Disenchantment

 I had planned on doing a blog about “Modern Family”, the eleventh and final season of which I recently finished, only to check and see that I already blogged about the show – ten years ago.  So I simply updated it as necessary.  That left me looking for another topic.  Well, “Disenchantment” Season 3 just wrapped up – as most streaming shows these days, all at once – and I watched it.  In fact, there was such a gap between Season 2 ending and Season 3 coming out that I had to watch Season 1 and 2 again to refresh my memory about who everyone was and what was going on.  So here it is.

Done by the same gang who give us “The Simpsons”, although this is on Netflix and not on FOX.  It’s animated, of course, but the setting is a fantasy world, Dreamland, and the central character, Beanie, is the princess.  Her mother Dagmar disappeared – we find out later – and her stepmother Oona proves to be more likable than you might expect.  Her father, King Zog, is a bit of a sourpuss and by season 3 is borderline psychotic.  Her stepbrother Derek is not too bright, but still not a bad kid.  He looks remarkably like his mother Oona.

Characters.

Beanie (Abbie Jacobson).  She’s cute and average intelligence, somewhat sympathetic and likable.  Basically a generic young woman, in that regard.  By the end of Season 3 she has to take over as queen, so we’ll see what happens there.

Elfo (Nat Faxon).   He’s an elf.  Elves are prominent but very short.  Each seems to have a name describing their particular distinction, with Elfo alone being just a regular elf.

Luci (Eric Andre).  Short for “Lucifer”, he’s a small demon often mistaken for a cat.  Leave it to him to be the most cynical character of the lot, though his ultimate fate is somewhat surprising.

King Zog (John DiMaggio).   I grew a mustache for Lent and have put on pounds, so I inadvertently turned into a live-action cosplay version of him, though somewhat less grumpy.  Zog really doesn’t seem to do much except be grumpy and condemn various jesters to trap door banishment. 

Queen Oona (Tress MacNeille).  All the humans on the show are white, with the exception of Oona and her race, who have light blue skin and are amphibious.  My subjective suspicion is that her race is intended to be this universe’s equivalent of Asians, though she doesn’t display any behavior we’d normally attribute to Asians – whatever that might be.  Initially she’s marginally untrustworthy but eventually proves to be more likable than Dagmar.  She became queen after Dagmar disappeared. 

Queen Dagmar (Sharon Horgan).  At some point we learn what happened to her – and what she’s up to…and it’s not good.  It reached the point where Beanie has to impersonate her (!). 

Overall, the show brings the same cynical humor we could expect from “Futurama”, albeit in a fantasy context rather than science fiction.  Since so much of fantasy, whether live action or animated, takes itself so seriously, this element in itself sets “Disenchantment” apart and makes it so fun to watch. 

In fact, not only is there magic, but remarkably, in season 3, Beanie finds a steampunk world where science reigns – so in this world, magic and science appear to coexist, which is itself an intriguing premise.   Heaven and Hell are also in here, so that adds – irreverently – some religion.  Again, all highly recommended.