Ever since the first announcement of Disney’s Descendants the hype has been strong and ever present. With each passing day until the premier of the latest Disney Channel Original Movie the excitement has only progressed and even months after what Disney refers to that of the movie event of the year the hype and following for the tales of some of Disney’s most famous faces has only reached new levels.
As of now, Descendants is currently that of cable’s fifth highest movie of all time, with the film airing fairly regularly on Disney’s main channel and even offering airings on ABC Family. The soundtrack debuted at number one on the charts, and the DVD release of the film holds the title of the number one TV in addition to being the third best-selling DVD so far this year.
Stats do not lie. Descendants has indeed became that if a grand and new exciting venture for Disney and the fans that adore the likes of Mal, Evie and company. The tie-in prequel titled Isle of the Lost has achieve the status of best-seller and along with other books centered on the next generation of heroes and villains have been flying off shelves. Consumer goods ranging from the likes of school supplies to even that of clothing have also been popular with fans and the dolls from Hasbro have even been noted to be sold out at some Disney Store locations along with costumes. And with the holiday season soon upon us Descendants is sure to be high on many fans’ wish-lists.
The last time I can recall a Disney Channel project reaching this level of success was back in the days of High School Musical and Hannah Montana.
Even though both that of the East High Wildcats and Hannah where prime examples of house-hold names and has character’s likeness on a large variety of items, Descendants is well on their way of surpassing that.
Seemingly the minute the credits started to roll back in July fans where crying out on social media for more in waves. There was even some efforts that went as far as to start fan campaigns to have more additions created.
Their attempts were not in vain as not long after Disney announced that a new series of animated shorts centering on the characters fans have grown to love was coming. A move that was surprising as Disney has never taken any of their pre-existing live-action properties and translated them into the world of animation. Running under five minutes each CGI short adds onto a continuing story that has already introduced fans to a few new faces during the short duration they have been airing on the main network and uploaded onto YouTube.
Even though the shorts known as Descendants Wicked World, have gather a large draw. Fans no longer only have the weekly animated dose of Descendants to look forward to as this week Disney had officially green-lit a sequel to the new phenomena. The screenwriters of the original as well as producers have been confirmed to be working on what is now running under the name Descendants 2. At this time it is not confirmed if the director Kenny Ortega or the cast is officially on board despite mentioning willingness to continue in this world.
It is, however, noted that they wish to film next year with their eyes set on a release sometime in 2017.
By no means is this development out of the blue, Descendants has done well and the shorts have really been keeping the hype strong. There is a lot of potential with this series and so many things that can be done. Off the top of my head I can think of at least a half a dozen things that would be fantastic to run with and play off. The writers have a massive playfield at their disposal.
Join the conversation: What do you make of the news of a sequel to Descendants? Moreover, what do you want to see?