play Evie, as did Zachary Gibson as Doug, who had previously had a minor role in the Disney Channel movie Zapped (2014) prior to his casting in the Descendants series. Anna Cathcart was chosen to portray the new character of Dizzy. After Descendants 2, Cathcart was cast as Kitty Song-Covey, sister of the main character, in the Netflix film series To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018-21). She later reprised this role in the spin-off series XO, Kitty (2023-present). Cathcart’s first major screen role was in the educational children’s series Odd Squad (2014-present) as Agent Olympia.

Jay is still a big presence in Auradon Prep’s sports teams and instead of seeing him play Tourney in this movie, they have a new sport: Swords and Shields, which seems to be a mix of traditional sword-fighting and fencing, so there is less chance of blood and limb loss. Although Jay helps out Mal, Evie, and Ben over in the Isle, fighting off Uma and her gang of pirates with his impressive sword fighting skills, his main storyline in Descendants 2 actually involves Lonnie, Mulan’s daughter, and Chad, Cinderella’s son. Lonnie wants to join the school’s Swords and Shields team, but as Chad points out, a team can only consist of its captain and eight men; no girls allowed. Jay, as captain of the team, is reluctant to go against the rule book, but when Lonnie convinces Jay to let her help over in the Isle, he sees what a talent she is and gets her on to the team: by making her the captain, since the rule book doesn’t specify that the captain has to be a man. Nice loop hole there.

Booboo Stewart returned to his role as Jay for Descendants 2, as did Dianne Doan and Jedidiah Goodacre as Lonnie and Chad respectively. After Descendants, Doan was cast as Mai Ling in the series Warrior (2019-23), and later was cast in the recurring role of Kora in the series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013-20). Goodacre was cast in the Disney Channel movie Zapped (2014) prior to his role in Descendants. He later played the role of Dorian Gray in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018-20).

Carlos is also involved in the plan to rescue Ben in the Isle, but he has other things on his mind too. One of these is around keeping the four VKs together. He doesn’t let Mal and Evie go off to have “girl talk” alone, wanting them all to be there for each other, so it’s not just girls against guys. They all have shared experiences in the Isle, so they should all be able to share their feelings about Auradon too. Carlos is definitely the peacekeeper in the group. Another thing he has to deal with is the fact his dog, Dude, has suddenly started talking. This occurs as Carlos asks Mal to give him a “truth gummy”, as he hopes to be able to ask Jane, Fairy Godmother’s daughter, to be his date for Cotillion, but he’s too shy to do it. However, Dude then eats the gummy and starts talking. It’s not really an issue, but Dude doesn’t have the benefit of human experience to be able to filter what he says, so he talks at all the wrong moments and is quite blunt in what he says. Despite not having this truth gummy, Carlos finally gets up the courage to ask Jane to the dance and she gladly accepts, giving us another Descendants couple to root for.

Cameron Boyce returned to his role as Carlos, as did Brenna D’Amico as Jane. D’Amico’s first acting role was in the first Descendants movie. She later appeared in the first two seasons of web series Chicken Girls (2017-present) as Sandy, and is still appearing in movies such as The Never List (2020) and in the upcoming Saturday at the Starlight. Dude was voiced by former Saturday Night Live (1975-present) cast member and writer Bobby Moynihan, who was on the show from 2008 to 2017.

Now for the new VKs. The main one is obviously Uma, daughter of Ursula. She has been forced to run night-shifts at her mother’s fish and chip restaurant and is incredibly bitter about Mal and her friends’ rise to fame in Auradon, having been passed over for her chance to get over there. Uma despises Mal and thinks it’s about time she got to have a taste of what’s in Auradon. But she doesn’t want a handout, as she turns Ben down for an invitation to come over there; Uma wants to get there on her own. And how does she do that? With magic, of course! That obviously doesn’t work out for her, but she promises that this isn’t the end of her story and that she’ll be back.

China Anne McClain was cast as Uma. McClain’s acting career began at a young age. She turned down the chance to appear in the Disney Channel movie Jump In! (2007), instead choosing to star in Tyler Perry’s House of Payne (2007-present), which she has recently returned to. McClain also starred alongside Cameron Boyce in the Adam Sandler films Grown Ups (2010) and Grown Ups 2 (2013). For Disney, her first major role was as Chyna Parks in the series A.N.T. Farm (2011-14), before starring in the Disney Channel movie How to Build a Better Boy (2014). Most interestingly, she was cast as Freddie, daughter of Dr. Facilier, in the animated series Descendants: Wicked World (2015-17). When McClain was cast as Uma, her sister, Lauryn, took over this voice role.

A villain would be nothing without her sidekicks and Uma gets two of these: Harry, son of Captain Hook, and Gil, son of Gaston. Uma seems to be the brains of the operation, Harry is the brawn, and Gil is the…comic relief, or pretty face? I’m not sure how Gil is of use to Uma, but he’s there anyway, and his dim-wittedness is quite amusing. Dylan Playfair was cast in the new role of Gil, having previously acted as Knox in the teen sitcom Some Assembly Required (2014-16). Thomas Doherty was chosen to play Harry. He had previously played Sean Matthews in the Disney Channel series The Lodge (2016-17).

MUSIC

Much like Descendants, Descendants 2 features many big, high-energy, colourful ensemble numbers. Within the soundtrack’s six original songs, only one of these does not fit that description and that is “Space Between”, the duet between Mal and Evie. Similarly to “If Only” from the first movie, this is the emotional calm moment of reflection in the film. Mal and Evie are saying to each other that even though they may not physically be in the same realm together, they’ll always be there for each other, as Mal has said she will not be coming back to Auradon with the others. It’s very touching, and Sofia Carson and Dove Cameron’s voices blend so well together. It’s beautiful and my favourite song in the soundtrack.

Another number that is not a huge ensemble number, I suppose, is “Chillin’ Like a Villain”, which involves Evie, Jay, and Carlos teaching Ben how to act like someone from the Isle, since he almost gets beaten up for trying to shake hands with a random stranger! Despite not having backing dancers, “Chillin’ Like a Villain” still includes some quite complicated choreography. It might sound patronising to say this but I can really see how much Mitchell Hope’s dancing as improved between Descendants and the sequel. All four of them look perfectly in sync with each other and not one bit of it looks awkward – apart from the moments when Ben is supposed to not be fitting in with the other three, of course! This song itself is incredibly catchy and gets stuck in my head on a regular basis. It was actually filmed during a typhoon in Vancouver. It was the final day when they could film in that particular set, so they just had to roll with the punches, with half of the set apparently blowing away and the whole place almost flooding!

So, to the big production numbers. Let’s talk about “You and Me” first, even though it’s the finale piece. It’s an upbeat, hopeful song, much like “Set It Off” in Descendants, though it does have a touch of melancholy to it as they talk about what they’ve learnt through this whole experience. It was filmed on a flooded yacht deck, which required two huge water cannons to get the deck sufficiently flooded. The cast are literally dancing in ankle-deep water, but nobody seems to slip and injure themselves. It must have been a nightmare for costuming, hair and make-up, and health and safety, but I bet it was so much fun to film[1]!

Then there is “Ways to Be Wicked” which opens the sequel, warning the viewer that they’d better be ready for this bigger and better movie! It starts the film off with more of a bang than “Rotten to the Core” did in Descendants. It also helps that it confuses everyone because the VKs seem to have gone bad, passing out cursed apples to everywhere at Auradon Prep, whereas we left them at the end of Descendants vowing to be good!

Now to the new, true villains, who get to have just as much fun as the heroes. Uma gets her very own song to introduce her to the audience and that is “What’s My Name?”. China Anne McClain pulls this song off brilliantly, as it needed some real power and strength to it. This shows that Uma is not someone to be messed with. This is my second favourite song in the movie, because I always love the villain song in Disney’s animated movies and this certainly feels like one. The only thing that I don’t love is Harry’s little rap bit in the middle. It wasn’t really needed, and this song is meant to be all about Uma, so don’t pull focus away from her, Harry! The song takes place in a restaurant, so there’s lots of dancing on tables and chairs, and even dancers flying from bits of ceiling decoration.

The final number within the movie to mention is “It’s Goin’ Down”. This scene was originally only going to be dialogue, but apparently, it was changed to be a rap battle after being inspired by some of the songs within the musical Hamilton. I particularly like the piece that Ben sings in the middle of all this hostility, as he gives a heartfelt plea to Mal and Uma to stop all this fighting – even though he’s tied up and walking the plank at this point so he doesn’t really seem to be in the best position to try and call a truce! This song gets an even bigger stage than the others in the movie as it takes place in the docks and on Uma’s boat. It also ends with a huge sword fight, which must have been difficult to choreograph.

Descendants 2’s soundtrack debuted at No. 6 in the Billboard 200 chart, which doesn’t match up with the original movie’s soundtrack which topped that chart. Descendants 2, however, did equal its predecessor by topping the Billboard US Kid Albums and US Soundtrack Albums chart. But that doesn’t mean that the soundtrack was received poorly. The soundtrack topped the iTunes album chart on 24^th July 2017, just a couple of days after its release, and the six songs from the movie filled the Top 10 of the Soundtrack Songs chart for Apple less than 24 hours after the movie aired[2].

As well as songs from the movie, a version of “Kiss the Girl”, sung by the cast as the End Credits song, and “Poor Unfortunate Souls”, by China Anne McClain, also appear on the soundtrack. These songs are clearly there to reference the fact that Uma’s mother is from The Little Mermaid (1989), just in case it wasn’t clear! There are also three songs from Descendants: Wicked World on this soundtrack, as a kind of cross-promotion, I guess.

One other thing I will mention is that all the cast members seem to sing for their characters in Descendants 2. In Descendants, singer-songwriter Jeff Lewis was credited as providing the singing voice for Ben, however, for Descendants 2, Jeff Lewis’ name only appears as a credit for “You and Me”, alongside Mitchell Hope’s. Hope does definitely seem to be the sole singing voice for Ben in both “Chillin’ Like a Villain” and “It’s Goin’ Down”.

Composer David Lawrence returned to compose the score for Descendants 2.

PRODUCTION

Since Descendants had been such a huge hit, and because Mal teased a sequel at the end of the movie itself, hype around a potential sequel began as soon as Descendants finished airing in 2015. The cast had been asked about whether there would be a sequel during interviews after the movie had premiered, such as at the D23 Expo in August 2015, however, they refused to comment on it. It wasn’t until October 2015 that Disney Channel officially confirmed that they would in fact be making a Descendants 2.

The first behind-the-scenes video was dropped in November 2016, which showed glimpses of the new sets as well as clips of the cast sword fighting. The cast interviews promised that the movie would be huge. “Ways to Be Wicked” became the first single of the soundtrack to debut after playing on Radio Disney on 13^th April 2017, a day before it became available to purchase online. Shortly after, the premiere date was revealed: 21^st July 2017.

The movie was of course promoted in all the usual ways, with interviews and performances. It was revealed that there were going to be more action-packed scenes, with the cast going through around 20 hours of sword training, more visual effects, and bigger sets, with more dance numbers and superior music[3]. The cast were also invited onto Good Morning America to perform “Ways to Be Wicked” and “What’s My Name?”.

Kara Saun, the costume designer for both Descendants and Descendants 2, who was a finalist on the first season of Project Runway (2004-present) talked about how she came up with the costumes for the newer characters. She said that she did a lot of research, by watching the Disney animated films that the villain parents come from and going to Disney’s Animation Research Library to look at artwork. From that point, she would look at the parent’s signature colour and incorporate that into the child’s clothing. However, they couldn’t have the same colour, which became a bit of a problem when adding in these new VKs. Both Gaston and Captain Hook are known for wearing red, but it was decided that Harry’s signature colour would be red, and Gil would have burnt orange instead, which references some of the early artwork on Gaston which used that colour instead of red, apparently. Uma also could not be purple like Ursula because that’s Mal’s colour. Instead, Saun looked to Ursula’s eyeshadow to find Uma’s colour of turquoise[4]. 

Sofia Carson, Dove Cameron, Booboo Stewart, Cameron Boyce, and China Anne McClain, joined by Kenny Ortega, were all seen at the D23 Expo on 14^th July 2017 to promote the film. There was a mini parade that ran through the conference centre featuring these six in vehicles, with Mark Hamill and Stan Lee following behind them. The day before, they had also been the Grand Marshals in the pre-parade at Disneyland, prior to Mickey’s Soundsational Parade coming through. “Ways to Be Wicked” played as they went by.

RECEPTION

Descendants had reached over 100 million viewers worldwide not too long after its release, having had 6.6 million viewers just on its US Disney Channel premiere date. Disney wanted to do something bigger for Descendants 2.

It was decided that the movie would air on 21^st July simultaneously across six different networks in the Disney-ABC Television group. These channels were Disney Channel, ABC, DisneyXD, Freeform, Lifetime, and Lifetime Movies. It was reported that the movie reached 13 million total viewers across those six networks, with Disney Channel’s audience reaching 5.3 million on the night. Descendants 2 also broke social media records for Disney Channel, reaching 174.1 million video views, 90.8 million impressions, and 14.6 million engagements by the time of its release[5].

The cast were involved in a live party on Disney Channel for the premiere, which featured games, Descendants 2 gossip, and surprises, seemingly taking place between the channel’s programming on that day. There was also the ABC After Party with Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson, Cameron Boyce, Booboo Stewart and China Anne McClain, which aired straight after the movie’s premiere.

Many viewers liked this darker sequel, enjoying the lively musical numbers and the messages about fitting in and the class inequality between the fortunate of Auradon and the unfortunate of the Isle. The new characters were received well, and the majority felt that this was a step up from Descendants, as the sequel had promised to be. If you liked Descendants, the critics were sure you’d like Descendants 2. Most of the negative reviews came from people that already hadn’t liked the first one, but there were additional comments around the CGI not being good enough. That’s probably because there is so much “big budget” CGI in movies nowadays that people forget that television movie budgets aren’t nearly as much, even if it is Disney! Descendants 2 was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Television Presentation in 2018. It sadly lost out to Twin Peaks: The Return (2017).

It came to light shortly after the movie premiered that there had in fact been a particular moment that was filmed but cut from the final edit. This was a kiss between Harry and Gil, a photo of which Thomas Doherty and Dylan Playfair put on social media. Though this scene was cut from the movie, in the novelisation of Descendants 2, there is a line which mentions the two characters kissing. It is at the point when they are watching Uma arrive at Cotillion on television, and seems to just be a kiss of celebration that their plan has worked and they can finally get off the Isle. I don’t believe it was meant to be anything serious or romantic, so I can see why it wouldn’t be needed in the film, but I can also see why it could’ve been there, since it was such a small moment[6].

LEGACY

In 2016, the four VKs returned to the Disney Parks for another holiday show, after they were seen in 2015’s show. This was Disney Parks Presents: A Descendants Magical Holiday Celebration, a show featuring musical performances and a look at the Disney Parks for the holiday season. With Cameron Boyce and Sofia Carson hosting from Walt Disney World, and Booboo Stewart and Dove Cameron at Disneyland, they performed a new version of the song “Rotten to the Core”, renamed to “Jolly to the Core”. China Anne McClain was also a performer during this show, as she had been announced as a new cast member addition for Descendants 2 back in June 2016. An exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the sequel was also shown to further hype the sequel. In 2017 for the holiday season, Sofia Carson recorded a new version of “Chillin’ Like a Villain” called “Chillin’ Like a Snowman”, which she performed at Magic Kingdom during the Disney Parks’ festive television special that year.

After Descendants 2, as a sequel was once again teased in the movie itself, this time by Uma, many fans were excited to see what would come next. In February 2018, Descendants 3 was officially announced as coming to screens in Summer 2019. I actually find it a little bit unfair how and where Disney decided to announce Descendants 3, as it was during the premiere of ZOMBIES, another musical DCOM, on 16^th February 2018. Were the cast and crew of ZOMBIES really not allowed their own moment in the spotlight? Could the Descendants 3 announcement not have waited until afterwards?

Anyway, to make the wait for Descendants 3 easier for fans, a new ten-minute live-action short film called Under the Sea: A Descendants Short Story premiered on 28^th September 2018 on Disney Channel. It followed on from the teaser of the official announcement, where Mal has just seen a glowing orb in the woods, whispering her name. Mal sees Dizzy on the beach outside of the woods on the Isle. It turns out Dizzy is wearing Uma’s necklace, so she has been sort of possessed by her. Harry and Gil arrive to warn Mal away from the Isle and let her know that Uma is looking for revenge. Mal then dives into the water, where she sees Uma. This seems to only be a hallucination and Mal is back on the beach, talking to Dizzy. Mal is scared that danger is coming to Auradon. The short features a cover of Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” by Dove Cameron. The cast reprised their roles here.

Under the Sea doesn’t add much to the Descendants franchise, and it seems to have only been made as a way of bridging the gap between the release dates of Descendants 2 and Descendants 3. It also sought to build anticipation for the next film, but it did confuse some viewers, including me, since it didn’t give us any more information about Descendants 3. We already knew about the glowing blue orb being Mal’s father, and we’d already managed to speculate who Mal’s father must be.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Making a sequel can be a tricky undertaking, especially when that sequel has promised to be more extravagant than its predecessor.

Managing fan expectations is perhaps the most difficult task, but there are other potential risks. Like, what if the new characters don’t come across well on screen, or don’t gel with the originals? Or what if the music isn’t good, or the story confuses viewers?

Luckily, Descendants 2 didn’t have anything to worry about because a large proportion of Descendants fans loved the sequel. Not everyone would say that the sequel is better than the original, like me, though. I liked the sequel more because it was a bit darker and touched on real-life issues like dealing with your past, and creating an environment with equal opportunities for all. It felt less like a fairy tale than Descendants, in a good way.

Due to the success of Descendants 2, this was not the end of the series, and there was still more to come from this cast.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Kimberly Nordyke, ‘Sword Training, 1,500 Costumes and Water-Filled Dance Numbers: Behind the Scenes of ‘Descendants 2’’, HollywoodReporter.com, 21^st July 2017.

[2] Credit: Melinda Newman, ‘Disney Channel’s ‘Descendants 2’ Soundtrack Strikes a New Wicked Chord After Original Hit’, Billboard.com, 2^nd August 2017.

[3] Credit: Kimberly Nordyke, ‘Sword Training, 1,500 Costumes and Water-Filled Dance Numbers: Behind the Scenes of ‘Descendants 2’’, HollywoodReporter.com, 21^st July 2017.

[4] Credit: Beth Deitchman, ‘The Villain Kids are Dressed to Thrill in Descendants 2’, D23.com, 21^st July 2017.

[5] Credit: Disney ‘‘Descendants 2’ Premiere Reaches 13 Million Total Viewers’, TheWaltDisneyCompany,com, 24^th July 2017.

[6] Credit: Noelle Devoe, ‘Thomas Doherty Shares the Surprising Kissing Scene That Was Cut From ‘Descendants 2’’, Seventeen.com, 25^th July 2017.

1. BACKGROUND
2. PLOT
3. CHARACTERS & CAST
4. MUSIC
5. PRODUCTION
6. RECEPTION
7. LEGACY
8. FINAL THOUGHTS
9. REFERENCES

BACKGROUND

Despite Disney Channel continuing to dish out new original movies to hordes of eager tweens and teens on a regular basis, nothing had captured anyone’s attention quite like the High School Musical trilogy.

That wasn’t for lack of trying though. Disney Channel have always made good movies, with their musicals generally being their most successful films, and in the years after the release of High School Musical (2006), we were given some great ones, including Camp Rock (2008) and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010), as well as Lemonade Mouth (2011) and StarStruck (2010).

Although the reception to all of these was positive on the whole, they hadn’t matched the fame of the High School Musical franchise. Disney Channel knew they needed something bigger, something more marketable, something more familiar. And so, with that in mind, they went back to the Disney animated movies to find their inspiration.

So, were given Descendants, a movie that used some of the most adored Disney Villains of all time as its basis, but there’s always a twist, especially in Disney – and that twist was that Descendants was going to be about… the villains’ kids? Who saw that coming?

As a hardcore fan of the Disney Villains, I was concerned when I heard about Descendants. I wasn’t watching Disney Channel much at the time – I was “too old” for that – but there was such a buzz around the announcement of Descendants that I must’ve just heard about it online. I had never considered the possibility of the Disney Villains having children, with many of them seeming to have died in their respective movies, but let’s not worry about canon here; it all gets very complicated if you do.

In a way, I was right to be concerned. I first watched Descendants on DVD, having received it as a Christmas present in 2015, and seeing the over-the-top, flamboyant, and might I say weak, portrayals of some of my favourite villains was not what I had wanted to see, although I was not overly surprised to see this change in these characters – this is a Disney Channel movie after all. However, in another way, I wasn’t right to be concerned, because luckily, Descendants isn’t about the classic Disney villains, it’s about the kids, and the four main characters were instantly likeable and their star quality amazed me.

As the movie went on, I liked Descendants more and more, and forgot about the villain parents. I ended up being very impressed, surprising myself as I had only wanted to watch it so I could be bitter about the villain portrayals. My pettiness is disappointing, I know.

PLOT

The story of Descendants begins with a classic storybook opening, except this is 2015 so the story is actually on a tablet, because no young person reads actual books anymore, do they? Anyway, this backstory tells us that when the Beast and Belle married, Beast decided to unite all the neighbouring kingdoms, naming them the United States of Auradon and he became king of all of the realm, seemingly by his own decision, with no election held so that the people could decide who might be ruler of Auradon. I guess democracy is dead in fairy tale world! To stop any further evil from disrupting everyone’s “happily ever afters”, all the villains and bad guys were banished to the Isle of the Lost and refused entry to Auradon.

Around twenty years later, Belle and Beast’s son, Prince Ben, soon-to-be crowned King Ben at the young age of 16, states that as his first official proclamation, he has ordered that some of the villain children from the Isle be allowed to start a new life in Auradon, as they should not be punished for their parents’ mistakes. The four kids who will test out this new idea are the children of Cruella De Vil from One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), Jafar from Aladdin (1992), the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), and of course, the mistress of all evil, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty (1959).

A limo comes to collect the four teens, Carlos, Jay, Evie, and Mal, but they are uncertain about going to a boarding school full of “prissy princesses and perfect princes”. Maleficent is eager for them to go though, as she has never given up hope of escaping the Isle and ruling over Auradon. She pushes her daughter, Mal, to agree to her plan, to find Fairy Godmother’s wand and break the barrier between the two lands so that she can storm Auradon and usurp the throne. They agree and head to Auradon in their fancy limo, although they initially believe it to be a trick as they are driven towards a huge ocean, but there’s an invisible road that appears with the click of a button. How lucky is that!

At Auradon Prep, the four villain kids, or VKs, receive a mixed reception, with many suspicious of their intentions. The most suspicious of these is Audrey, Ben’s girlfriend and the daughter of Princess Aurora, so yeah, there’s bad blood between her and Mal already. Ben is still sure of his plan and welcomes them all warmly. The four are led to their dorm rooms and they begin to settle in to their surroundings before their first day of school the next day. Except Mal just wants to get this wand for her mother and get out of here, so she gets the other three to focus on their actual mission. Evie discovers, via her magic compact mirror, that Fairy Godmother’s wand is housed in The Museum of Cultural History and it’s just a short walk away. After breaking into the museum that night, using Maleficent’s spell book that she gave to Mal, which can only work in Auradon, not in the Isle, they find the wand, but Jay tries to grab the wand and the alarm goes off. They run back to school and are not caught, although Mal is annoyed; they actually have to go to class tomorrow now!

During the school day, the four VKs struggle with their class Remedial Goodness, a new class just for them, of course, and find that many of the students and teachers are scared of them. Evie just wants Chad, son of Cinderella and Prince Charming, to fall for her, despite Doug, Dopey’s son, being interested in her; Jay finds that he’s good at Tourney, a sport that seems to be a medieval version of lacrosse; and Carlos learns that dogs can actually be friendly, despite his mother telling him that dogs are vicious pack animals that will hunt him down and attack him. Mal, however, is intent on completing her mother’s wish and goes to Fairy Godmother’s daughter, Jane, for information. Now that Fairy Godmother is a teacher, she apparently never uses her wand anymore, much to Jane’s annoyance as she wants to use it to make herself beautiful. Mal tries to get Jane to like her by magically changing her hair style and telling Jane she should tell her mother how she feels. This doesn’t work, but Evie says that the wand will be used at Ben’s Coronation later in the week. Mal asks Ben if she can sit in the front row for the ceremony but he tells her those seats are only for his parents and his girlfriend. That gives her an idea.

With Maleficent’s spell book, Mal and the rest of the VKs are able to make cookies that contain a love spell. Using some clever reverse psychology and emotional blackmail, Mal convinces Ben to eat one of the cookies and he falls in love with her instantly. After Auradon Prep win their Tourney game, Ben declares his love for Mal, much to Audrey’s dismay who starts to date Chad, which upsets Evie as she wanted to be his girlfriend, and was willing to do his homework for him just to get him to like her. Mal tells her she can do so much better than him, which is mostly definitely true! Evie decides that with Doug’s tutoring, she’ll focus on her school work, and she begins to like Doug instead.  

Later on, Mal tells Evie that Ben has asked her out on a date and helps get her ready. Ben takes Mal for a cute picnic by the Enchanted Lake. Despite Mal believing the two of them are very different, they end up bonding over their struggles to deal with their parents’ expectations of them, and how they just want to choose what they want to do with their lives. Mal realises that actually, she does like Ben and now feels guilty for the spell.

The next day, as Family Day is coming up and the VKs parents cannot come to visit, a special video call is set up for them. Mal tells her mother about the Coronation and that gives Maleficent the date for her revenge plan to take place. The four teens now aren’t sure about this plan, but on Family Day, tensions run high as Mal runs into Queen Leah, Aurora’s mother and Audrey’s grandmother, and the teens realise that nobody wants them here, giving them motivation to carry out the plan to steal Fairy Godmother’s wand. Mal doesn’t want to keep Ben under the love spell though and makes something to reverse it.

On Coronation Day, Ben and Mal arrive together in a carriage. During the ride to the cathedral, Mal gives him the brownie and tells him to eat it later in the day, but he doesn’t listen and takes a bite right there. He says he doesn’t feel any different and reveals to Mal that he knew about her love spell and that it washed off after he went swimming in the Enchanted Lake during their date. Surprisingly, Ben is not angry and thinks it’s cute that Mal put him under a spell just because she was jealous of Audrey and didn’t think Ben would like her without a spell. Ok Ben, you just keep believing that delusion if it makes you feel better!

During the ceremony, the wand is stolen and the barrier between Auradon and the Isle of the Lost is broken. Maleficent is overjoyed and magics herself to the cathedral. In a shocking discovery, it was actually Jane stealing her mother’s wand, wanting to make herself beautiful like Cinderella. Mal takes the wand from her in a seemingly selfless act, but she refuses to return it, not wanting to disappoint her mother. She says that she just wants to be good, and doesn’t want to go through with this, giving the wand back, but as her, Evie, Carlos, and Jay vow to each other that they’ll choose good over evil, Maleficent arrives and freezes everyone except the four. She takes the wand from Fairy Godmother’s hand, but the VKs fight back and retrieve it. Maleficent then transforms into a dragon and attacks them. Mal uses a counterspell which turns Maleficent’s dragon into a lizard. Everyone is unfrozen and Mal returns the wand to Fairy Godmother, who tells Mal that Maleficent was shrunk so that she would become the size of the love in her heart, which, naturally, is quite small!

After all that mess, it’s time to party and celebrate Ben’s Coronation Day. The students do this with a dance number and fireworks outside of Auradon Prep, which are being watched from afar by the other villain parents. As we continue watching all the students partying together as friends, we see Mal’s eyes flash green, and hear her say that the story isn’t over yet. 

CHARACTERS & CAST

Mal is Maleficent’s daughter. She seems to be the villain kid who is most inclined towards being evil, compared with the other three, and that is because her mother is one of the most evil villains of them all. Maleficent is also the only villain who thinks they can get off the Isle, so all that scheming and wickedness would’ve rubbed off on her daughter! But Mal actually doesn’t want to be evil like her mother. After getting to Auradon, she realises that she wants to be a good person and that she likes Ben, and that he makes her happy, whereas being mean and cruel doesn’t. Mal stands up to her mother, which must’ve been incredibly difficult for her, and is ultimately the one who outsmarts and defeats her. Mal was played brilliantly by Dove Cameron. At the time of Descendants, Cameron was performing the dual role of both Liv Rooney and Maddie Rooney in the Disney Channel series Liv and Maddie (2013-17), for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in Children’s Programming in 2018. She had also starred in the Disney Channel movie Cloud 9 (2014).

Evie is the daughter of the Evil Queen. She has been brought up to believe that beauty and money are the most important things in the world, so all Evie needs to do is stay young and stunning and bag herself a rich prince – according to her mother. Although Evie attempts to do this by flirting with Chad, it doesn’t work out for her, and she learns that actually she is intelligent, creative, and independent; she doesn’t need a guy to give her life meaning and she can be successful on her own terms and with her own talent. Though I like Mal, I also really like Evie, because she’s very optimistic and level-headed. Sofia Carson was cast as Evie, who had first appeared on Disney Channel in a guest role on the series Austin & Ally in 2014. After Descendants, Carson starred in a different Disney Channel movie, Adventures in Babysitting (2016).

Carlos is the son of Cruella de Vil. His mother taught him to be scared of dogs, after all her traumatic backstory with them, I suppose. She also seems to treat her son like her own personal slave, not wanting him to go to Auradon so he can do her hair… Carlos is funny, helpful, kind, and a complete scene-stealer. Carlos is one of the first to stand up to their parents, as he shows his mother that she was wrong about dogs by getting himself a pet, the school mascot, Dude. Even in Descendants, you can see that Carlos is being set up to be the one that holds the four of them together, despite the difficulties they’ll face. The very talented Cameron Boyce played the part of Carlos. Prior to Descendants, Boyce had been cast as one of the kids in the Adam Sandler film Grown Ups (2010) and its 2013 sequel. He was famous on Disney Channel for his role as Luke Ross in the series Jessie (2011-15), where Debbie Ryan played the title character. Boyce also voiced Jake in the animated series Jake and the Never Land Pirates from 2012 to 2014.

Jay is the son of Jafar, and due to there not being any magic on the Isle of the Lost, Jafar and Jay make their living by stealing from others. Jay does the exact same thing when he gets to Auradon but he soon learns that he doesn’t need to be doing that because he has his own skill – and that is being a great Tourney player, which automatically makes him a jock and part of a team. He is the most confident one of the four, but he can be a bit hot-headed, easy to anger if someone disrespects him. Booboo Stewart, who played Seth Clearwater in The Twilight Saga (2008-12), was cast as Jay. Stewart had also played Warpath in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) before his role in Descendants.

Before we get to the “heroes”, it’s probably worth briefly mentioning the villain parents. Although not as menacing or as wicked as their animated counterparts, the villain parents are much more kid-friendly in Descendants and I guess it makes sense that they aren’t particularly strong or confident now because they have been banished to the Isle for twenty years and can no longer practise magic or make big evil plans. Stand-up comedian Maz Jobrani portrayed Jafar here, and Wendy Raquel Robinson, who had roles in The Steve Harvey Show (1996-2002) as Regina, and The Game (2006-23), as Tasha, played Cruella de Vil. Kathy Najimy, who starred as Mary Sanderson in Hocus Pocus (1993) and its 2022 sequel, as well as Sister Mary Patrick in Sister Act (1992) and its 1993 sequel, was cast as the Evil Queen, and the fabulous Kristin Chenoweth got the almighty task of playing Maleficent. Chenoweth is known for numerous roles, including originating the role of Glinda in the musical Wicked, as well as her screen credits, like Mary Jo Gornicke in RV (2006), Olive Snook in Pushing Daisies (2007-09), and Mildred/Miss Codwell in Schmigadoon! (2021-23). Chenoweth was also cast as Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray Live! (2016) with Dove Cameron playing her on-screen daughter, Amber.

For the heroes, obviously the main one is Ben. Ben is one of the few residents of Auradon to welcome the Villain Kids to Auradon Prep, but that’s probably because it was his idea to bring them there. If you don’t stand up for your own decree, no-one else will! Ben is very kind and understanding; he should be since his mother is Belle. Ben is played by Mitchell Hope, with Descendants being his breakout role. I actually very much like this character and think Hope portrayed the charm and sincerity of Ben well.

His parents, King Beast – the man still isn’t allowed a name? – and Belle were played by Dan Payne, who has appeared in many Hallmark holiday movies, and Keegan Connor Tracy, respectively, who was cast in the role of the Blue Fairy in the ABC series Once Upon a Time (2011-18). Then there is Fairy Godmother, the kind and fair headmistress of Auradon Prep. She is determined to teach the VKs how to be good, no matter how they behave. Melanie Paxson was chosen to play the part of Fairy Godmother. Fans of the Nickelodeon show True Jackson, VP may know her as Doris Aden, but prior to that, she had appeared in sitcoms such as Notes from the Underbelly (2007-08) and Happy Family (2003-04).

Descendants benefits from a large and varied supporting cast, with many other “royal children” who have not been mentioned, simply because it would take too long to write about all of them! Some of these characters do become more involved in later stories.

MUSIC

The soundtrack of Descendants features a lot of big, show-stopping ensemble numbers. The one song in the movie that goes against this is “If Only”, my favourite song in the movie. It’s an emotional, heartfelt solo performed by Mal, as she thinks about what she really wants from life. It’s a calm moment of meditation in amongst a story that is full to the brim with action and conflict. There is also a reprise of “If Only” later on, as Mal tearfully makes the antidote for her love spell for Ben the night before the Coronation.

“Rotten to the Core” is a huge production number with complicated choreography and a little bit of parkour that sets up the movie to focus on these four villain kids. It shows them in their natural habitat of the Isle of the Lost. It immediately grabbed my attention when I watched the movie for the first time and kept me interested in what was still to come. Another big dance number is featured at the end of the movie with “Set It Off”. After Ben’s Coronation, it’s time to party and the Auradon Prep students show us how it’s done. It’s a positive, happy ending to the movie, showing that they are “all in this together”.

So those are the songs that I do like in Descendants. Now for the ones I don’t like so much. The first one is “Did I Mention”, which is the song that Ben sings in front of all the Auradon Prep students, publicly declaring his love for Mal thanks to the love spell she put on him. It’s not that I don’t like the music, I actually do because it’s very catchy, and it’s hilarious to see Ben acting so earnestly when it almost feels embarrassing for the onlooker! The only issue I have is the dance moves. Mitchell Hope doesn’t seem to be the most natural dancer, and seeing the backing dancers next to him makes it all look a little bit awkward. Not that I’m one to judge. My dance abilities go about as far as the Macarena and the Cha-Cha Slide! Maybe it’s just the shoulder pads on Ben’s Tourney uniform throwing him off balance! Singer-songwriter Jeff Lewis, who was a contestant on The Voice Season 4, is credited as Ben’s singing voice in this movie, although the soundtrack lists Mitchell Hope as an artist as well.

Another number is “Evil Like Me”. Mal is trying to live up to her mother’s legacy and struggling to find the motivation to follow in her footsteps, so it’s a duet between the two, all happening only in Mal’s mind. It feels very Broadway, very showy. Again, it’s not so much the song that bothers me, but the idea behind it. To see Maleficent, one of the most devious female Disney villains of all time, dancing around and saying things about being “finger lickin’ evil to the bone” does not compute in my mind. If I forget it’s meant to be the Maleficent, it’s fine though, and Dove Cameron and Kristin Chenoweth really pull it off.

The musical piece I dislike the most is “Be Our Guest”. It’s an odd hip-hop/rap version of the classic song from Beauty and the Beast (1991) that the Auradon Prep students perform to welcome their families to Family Fun Day. I personally found it cringey to sit through because I’m so familiar with the actual song, and didn’t feel it needed to be updated. They also mention fine dining and eating “the grey stuff” still, but the only food I can see is this scene is a chocolate fountain, so that’s false advertising in my book.

On the soundtrack, “Believe” by Shawn Mendes is the final song, featuring in the End Credits. It’s ok but not something I’ll rush back to listen to again. “Believe” was nominated for Choice Movie TV Song at the 2015 Teen Choice Awards. There is also the score composed by David Lawrence, who composed the scores for other Disney Channel Original Movies, including High School Music (2006). “Descendants Score Suite”, featuring excerpts from the score, was included on the official soundtrack. Lawrence was nominated for Outstanding Music Composition at the 68^th Primetime Emmy Awards. Descendants’ soundtrack topped the US Billboard 200, US Kid Albums and US Soundtrack Albums charts on its release.

PRODUCTION

Talk about Descendants started quite early on in production. In December 2013, the basic plot outline, i.e., four children of Disney villains being allowed to attend school at Auradon, was already known, as well as the names of the villain kids, and who their famous parents are. Kenny Ortega had also been named as director, which would have added to the excitement around the film, since he was well-known for being the director of the High School Musical trilogy – and we all know how well those did[1]. Ortega was the choreographer on many movies including Xanadu (1980) and Dirty Dancing (1987), and went on to direct Newsies (1992) and Hocus Pocus (1993), both for Disney. Casting and photos from shooting were later revealed in 2014, with a release date confirmed as being Summer 2015.

Kenny Ortega later stated in an interview that it took five months of auditioning before they found the four actors who would become Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay. He stated how impressed he was with them, and the fact that they took their roles seriously.  Ortega also said how he liked that they were able to refresh these classic characters from Disney Animation, as well as be able to create new characters that would resonate with a new generation of Disney watchers[2].

Not only did the team on Descendants create new characters but they also had to create two new worlds. Auradon became the new magical kingdom, with its grand architecture, beautiful landscaping, and of course, its beautiful castle, which you can see during the “storybook opening” and coincidentally looks pretty similar to Cinderella Castle from the Disney Parks. This is the complete opposite of the Isle of the Lost. The Isle’s buildings are derelict, covered in grim and graffiti, and it looks like a dark, dismal junkyard. I’m sure if the villains hadn’t been condemned to a life there, banished from civilisation, they might have been a bit more motivated to clean the place up. As it is, that was not the case!

Descendants is also known for its stunning costumes. Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay begin their story in heavy leather outfits. The steampunk look of the Isle of the Lost is in sharp contrast to Auradon, where the princes all wear suits, and the princesses wear pretty dresses. Evie, being such a fashionista, is inspired by these clothes and makes new creations for the four. Although they wear dresses and suits, especially at the Coronation where it is a given, they still manage to retain some of that steampunk style, with leather incorporated into many of their outfits, perhaps as a way of complementing their journey to goodness without forgetting their roots.

RECEPTION

Since there was such a buzz around the release of Descendants, it is only natural that there was some serious promotion for the movie, not just on Disney Channel, but outside of it, with the four main cast members being interviewed by news outlets and media channels in the days and weeks leading up to the release date, saying how honoured they were to be cast as these famous villains’ children and how proud they were of the movie.

On Disney Channel, a 23-episode series of short clips were shown every day prior to Descendants’ premiere date. This series was called Descendants: School of Secrets, and showed a mysterious and unnamed student using a hidden camera to show footage from inside the world of Auradon Prep, revealing the mixed reaction of the students after the announcement that four villain children would be attending their school soon.  

After all that press, Descendants finally premiered on Disney Channel on 31^st July 2015, where it was viewed by 6.6 million people on the night. It didn’t reach the UK Disney Channel until 25^th September 2015, by which point the reviews were already out.

Many of these reviews were positive, likening Descendants to High School Musical, albeit not regarding Descendants quite as highly. The soundtrack was generally regarded as being just as strong as that of High School Musical, and some praised the costumes and the message of being yourself, and good overcoming evil. The performance of the four lead actors was also considered to be very strong on the whole. The best description of Descendants that I read in any review was ‘High School Musical meets Once Upon a Time’, which I feel is a very accurate description of this movie[3]. On the more negative side, some complained over the auto-tune sound to some of the music, which I’ll admit you can hear in places, such as during “Rotten to the Core”, as well as the original villain characters not being accurate to their animated counterparts, which I’ve already had my say on.

Kenny Ortega won the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Children’s Program from the 2016 Directors Guild of America Awards for Descendants, and the screenwriters, Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott, won the Writers Guild of America Award for Children’s Longform Program. I think these awards are a testament to how well Descendants was received not just by children or teenagers, the target audience of the movie, but by the movie-making industry itself. Descendants was big news.

LEGACY

Right after Descendants had aired, a new animated series was announced, titled Descendants: Wicked World. The series ran for two seasons, from September 2015 to March 2017, with many of the original cast reprising their characters in these voice roles. The events of this series took place after Descendants. New characters, both from Auradon and the Isle of the Lost, were also introduced, including Freddie, the daughter of Dr. Facilier, who was voiced by China Anne McClain, which might sound confusing if you have already seen Descendants 2. More on that another time.

Descendants: Wicked World was apparently the first Disney Channel Original Series to be based on a Disney Channel Original Movie. It is also worth noting that three songs from this series appear on the Descendants movie soundtrack, released before this animated series aired. Descendants: Wicked World was nominated for Choice Animated TV Show at the 2016 Teen Choice Awards.

Despite some of the cast and Kenny Ortega attending the D23 Expo in August 2015, as well as being interviewed about the success of Descendants, they refused to confirm whether a sequel was in the works, even though Mal implies at the end of the movie that there is more to come. Fans didn’t need to wait too much longer for confirmation, because in October 2015 on Instagram, Disney Channel confirmed that Descendants 2 was in production. No air date was given at this time, though many assumed it would be released in Summer 2017. To celebrate the news of this sequel, Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson, Cameron Boyce, Booboo Stewart, and Kenny Ortega went to Downtown Disney at the Disneyland Resort to perform on stage for fans.

As well as these on-screen continuations, the world of Descendants gave more opportunities for Disney merchandising, as novels, costumes, clothing, and toys were released shortly after to cope with the success of the movie and its new fans[4].

For the 2015 Disney Parks Unforgettable Christmas Celebration taping at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, the four VKs performed the song “Rotten to the Core”, cementing them as a major entertainment property within the Disney Company. Not just anyone gets invited to these kinds of Disney Holiday shows! In 2016, they returned again for Disney Parks Presents: A Descendants Magical Holiday Celebration, a show featuring musical performances and a look at the Disney Parks for the holiday season. With Cameron Boyce and Sofia Carson hosting from Walt Disney World, and Booboo Stewart and Dove Cameron at Disneyland, they performed a new version of the song “Rotten to the Core”, renamed “Jolly to the Core”. China Anne McClain was also a performer during this show, as she had been announced as a new cast member addition for Descendants 2 back in June 2016. An exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the sequel was also shown.

FINAL THOUGHTS

After much anticipation prior to the release of Descendants, it did not disappoint. It received positive reviews, and many liked the new take on a classic Disney story of heroes and villains, where the villains’ children realise that they do not have to follow in their parents’ footsteps, and that they can choose their own path.

Though I was initially disappointed by the portrayal of these devious Disney villains, I found myself completely absorbed in the story that was being told to me. It wasn’t even about those villains; it was about Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos.

The success of Descendants, almost ten years after High School Musical premiered on Disney Channel in 2006, showed that Disney Channel yet again had another musical hit. And, much like High School Musical, there was more story to come.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Marc Snetiker, ‘Disney plans live-action movie ‘Descendants’ featuring villains’ kids’, EW,com, 12^th December 2013.

[2] Credit: D23, ‘Talking Disney’s Descendants with Kenny Ortega’, D23.com, date unknown.

[3] Credit: Amy Amatangelo, ‘‘Descendants’: TV Review’, HollywoodReporter.com, 28^th July 2015.

[4] Credit: Doug Marsh, ‘Disney Descendants Celebrate at Disneyland’, LaughingPlace.com, 22^nd October 2015.