'Disenchantment', new Matt Groening series on Netflix

[popcorn]

Some concept art for Futurama. I'd put money on only the top-left and maybe the centre-right headshots (ie the cruder drawings) being Groening's.

[BritishHobo]

God I miss Life in Hell. I crack those books sometimes and I marvel at how The Simpsons has become so utterly toothless. Futurama went through some ruts sometimes but god was it funny. I really hope this is good.

[Steven]

Oh yeah, the demon's arm pose is Life in Hell-like, too.

Reminds me a bit of Max Ernst's 'animal familiar' Loplop which appeared in some of his paintings, in particular one of my favourite paintings The Angel Of Hearth And Home, on the left - fused to the 'monster' trying to hold him back - representing the creeping spectre of Fascism that was ready to spill into Europe at the time:

[ieXush2i]

"Talkative, self-important nerdy men (usually age 30 and up) who, through an inability to properly decode social cues, mistake others' strained tolerance of their blather for evidence of their own charm."

[Sebastian Cobb]

Can you not shut up about yourself for five minutes? jesus christ.

[VelourSpirit]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV8vTGcv5Jc
little teaser

[St_Eddie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV8vTGcv5Jc
little teaser

Not much to see here, other than the use of CGI for panoramic establishing shots, makes it look like a cell-shaded video game (more so than Futurama).

[Small Man Big Horse]

A full length trailer is now online - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp_RnJcb8Ig - I liked the pet shop joke but that was the only bit which made me laugh, and I have a feeling that Nat Faxon's voice is going to annoy me a fair bit.

[up_the_hampipe]

Ah, so this is going to be Matt Groening's Cleveland Show.

[St_Eddie]

That trailer did nothing for me but I shall await passing judgment, until I've seen a few episodes.

[idunnosomename]

Wow, it looks surprisingly poor. The CG looks like Jet Set Radio on the Dreamcast circa 1999 and the 2D looks like it's missing the inbetweening

Futurama was seamless between the two, just don't get why this doesn't have the same tech behind it.

I quite like some of those sets though, nice architecture.

[St_Eddie]

Futurama was seamless between the two, just don't get why this doesn't have the same tech behind it.

Hmm.  I always found the CG elements in Futurama to be incongruous with the 2D stuff, to the point of distraction.

[idunnosomename]

I always thought they blended them very well. I mean you could tell what was what because of what they could do with each technique, but it never bothered me.

Better than this, though, surely? This almost looks like they have some clipping artefacts on the 3D sets when they pan round them.

[St_Eddie]

Better than this, though, surely? This almost looks like they have some clipping artefacts on the 3D sets when they pan round them.

Indeed...

Not much to see here, other than the use of CGI for panoramic establishing shots, makes it look like a cell-shaded video game (more so than Futurama).

I assume that this new show has less of a budget to work with than Futurama.

[madhair60]

Ah, so this is going to be Matt Groening's Cleveland Show.

I loved that show :(

[Frank Wank]

How odd to just release some stills. Why no footage in this viral age?

I bet there's porn of it already though

Because it's three months before release, calm down.

Also, that's gross and you're gross for bringing it up.

The elf is the weak bit in the character design, I think. So Bart. But do we actually believe Groening designed these characters himself?

Yes, i believe that the Matt Groening character that looks like the other Matt Groening character was also drawn by Matt Groening. What's with your weird speculation, son?

I mean I don't know what he really does now. Except money fights. But if he's really the creative force behind this being concieved, designed, commissioned and made then mad props to the guy.

Don't know? Don't have the time to research? Why not Speculate Like a Weirdo on the internet?

Wow, it looks surprisingly poor. The CG looks like Jet Set Radio on the Dreamcast circa 1999 and the 2D looks like it's missing the inbetweening

Futurama was seamless between the two, just don't get why this doesn't have the same tech behind it.

I quite like some of those sets though, nice architecture.

You don't know about the tech or budgets involved, but keep piling into this thread to say weird things.



Matt Groening? Maybe he drew this series with his feet but why would he do that I don't know anything about art or feet but here's my mini thesis on why Matt is an idiot for doing it the way I guess he's doing it.

[rue the polywhirl]

Also, that's gross and you're gross for bringing it up.

You're gross because... your username! Clean yourself up before you call out others.

[Ferris]

Looks like latter-day Simpsons to me. Very glossy, weird colour merges in the background. Really liked futurama though so I have hope!

[Chriddof]

Fancy a chilled laqer, Frank?

[St_Eddie]

...calm down.

And the 'Most Hypocritical Person of the Year Award' goes to...

[DRUM ROLL]

... this cunt.

[Alberon]

Looks like latter-day Simpsons to me. Very glossy, weird colour merges in the background. Really liked futurama though so I have hope!

I loved Futurama, especially before its first cancellation when it could do little wrong.

This trailer though... I assume they haven't put any jokes in it as they haven't finished them yet.

[Frank Wank]

And the 'Most Hypocritical Person of the Year Award' goes to...

[DRUM ROLL]

... this cunt.

Reported.

[St_Eddie]

I want to say some nice things about the trailer, so let me start by saying that I love the design of the demon and um... uh... I really love the design of the demon.

Reported.

Good luck with that, Munt Cunt, or whatever your name is.

[Small Man Big Horse]

The AV Club has given it a B-, though it sounds like a C- review at best: https://tv.avclub.com/an-excellent-cast-rescues-fantasy-parody-disenchantment-1828194769

An excellent cast rescues fantasy parody Disenchantment from mediocrity

Having already sent up the nuclear family and science fiction, Matt Groening turns his eye to medieval times for his first Netflix series, Disenchantment. The Simpsons and Futurama creator reunites with Josh Weinstein and Bill Oakley for this fantasy parody, which could be described as "Game Of Thrones as recapped by Homer Simpson" (we know, "The Serfsons" did it already). It's a fitfully entertaining yarn, one that gets entangled in overlong episodes, a meandering plot, and an existential crisis that mirrors that of its main protagonist. But the game voice cast—which includes several Futurama regulars—helps keep this genre-skewering adventure on course.

At the center of several plots ranging in diabolicalness is Princess Tiabeanie (Abbi Jacobson), the rebellious teenage daughter of King Zog (John DiMaggio). She prefers to go by Bean, just as she'd rather drink, fight, and fu—er, woo the men of Dreamland (the shift to Netflix hasn't meant a complete departure from network standards and practices) than be married off to whatever inbred prince her boorish father has lined up at the altar. Like so many animated princesses before her, Bean dreams of a life beyond the castle walls. Her DNA is more Simpson than Disney—she belches instead of sings, and sports the signature overbite of virtually all of Groening's creations—but Bean is also more than just a medieval Lisa or Leela. She's the first female character to truly lead one of Groening's series, and Disenchantment is (mostly) her coming-of-age story.

This arc stands to benefit the most from the serialization Weinstein touted at this summer's Television Critics Association press tour, but Disenchantment doesn't find a teenaged girl's aspirations epic enough. So Bean's story is mirrored by that of Elfo (Nat Faxon), a dissatisfied sprite who leaves his deceptively cheery woodland home in search of new experiences. They meet on one of her wedding days, just hours after Bean's been saddled with a teeny demon. Voiced by Eric Andre, Luci is part of some fiendish scheme that's introduced early on, then mostly abandoned in favor of bits about hilltop mystics, a Viking invasion-slash-kegger, and King Zog's quest for eternal youth. These detours have their moments, but they run counter to the serialization intent—which wouldn't be such an issue if Disenchantment were as strong in its stand-alone episodes as its animated predecessors. But though there are several inspired visual and recurring gags, most of these segues aren't quite outlandish enough for the medieval-fantasy setting, let alone Groening and Weinstein's new streaming home, where a horseman has come to represent our human hopes and despair. As one Dreamland inhabitant notes, this is a land of magic and nightmarish creatures, so jokes about a secret society that's really just a sex cult simply aren't that fantastic.

After a great introductory episode and mini-arc, the animated sitcom settles into a Futurama-like rhythm, with Dreamland serving as the base of operations for Bean, Luci, and Elfo, who set off on diplomatic missions and drunken exploits alike (usually at the same time). There's even an anachronistic analog for Zapp Brannigan in Prince Merkemer (The Mighty Boosh's Matt Berry). Again, all fine and good for an adventure-of-the-week format, but Disenchantment aims to spin a grander tapestry from Bean's rebellion. And with writers like Gravity Falls' Shion Takeuchi and Superstore's Jeny Batten, the show does occasionally explore how oppressive prescribed gender roles can be, especially for teenage girls, something the producers have claimed is one of the show's goals. There's a great throwaway line from Zog about how Bean "failed as a princess and a nun," which are the "only two girl things [he knows]." But despite her father's scrutiny, Bean becomes a jewel thief, an executioner (under Noel Fielding's surprisingly gentle tutelage), and an ambassador, proving she's capable of so much more than being married to a dullard or the god that's being whipped up on the fly by a druid voiced by Tress MacNeille.

Likewise, Elfo refuses to take his place in an assembly line, questioning how happiness can be anyone's default mode. But Disenchantment sells the elf short by replacing his ennui with a burgeoning love for Bean, because its narrative discrepancies don't discriminate. Luci's storyline is the most consistent—as the demonic fly in the ointment, his role is simply to disrupt. Yet the hell spawn still finds himself growing attached to the very person he's been assigned to torment, as well as grudgingly tolerate Elfo.

Although Disenchantment struggles to balance its episodic and serialized storytelling in the first seven episodes, it's already found alchemy in its cast. Jacobson—who regularly flouts convention on her groundbreaking series, Broad City—imbues her performance with equal parts optimism and fatalism. As a young woman in what amounts to Europe in the Middle Ages, it's too early in the history of the world for her to give up, and yet her fate already seems to be sealed. Faxon and Andre are also cut out for their roles as ingenue and incubus, the former veering from cheerful to vengeful when the situation warrants it, as the latter's dulcet tones make the most heinous actions sound downright reasonable. Despite some snarls, we do find ourselves caring and rooting for this defiant teen, wayward elf, and conflicted demon, and it's thanks in great part to the cast. Disenchantment has the potential to become as engrossing an updated fairy tale as it is a debauched one, without choosing between one-offs and longer arcs. And with such an excellent trio leading the way, it won't even need to resort to magic.

[Jumblegraws]

The AV Club has given it a B-, though it sounds like a C- review at best: https://tv.avclub.com/an-excellent-cast-rescues-fantasy-parody-disenchantment-1828194769

Definitely sounds worth giving a chance, The Simpsons and Futurama didn't grow the beard until after their first seasons.

[Alberon]

Simpsons definitely, but I thought early Futurama was already pretty damn good.

Another review I read (on Den of Geek?) said that instead of dumping the whole setup at the start it should have been slowly introduced over the season.

So far, all I've seen have said it's not very good, but the potential in the cast and writers is fantastic, which sounds like they're just being polite to Groening.

[veletision]

I agree that Futurama was fantastic pretty much from the get go.

The premise and "world" of this just does nothing for me though. I'll definitely give it a go with Josh Weinstein involved. Can't see who the other writers involved are.

Hopefully it works out well and they do audio commentaries. Not much I love more than Simpsons & Futurama commentaries. 

[Small Man Big Horse]

I've only watched the first episode so far but yeesh, it's all a bit of a mess. There are some decent jokes, and I'm fond of a fair few of the voice cast, but there's some really painful (and dated) gags, and there are times I find myself shaking my head in dismay.

[Malcy]

I've only watched the first episode so far but yeesh, it's all a bit of a mess. There are some decent jokes, and I'm fond of a fair few of the voice cast, but there's some really painful (and dated) gags, and there are times I find myself shaking my head in dismay.

From the trailers and bits I've seen i thought there was comedy older than the hills in it. I'll watch it at something but in no rush. Must have a look at the cast. Don't know who's in it.

Edit - Matt Berry, Lucy Montgomery, Noel Fielding & Rich Fulcher?! Wasn't expecting that!

[Dannyhood91]

I think it's alright. It starts off a bit meh but the second half of the first episode is decent.