Episode 11 - Disenchantment (Matt Groening, 2018-)

Disenchantment (Matt Groening, 2018-).

Disenchantment (Matt Groening, 2018-).

The Fantasy/Animation podcast takes listeners on a journey through the intersection between fantasy cinema and the medium of animation. Available via Apple Podcasts, Spotify and many of your favourite podcast hosting platforms!

Episode 11 marks Chris and Alex’s first venture to the small screen, offering a rundown of Matt Groening’s recent television series Disenchantment, which first premiered in August 2018 on Netflix. A fantasy sitcom visualised through Groening’s signature animated style (including the requisite character overbite), Disenchantment parodies the archetypes familiar from fantasy mythology. From hard-drinking princesses to sweet-toothed elves, its playful swipes at fantasy storytelling feed into an overriding irreverence that fully exploits animation’s subversive potential, as Groening’s series sets about both constructing and deconstructing the terms of its own animated world.

Suggested Readings

  • Blum, Harold P., Yale Kramer, Arlene K. Richards, and Arnold D. Richard, eds. 1988. Fantasy, Myth, and Reality: Essays in Honor of Jacob A. Arlow. Madison: International Universities Press.

  • Hooks, Ed. 2005. Acting for Animation: A Look At 12 Films. Portsmouth: Heinemann Educational Books.

  • Tiffin, Jessica. 2009. Marvelous Geometry: Narrative and Metafiction in Modern Fairy Tale. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.

  • Wells, Paul. 2008. The Animated Bestiary: Animals, Cartoons, and Culture. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantTELEVISION, FANTASY, ADAPTATION, PARODY, SATIREComment