NetflixThe Simpsons and Futurama creator Matt Groening has a new animated series coming to Netflix, starring Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson and Eric Andre.
His new ten-episode series, titled Disenchantment, will follow the (mis)adventures of Bean, who will be voiced by Jacobson. The series will be available to stream on Netflix from August 17 this year.
This will be Matt Groening’s first non-Simpsons project since Futurama was launched almost 20 years ago which sadly but satisfyingly ended in 2013.
According to the official synopsis from Netflix:
In Disenchantment, viewers will be whisked away to the crumbling medieval kingdom of Dreamland, where they will follow the misadventures of hard-drinking young princess Bean, her feisty elf companion Elfo, and her personal demon Luci. Along the way, the oddball trio will encounter ogres, sprites, harpies, imps, trolls, walruses, and lots of human fools.
Joining Jacobson and Andre is a star-studded voice cast which includes Matt Berry (Toast of London, IT Crowd), Noel Fielding (The Mighty Boosh, The Great British Bake Off) and John DiMaggio who voiced Bender in Futurama.
As this is a series primarily created for Netflix from the mind of Matt Groening expect the content to be lewd and borderline R-rated as he won’t have shackles of Fox executives trying to water down his jokes.
If you haven’t done so already, do yourself a favour and watch Broad City – think Workaholics but with two brilliant female leads. Likewise, if you are after some alternative ‘out there’ comedy give the Eric Andre Show a watch, I guarantee it will wrap your mind to no end.
The upcoming release date for Groening’s Netflix Original will most likely serve as a welcome distraction after catching some bad press for his handling of the latest Simpsons controversy. The writer of the best and longest-running animated series caught flack for dismissing the recent controversy regarding the character of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.
The controversy came after comedian Hari Kondabolu’s documentary, The Problem With Apu, highlighted problematic characteristics of Simpsons characters those in America’s South Asian community felt were based on racial stereotypes.
Groening’s reaction to the documentary was less than ideal. The Simpsons creator dismissed the recent controversies surrounding Apu, claiming ‘people loving getting offended’. 64-year-old Groening said he was ‘proud’ of what he’s done on the show despite a furore over a white actor (Hank Azaria) portraying what is construed as a stereotypical Indian man.
However, it’s often those actions with no intentions to do harm which can end up being the most detrimental.
While Groening has been quick to dismiss the issues brought up in the documentary, Azaria has acknowledged the problematic nature of a character he’s become synonymous with for so much of his career.
During an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Azaria said:
I think the most important thing is to listen to Indian people and their experience with it.
Listening to voices means inclusion in the writers’ room. I really want to see Indian, South Asian writers in the writers’ room, genuinely informing whichever direction this character takes.
I’m perfectly willing to step aside. It just feels like the right thing to do to me.
Disenchantment will be available to stream on Netflix from August 27.
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