The battle between heroes and villains is back in a fifth installment of Disney‘s wildly successful Descendants franchise.
Descendants: Wicked Wonderland, which premieres Thursday, revisits the world of Wonderland from Lewis Carroll’s classic books and sees the return of fan favorites from the fourth installment, including Red (Kylie Cantrall), daughter of the Queen of Hearts (Rita Ora), and Chloe (Malia Baker), daughter of Cinderella (Brandy). It also introduces several new characters, such as Pink (Liamani Segura), Red’s younger sister, and Chessy the Cat (voiced by Awkwafina), offspring of — you guessed it — the Cheshire Cat.
Greenlighting a fifth movie in the franchise was pretty much a no-brainer. Each of the first three films ranked as the most-watched cable movie of the year in which they debuted. Descendants: The Rise of Red, the fourth film, premiered on Disney+ as the most-watched original movie among kids and girls 6–11. Last year, the Descendants/Zombies Worlds Collide Tour played to sold-out crowds in more than 40 arenas across North America, and it’s hard to go out on Halloween without running into a child dressed as a character from one of the movies.
Charlie Andrews, executive vp live action, Disney Kids & Family, has some ideas about why the franchise continues to resonate with younger viewers more than a decade after it first premiered.
