There's more room for comedy and grand ideas in science fiction because SF is the art of the possible. Futurama is a genius show because it managed to be both hilarious and have clever SF plots. For example, the time travel episodes connected to other episodes while maintaining a SF logic. Look at the episode "Roswell that Ends Well," a (hilarious) story that developed into a larger plot where Fry is the chosen one to ward off the brain spawn. Or, the episode focusing on Fry's dog, which would not have been as touching if not for the internal SF logic keeping the plot together. And, thanks to the open nature of SF, Futurama was even able to have fantasy-focused plots, like "The Honking" and even "Bender's Game."
Straight-up fantasy isn't as strong because for it to remain fantasy it has to adhere to stricter confines. Science fiction can be post-apocalyptic, set in a space station, a military setting, or even a few years from now, like Pacific Rim. SF can even be part fantasy, like Star Wars. Fantasy by itself however is almost always set in a castle. Sure enough, the opening of Disenchanted is in a pub, then castle town, then the castle. You have fairies, ogres, elves, and demons, all standard fare for fantasy. The only new or interesting element is the king's wife, who appears to be a member of a Zora-like race from the Zelda series.
But such innovations are rare given the limitations of fantasy and Disenchantment's stubborn choice to play it safe. The show is filled with stock, boring characters. The protagonists are all the same, in that they feel like they don't "fit in." A spoiled brat princess who wants to be a warrior? Holy cheese but that is a plot as old as time. An elf who doesn't like being a happy elf? It sounds like the creators saw that crappy Will Ferrel (spelled right?) movie and just ran with that plot. The elf even remarks in episode nine, when approaching the other elves, "I smell cocoa, caramel, and conformity!" Wow, what a rebel. How about you take charge and muster up ambition instead of complaining, dude?
It is a tactical and insulting choice of using such malcontent characters who refuse to fit into society as Disenchantment's protagonists. The creators of Disenchantment are trying to pander to a demographic, the demo being misfits, losers, basement dwellers: people who have always wondered why they don't "fit in" while stubbornly refusing to change and/or better themselves. After all, who else would watch an animated sitcom about three bores who run away from responsibility to play in a fantasy world? Sounds like the comics and video game industry to me. (By the way, the creators of the show are very wealthy people: they certainly "fit in.")
Disenchantment tries to make you laugh with bouts of gore and violence, a cheap attempt to make you laugh with shock. (Huh, elves and gnomes blowing up giants. Clever, guys.) But in this day and age, such cartoon violence is ancient, old hat. The most famous episode of Rick and Morty (a tedious and overrated show) is the one where Rick turns himself into a pickle and slaughters a group of sewer rats: but really, the violent parts of that episode were the most forgettable. There's also a monologue in the pilot where a priest-type character proclaims skepticism in her belief in God, ending with the line, "If I talk with confidence, you dopes will believe anything I say." (Shots at people who believe in God. That's great, guys. Enjoy that false feeling of superiority, and that big empty hole in your heart.)
I suppose the show has some potential. The colours are beautiful, many backgrounds looking like they were done with watercolours. I also like the design of the demon Luci... but not the voice. He's well designed, almost always appearing in profile form, with a long black pointed tail and tiny cute horns: I can see the design working well in a comic strip. But the voice spoils him. He would've been stronger with a voice more like Bender's from Futurama, instead of some smarmy hipster-type dude. Bender's voice is different, and it needs to be different because he is a robot. Luci the demon sounds like someone you reach when calling customer support. It's weird too, the similarities between Luci and Bender: both are misanthropes, both smoke cigars and drink hard liquor, both say "chump" like it's meant to be funny. But Luci's black sprite design is the highlight, and most original and clever part of the show.
Is the show funny? No, not at all, it is actually very slow. You chuckle once every 25 minutes or so. If this was Groening's first effort he'd be forced out of television and into a different field (perhaps even a literal field, like landscaping or agriculture or something). It doesn't help that a lot of the season is a tease. Apart from the tired gags (rejected from Futurama?) the plot offers no closure. Elfo's lineage is a major plot point but we don't see any payoff, and after this limpness of this first season, I'm not motivated to waste any more time to see where the plot goes.
Straight-up fantasy isn't as strong because for it to remain fantasy it has to adhere to stricter confines. Science fiction can be post-apocalyptic, set in a space station, a military setting, or even a few years from now, like Pacific Rim. SF can even be part fantasy, like Star Wars. Fantasy by itself however is almost always set in a castle. Sure enough, the opening of Disenchanted is in a pub, then castle town, then the castle. You have fairies, ogres, elves, and demons, all standard fare for fantasy. The only new or interesting element is the king's wife, who appears to be a member of a Zora-like race from the Zelda series.
But such innovations are rare given the limitations of fantasy and Disenchantment's stubborn choice to play it safe. The show is filled with stock, boring characters. The protagonists are all the same, in that they feel like they don't "fit in." A spoiled brat princess who wants to be a warrior? Holy cheese but that is a plot as old as time. An elf who doesn't like being a happy elf? It sounds like the creators saw that crappy Will Ferrel (spelled right?) movie and just ran with that plot. The elf even remarks in episode nine, when approaching the other elves, "I smell cocoa, caramel, and conformity!" Wow, what a rebel. How about you take charge and muster up ambition instead of complaining, dude?
It is a tactical and insulting choice of using such malcontent characters who refuse to fit into society as Disenchantment's protagonists. The creators of Disenchantment are trying to pander to a demographic, the demo being misfits, losers, basement dwellers: people who have always wondered why they don't "fit in" while stubbornly refusing to change and/or better themselves. After all, who else would watch an animated sitcom about three bores who run away from responsibility to play in a fantasy world? Sounds like the comics and video game industry to me. (By the way, the creators of the show are very wealthy people: they certainly "fit in.")
Disenchantment tries to make you laugh with bouts of gore and violence, a cheap attempt to make you laugh with shock. (Huh, elves and gnomes blowing up giants. Clever, guys.) But in this day and age, such cartoon violence is ancient, old hat. The most famous episode of Rick and Morty (a tedious and overrated show) is the one where Rick turns himself into a pickle and slaughters a group of sewer rats: but really, the violent parts of that episode were the most forgettable. There's also a monologue in the pilot where a priest-type character proclaims skepticism in her belief in God, ending with the line, "If I talk with confidence, you dopes will believe anything I say." (Shots at people who believe in God. That's great, guys. Enjoy that false feeling of superiority, and that big empty hole in your heart.)
I suppose the show has some potential. The colours are beautiful, many backgrounds looking like they were done with watercolours. I also like the design of the demon Luci... but not the voice. He's well designed, almost always appearing in profile form, with a long black pointed tail and tiny cute horns: I can see the design working well in a comic strip. But the voice spoils him. He would've been stronger with a voice more like Bender's from Futurama, instead of some smarmy hipster-type dude. Bender's voice is different, and it needs to be different because he is a robot. Luci the demon sounds like someone you reach when calling customer support. It's weird too, the similarities between Luci and Bender: both are misanthropes, both smoke cigars and drink hard liquor, both say "chump" like it's meant to be funny. But Luci's black sprite design is the highlight, and most original and clever part of the show.
Is the show funny? No, not at all, it is actually very slow. You chuckle once every 25 minutes or so. If this was Groening's first effort he'd be forced out of television and into a different field (perhaps even a literal field, like landscaping or agriculture or something). It doesn't help that a lot of the season is a tease. Apart from the tired gags (rejected from Futurama?) the plot offers no closure. Elfo's lineage is a major plot point but we don't see any payoff, and after this limpness of this first season, I'm not motivated to waste any more time to see where the plot goes.