Descendants (franchise)
The Descendants franchise consists of three Disney Channel musical fantasy adventure-comedy films directed by Kenny Ortega and created by Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott. The franchise's world is placed in a universe that serves as a continuation after the Disney Animated Classics series. Starring Dove Cameron, Cameron Boyce, Sofia Carson and Booboo Stewart each film chronicles the lives of the teenage children of four Disney-villains on the Isle of the Lost, and their move to Auradon at the request of the teenage son of Queen Belle and King Beast. The first film was released as a Disney Channel Original Movie in July 2015. Following its success, a sequel was put into production and premiered across six Disney-owned networks in July 2017. In August 2019, the third film premiered on Disney Channel. Each film was accompanied by original music, and film soundtrack; the first soundtrack peaked at number one in the United States, while the second soundtrack peaked at number six, and the third peaked at number seven.
Film series
''Descendants'' (2015)
Descendants premiered on July 31, 2015 on Disney Channel, and received immediate commercial success. Prior to its premiere, it was viewed more than one million times on the Disney Now app. On its premiere night, the film received 6.6 million viewers, becoming the most-watched broadcast on the network of 2015, and the highest-rated broadcast on the network since 2013. The film later went onto become the fifth most-watched original movie on cable television. The film's soundtrack debuted atop of the US Billboard 200, becoming the first Disney Channel original movie to do so since High School Musical 2 achieved the same feat in 2007.In the United States of Auradon, Belle and Beast rule as king and queen, twenty years after they married, united the settings of many Disney animated films, and banished all villains to the Isle of the Lost, a slum surrounded by a magic-suppressing barrier. Beast plans to abdicate in favor of his and Belle's son, Ben, who announces a program to invite four children from the Isle of the Lost to live in Auradon, away from the influence of their villainous parents: Carlos, son of Cruella de Vil; Jay, son of Jafar; Evie, daughter of the Evil Queen; and their gang's leader Mal, daughter of Maleficent. Maleficent orders them to steal the Fairy Godmother's magic wand and deactivate the barrier, so Maleficent can conquer Auradon. But the four find themselves fitting in and enjoying a normal childhood, and Mal begins a relationship with Ben, supplanting Audrey, daughter of Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip. When the barrier is inadvertently dispelled, Maleficent attacks Ben's coronation and transforms into a dragon. With Ben encouraging her to make her own choice, Mal decides to be good. She and her friends rebuke Maleficent, turning her into a small lizard, from which state she can recover if she fills her heart with love. The people of Auradon celebrate.
''Descendants 2'' (2017)
Descendants 2 was announced on August 15, 2015, at the D23 Expo. The film premiered on July 21, 2017, and was simulcast on six channels: ABC, Disney Channel, Disney XD, Freeform, Lifetime, and Lifetime Movies. The movie was watched by 5.3 million viewers on Disney Channel and 8.9 million through all six networks.Mal struggles with her new celebrity life as King Ben's girlfriend, secretly using magic to maintain a lifestyle she feels is a façade. Mal decides she does not belong in Auradon; she returns to the Isle, where gang leadership has fallen to her old rival, pirate captain Uma, and her first and second mates, respectively, Harry and Gil. Evie, Jay, and Carlos agree to help Ben find her, but Mal rejects Ben, believing it best for him and Auradon. Uma captures Ben and demands the Fairy Godmother's wand in exchange for his life. Uma resents not being chosen to live in Auradon; Ben respects her as a leader and invites her to Auradon, but she vows to make her own way there instead. Using a 3D-printed decoy wand, Mal's group rescues Ben. At the shipboard Royal Cotillion, Uma appears as Ben's date and he announces he will destroy the barrier; Mal realizes Uma has cast a spell on Ben. When Mal discovers Ben commissioned a portrait that depicts her as she was before she changed herself with magic, she accepts the emotion of love and kisses Ben, breaking the spell. Uma and Mal battle, transforming into an octopus and a dragon, respectively. Ben tries to negotiate with Uma, but she leaves, unreconciled. Evie asks to bring more children from the Isle to Auradon and Ben agrees.
''Descendants 3'' (2019)
Disney Channel ordered the third film of the franchise on February 16, 2018. The film premiered on August 2, 2019. The movie received 4.6 million viewers on its premiere night.In the film, Ben proposes to Mal, making her the future queen of Auradon. However, threats from Uma, Mal's father Hades and Ben's ex-girlfriend Audrey has Mal trying to stop evil once and for all. While Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos are recruiting a new generation of villain kids, Hades is trying to breach through the barrier, then Audrey steals the crown and the scepter and becomes the evil version of herself. The VKs return to the Isle of the Lost on a mission to retrieve Hades' ember and later, Uma, Harry and Gil teams up with Mal and the others to stop Audrey from destroying Auradon.
Cast members
Discography
Soundtrack albums
Singles
Promotional singles
Other charted songs
Other appearances
Music videos
Spin-offs
Prequel spin-off
Before the film's premiere air date, Disney Channel announced a live action mini series leading up to the event. Every day leading up to the release of the film, a new episode of would be released revealing more secrets about the students at Auradon Prep. Each episode of the series is under 5 minutes long, with 23 episodes in total.Animated spin-off
Right after the film finished airing on Disney Channel, it was announced that a CGI-animated short spinoff entitled would be released on September 18, 2015. Furthermore, former Phineas and Ferb storyboard artist Aliki Theofilopoulos Grafft announced on Twitter that she was directing the series, with Jenni Cook as producer, and that the original cast would be reprising their roles.''Under the Sea: A Descendants Short Story''
On August 10, 2018, a short film, Under The Sea: A Descendants Short Story was announced and was released on September 28, 2018. The story revolves around Mal, who discovers a glowing orb in a forest. She then meets Dizzy, who is wearing a necklace that is possessed by Uma.''Disney's Descendants: The Musical''
On February 6, 2020, Music Theatre International released the rights to a junior production of the film series entitled Disney's Descendants: The Musical. The plot mostly follows the first film but uses elements from Descendants 2. However, it uses music from all three films and two songs from Descendants: Wicked World. It features a book and additional lyrics are written Nick Blaemire, additional music by Madeline Smith, and new orchestrations by Matthew Tishler.Novels
''The Isle of the Lost'' series
This book series details events that take place during the three movies.''The Isle of the Lost''
A prequel novel called The Isle of the Lost by Melissa de la Cruz, has the villains' descendants banding together to retrieve the Dragon's Eye. The book was released on May 5, 2015. The book has spent over 14 weeks as a Children's Middle Grade New York Times Best Seller.Besides detailing about the children of Maleficent, Jafar, Cruella De Vil, and the Evil Queen, it also talks about some of the known locations of the Isle of the Lost like Dragon Hall, Goblin Wharf, Bargain Castle, Jafar's Junk Shop, Castle Far Away, Hell Hall, and the Isle of the Doomed. The sorcerer Yen Sid from Fantasia is positioned here by King Beast to work at Dragon Hall to help the students with formerly magical parents adapt to more modern methods since the Isle of the Lost's barrier negates all magic.
Other villains mentioned or hinted to be on the Isle of the Lost are Captain Hook from Peter Pan, Ursula from The Little Mermaid, Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog, Mother Gothel from Tangled, Lady Tremaine and her two daughters Drizella and Anastasia from Cinderella, Clayton from Tarzan, Madame Mim from The Sword in the Stone, Governor John Ratcliffe from Pocahontas, Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, Shan Yu from Mulan, Shere Khan from The Jungle Book, Scar and his hyena cronies from The Lion King, the Coachman from Pinocchio, the Horned King from The Black Cauldron, Professor Padraic Ratigan from The Great Mouse Detective, Yzma from The Emperor's New Groove, and Claude Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The Isle of the Lost novel also mentioned an original character who was the former Royal Astronomer of Agrabah and an ally of Jafar who is the father of Reza.
''Return to the Isle of the Lost''
Another Descendants novel titled Return to the Isle of the Lost was released on May 24, 2016. While Ben is running Auradon while his parents are on a cruise, Mal, Jay, Carlos, and Evie receive threatening messages to return to the Isle of the Lost at the time when it ends up in worse shape ever since Maleficent's defeat and the fact that Cruella de Vil, the Evil Queen, and Jafar have gone missing.During this time, it was confirmed that the Crocodile from Peter Pan, Edgar Balthazar from The Aristocats, Hades from Hercules, and the Ringmaster from Dumbo are also imprisoned on the Isle of the Lost. It also introduces Hercules's son Herkie, Pinocchio's son Pin, Grumpy's son Gordon, Tiger Lily's daughter Tiger Peony, and King Arthur's son Artie in the book.
Also as Freddie, Jordan, and Ally appear in the book, the story takes place during .
''Rise of the Isle of the Lost''
A prequel novel called Rise of the Isle of the Lost was released on May 23, 2017. The novel details Uma's rise to power and her earlier history with Mal. The main plot details Uma planning to get the migrating trident of King Triton in order to help bring down the barrier surrounding the Isle of the Lost.In addition to the mentioning of Genie, Grumpy, and Merriwether being teachers at Auradon Prep, a third school called the Serpent Preparatory School for the Education of Miscreants is located on the Isle of the Lost which Uma, Harry Hook, and Gil attended. Serpent Prep is a rival of Dragon Hall.
The book also introduced Yen Sid's Auradon intern Sophie, Ariel's niece Arabella, and Mulan and Shang's son Li'l Shang who is Lonnie's brother. There was a mentioning that the Stabbington brothers from Tangled are also on the Isle of the Lost where they have children called the Stabbington Cousins. Other information listed here that was later referenced in the film was Audrey and Chad breaking up, the introduction of R.O.A.R., Mal keeping Maleficent's lizard form as a pet, and Evie having her magic mirror placed in the museum.