It's one of those hard-and-fast rules of the Disney
Universe. That — Flora (i.e., The leader of the good fairies in "Sleeping
Beauty" put it) once put it — " … evil die and good endure!"
So how then to explain the success of Disney's "Descendants."
This Disney Channel Original Movie — which was built around the teenage sons
and daughters of Disney's most infamous villains — debuted back on July 31st
and wound up being cable television's fifth highest-rated movie of all-time.
(L to R) Sofia Carson, Dove Cameron and Cameron Boyce pose with
a Disney's "Descendants" fan at during a Disney Channel photo
op at the 2015 D23 EXPO. Photo by Jim Hill
And ever since then, Disney's "Descendants" has
been ascending. The soundtrack for this
Disney Channel Original Movie debuted in the Billboard 200 in the No. 1
position. And the "Descendants" DVD (which hit store shelves on July
31st. The very same day that this TV movie premiered on the Disney Channel) is
now the No. 1 TV movie and the third best-selling TV title on DVD, 2015
to-date.
And given that interest in this new Disney franchise just
continues to grow & grow (Witness the huge trans-media audience that turned
out when "Descendants: Wicked World,"
the new short-form animated series that debuted on the Disney Channel
last month which is set in the worlds of Auradon and Isle of the Lost worlds.
To date, 5.9 million people have viewed these shorts on the Disney Channel
while nearly double that number of people — over 10 million viewers — have also
watched them on YouTube), is it any wonder that — earlier today — The Mouse
House officially announced plans to mount a sequel to this TV movie.
"Descendants" fans line up for the chance to get their picture taken with three of
the leads this Disney Channel Original Movie. Photo by Jim Hill
To be specific, Sara Parriott and Josann McGibbons (i.e.,
the screenwriters of the original TV movie) have been commissioned to write
"Descendants 2" (working title). Parriott and McGibbon will also
serve as executive producers of this eagerly anticipated production. Which —
Disney Channel officials hope — will begin shooting in 2016 and then air in
2017.
There is no official word yet as to whether Kenny Ortega
(i.e., the Emmy Award-winning director / choreographer) will return to helm the
sequel. But in an interview that Kenny did with the Huffington Post back in
July, he was obviously eager to help map out the future of this new Disney
franchise:
A huge crowd gathered on the show floor at this year's D23 EXPO to get a
glimpse of Sofia Carson, Cameron Dove & Boyce Cameron from Disney's
"Descendants." Photo by Jim Hill
"So would I like to do Descendants 2? Sure. I think —
were you to ask the cast and the crew — they'd agree that we'd all love to
come back and play here again. The Descendants world really is a wonderful
place to play in. More to the point, there are so many characters from Disney
animated films that we could draw upon, pull in. There are so many more stories
we could tell."
Perhaps someone can ask Ortega directly if he has plans to helm the
sequel to this record-breaking Disney Channel Original Movie this Saturday,
October 17th. Which is when Kenny — along with "Descendants" cast members Dove Cameron (Disney Channel's "Liv and Maddie"), Cameron Boyce
(Disney XD's "Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything," Disney
Channel's "Jessie"), Booboo Stewart ("X-Men Days of Future
Past") and Sofia Carson — will be meeting with fans of this franchise at
the Disneyland Resort. This open-to-the-public event will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Downtown Disney District in Anaheim, California and will
feature an on-stage, music and dance-filled celebration.
This article originally appeared on the Huffington Post's Entertainment page on Thursday, October 15, 2015