Disenchantment

Bean: Ever wish you could live in a place where people were really, truly happy?

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Elfo: I'm sick of being happy all the time. I wish just once I could go somewhere where people are miserable.

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Disenchantment is the creation of The Simpsons and Futurama creator Matt Groening and Josh Weinstein, and was released on Netflix on August 17th, 2018. It is a fantasy fiction adventure cartoon set in a mythical Middle Ages time period and features a variety of well-known creatures of folk lore including elves, ogres, giants and mermaids, as well as it's own novel species such as Dankmirians and Maruvians, and of course, humans. It follows the twin tales of disenchantment of the alcoholic protagonist Princess Tiabeannie of Dreamland ("Bean" for short) - who rebels against her father King Zog and step-mother Queen Oona in search of happiness - and her newfound elf buddy Elfo who has exiled himself from Elfwood in search of misery. She finds herself cursed by a personal demon (daemon) Luci for reasons unknown to her (but known to the audience). As the trio embark on a quest to find the Elixir of Life, Bean and Elfo's paths are entwined in the discovery of their true identities.

Tropes used in Disenchantment include:

• Aesops abound:
  • Anvilicious: episode 8, "The Limits of Immortality"
  • Captain Obvious Aesop:

Elfo: Well now we know something we didn't know yesterday!"

• Call Back: many
  • When Elfo says "screw the 'Jolly Code'" you can hear to elf Weirdo make a creepy groan, in a call back to his earlier appearance.
  • The "King Fight" at the beginning of season 1 is called back to with a "Queen Fight" at the end of the season.
• Catchphrase:

Jester: Oh no!

Elfo: Doink

• Curse: the demon Luci.
• Deadpan Snarker: Bunty

Bean: I hate this feeling... Bunty: Sobriety, ma'am?

• Deconstruction: plenty of tropes get broken down.

Elfo: Singing at work is not happiness - it's mental illness.

Bean: I might as well give up and accept that I'll never be anything more than a wealthy queen of a fabulous faraway kingdom...[sniffs]...it's my destiny.

• Deus Ex Machina: a griffin
• Dreamland: the citadel where the humans live is called "Dreamland".
  • the land of the elves - "Elfwood" - appears from another dimension and is an example of a dreamworld within a dreamworld.
• Fantasy World Map" foreshadowed in the first episode in King Zog's chamber.
• Evil Stepmother: inverted.
• High Fantasy: Affectionate Parody
• Immortality: the quest for the elixir of life (as in Holy Grail) and the Eternity Pendant.
• Double Entendre:

Kissy: I can't go all the way

• The Jester: Jester
• The Kingdom - Dreamland
• Lampshade Hanging: a few notable ones:
  • In the first episode:

Elf King: Elfo - no! It is forbidden! [to leave Elfwood]. Superviso: I don't know why we keep that lever there.

• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: and it's only taken the whole season... whichever one it is...to get here (will add to lead quote soon)
• Leap of Faith: end of episode 1.
• Meaningful Name - Luci is short for Lucifer - and is a Maru demon, similar to the daemons of His Dark Materials.
  • Parodied with all the elves having silly elfish names like Elfo, Shock-o, Superviso, Return-o ("No one returns - not even Returno!") and Weirdo (clearly a perverted elf) etc
• Moral Dilemma: Bean has to decide whether to rescue Elfo or her mother.
  • The second season sets Bean up for another: to side with her father and rescue Dreamland, or with her mother and destroy it.
• Prince Charming: Bean wishes for a "boyfriend who is a good listener". Instead she gets
  • Prince Charmless twice. The first being the inbred Prince Guysbert, amd the second being his brother, Merkimer.

Merkimer: [to Bean] I've loved you since the moment you killed my brother.

• Female protaganist: Princess Tiabeannie ("Bean" for short).
• Pun-Based Title: episode titles such as "Swamp and Circumstance", "To Thine Own Elf Be True"
• The Quest: to find the elixir of life, of course.
• Royalty: parodied with an homage to Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
  • Jerk Ass: the selfish, vain and arrogant King Zog.

King Zog: How do I look? Spiffy, right? I had the dogs lick me clean twice.

• Running Gag:
  • Luci likes to ride on the back of as many of the other characters as possible
  • The "Plague Patrol" cart features a number of times
• Wedding Day: averted as Bean makes a run for it and begins her quest.
  • Deconstructed:

Bean: All this wedding hassle for a stupid political alliance! I thought that I'd get married for true love or because I was wasted... Bunty: Lot's of reasons to get married ma'am: I got married for a goat. Now let's hurry - the prince'll be here any minute to marry ya, and, time permittin', beat meet ya.