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It’s no surprise or shock to hear me say that Futurama and The Simpsons are two of my favorite shows of all time. Sure, The Simpsons rapidly went downhill after season 8, to the point that I cannot even recall any particularly great episode from season 15 to season 23. But Futurama, through some stumbling blocks, ended with a heartfelt and hilarious final season. I was prepared for anything these doofuses threw out, even if Disenchantment felt like ‘Past-o-rama’.
In Disenchantment, we follow the adventures of Princess Bean (voice of Abbi Jacobson) the Princess of the kingdom of Dreamland. The shows starts in a typical sort of way, in that she’s the rebellious princess who doesn’t want to get married. Bean loves drinking, fighting, and misbehaving, while her father King Zøg (John DiMaggio, late of Futurama) is a short, raspy-voiced idiot. He’s also one of the funnier characters on the show.
The first two episodes deal with Bean’s attempts to escape her arranged marriage, but once that’s over, the show settles into a series of adventures that slowly builds a continuity that explodes in the final episodes. Bean’s primary companions are a literal demon Luci (Eric Andre), drawn in the style of a two-dimensional shadow, and he’s there to influence Bean to do more bad things. Which is super easy, since she was already doing that sort of thing.
Overall, Luci is written in a very funny way, mostly the sarcastic, dark sort of humor with the barest touch of subtlety overall. The other companion is Elfo (Nat Faxon), who has another silly name, but comes from a village of elves where he feels out of place. So he leaves, an outcast like Bean, and they bond due to that. Later, there are a few ‘meh’ story beats about his crush on her that aren’t so interesting, but their relationship evolves in a way that actually works pretty well in the end.
There are a lot of side characters, and like the two Matt Groening shows before it, they tend to be well thought out and a lot of fun. Old voice actor favorites like Billy West, Maurice LaMarche, Tress MacNeille, and David Herman round out some of these fun people, along with three or four people from the barely seen British show The Mighty Boosh. Although from that set, the hilariously voiced Matt Berry is a standout as Prince Merkimer, a super arrogant and clueless prince.
I remember Matt Berry from the fun (if dated) The IT Crowd and the spectacular parody Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. He’s great, added to a set of the best voice actors working today. Now, the three leads aren’t really the best at voice acting, but they’re all good enough here, imbuing their characters with personality and a little depth at times.
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I wasn’t as blown away by the humor at first, but I found, oddly enough, that rewatching them was actually funnier. And the little hints and setup bits for the later continuity (a Netflix staple by this point), do actually work very well, and there’s a huge amount of fun background jokes. The show looks great, with a good theme and score, although there are some odd sound choices when it comes to ambiance and background. It becomes a more intimate, personal sort of tale in the end, not the large scope you might expect.
The Simpsons had a bit of a rough start in their first season, although the first aired episode ‘Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire’ was really great. Futurama’s first season was in contrast, superb, with the first episode (the not-so-cleverly named ‘Space Pilot 3000’) being funny if sort of rushed. There’s a lot of setup in the first season of Disenchantment, and it’s not as laugh-out-loud funny as Rick & Morty or BoJack Horseman’s first seasons, but it’s got something those two have in common: potential.
I ultimately really enjoyed this first season, with its uneven jokes and attention to continuity. It’s not amazing, but it’s a look, and it’s not a huge time investment. Don’t expect The Simpsons season three or seven, but don’t expect season twenty-seven either — this is on the right path to something grand.
What did you think of the first season of Disenchantment? Tell us what you think!
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