The first trailer has been released for Disenchantment, the upcoming animated series from Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons and Futurama. The show, billed as “an adult fantasy about a crumbling medieval kingdom known as Dreamland”, marks Groening’s first new project in nearly two decades, since Futurama premiered in 1999.
The 10-episode series, which is also Groening’s first production away from Fox, stars Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson as a boozy princess named Bean, flanked by her sidekicks Elfo, voiced by Nat Faxon, and Luci, played by the comic Eric Andre. There are seasoned voice actors involved, too, including Futurama’s John DiMaggio, Billy West, Maurice LaMarche, David Herman, Tress MacNeille, Jeny Batten, Rich Fulcher, Noel Fielding and Lucy Montgomery.
“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,” reads the official summary for Disenchantment. “Along the way, the oddball trio will encounter ogres, sprites, harpies, imps, trolls, walruses and lots of human fools.”
Although the teaser, which runs a brief 45 seconds, gives away little of the show’s plot, it does reference Groening’s past work, which has nabbed him 12 Emmy awards including 10 for The Simpsons. “You’ve seen the future in Futurama, you’ve seen the present in Springfield,” says the voiceover. “So, what’s the obvious third move? The past, of course.”
In a statement last summer, Groening described the show, which has been picked up for 20 episodes, as a show “about life and death, love and sex, and how to keep laughing in a world full of suffering and idiots, despite what the elders and wizards and other jerks tell you”.
Disenchantment, which will be available on Netflix on 17 August, will be co-executive-produced by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, frequent collaborators of Groening’s. In April, The Simpsons became television’s longest-running scripted series when it aired its 636th episode.
