TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
A melodious comeback in 'Descendants'
A scene from Descendants
Change Size
A scene from Descendants. (Courtesy of Disney Channel) (Courtesy of Disney Channel)
A scene from Descendants. (Courtesy of Disney Channel)
High school hallways and basketball courts were not the prime choice for musical-drama scenes before Disney Channel Original Movies' High School Musical staged the catchiest tunes and grooviest dance moves for tweens of the time. Three years later ' after the musical wrapped up with a trilogy ' extraordinary stages, advanced choreography and some of the most famous tunes by the King of Pop came together into Michael Jackson's This Is It when it hit the silver screen in late 2009.
Both movies became some of the most sensational film and musical productions for all ages, directed and choreographed by acclaimed director, choreographer and producer Kenny Ortega. Ortega's rich experience in the musical and theatrical world since his debut with the movie Xanadu in 1980 led him to his current success.
Ortega had worked with a range of renowned production houses, actors, actresses and musicians but had been in a directorial recess since the cancelation of Michael Jackson's 'This Is It' concert in 2010, following Jackson's untimely passing.
This year, the Emmy Award-winning director and choreographer is staging a much anticipated return to the television screen. Ortega is collaborating with Disney in yet another Disney Channel Original Movie on the whimsical musical drama Descendants. His comeback, along with the film's characters, is noted as being classic with a modern twist.
'I fell in love with the story, and I love the idea that I would be given the chance to work with classic characters and be a part of developing a story with brand new characters,' Ortega told The Jakarta Post in an exclusive phone interview.
In his cinematic return, Ortega is the executive producer, director and choreographer for Disney's fresh take on its classic fairytales. Aside from visualizing Ortega's unquestioned competency, Descendants enlivens our beloved characters of old as good and villainous parents and gives birth to their heroic and malicious teenage children.
The movie's contemporary approach makes way for the infamous Jafar of Aladdin, 101 Dalmatians' Cruella de Vil, Snow White's the Evil Queen and Sleeping Beauty's Maleficent to take parenthood to another level of wicked. This present-day fiction vivifies the worst of them all, delegating tasks to their offspring in what might be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
'When I read the script, I fell in love with the story,' said Ortega, giving credit to scriptwriters Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott for initiating the 'smart' idea. Together with triple-threat actors and actresses like Kristen Chenoweth, Mitchell Hope and Wendy Raquel Robinson, Ortega turned the script into a lively narrative set in the idyllic kingdom of Auradon and the heinous Isle of the Lost.
Twenty years after 'once upon a time', Auradon celebrates the coronation of Prince Ben, the benevolent son of the King and Queen of Auradon. Oddly, his first proclamation is to give a chance of redemption to Mal, Evie, Carlos and Jay, children of Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Cruella de Vil and Jafar, to attend Auradon's prep school alongside the sons and daughters of Mulan, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and the Fairy Godmother.
Having been imprisoned on the Isle of the Lost, the four villains use this opportunity, utilizing their potentially atoned children, to carry out an evil plan that will allow them to be free from the illegitimacy and remoteness of their home, executed through melodic threats, traps and spells.
'The script and the story make [the movie] different. It's not a story that's been told before ['¦] I think we've landed with an ensemble in this movie that is stellar, truly wonderful,' said Ortega.
Merging decades of heartfelt fairytales into a modern production carries expectations, one of which includes the movie's ability to channel the conventional wisdom and feel of fictional stories that have been cherished by audiences for a long time.
Both challenging and joyous throughout, presenting the distinctive traits of the four villains became a necessity, said Ortega. He spoke of how Disney emphasized the importance of making sure that the teenage progeny carried something of their parents, that taking care of the characters' heritage was imperative.
However, as it is a fresh tale, ensuring their youth and individuality was no less important and, as Ortega put it, the offspring 'become, as the movie progresses, more about themselves'.
With his astounding record in the world of music and choreography, Ortega had attracted a lot of attention to Descendants by the time it premiered at the end of July in the US and Canada. His international recognition after receiving two Emmy Awards for directing and choreographing the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City spiked worldwide anticipation for the movie, which will be available on Disney Channel South East Asia in September.
'My [past] experiences are alive with me as I move into new experience, but I also think that I try to be fresh and spontaneous,' said Ortega. 'I look for ways to find new approaches and new ways to tell stories.'
As Ortega and his latest directorial return approach our television screens, make way for captivating dance moves, electronic dance music songs and meaningful lyrics that are bound to touch our childlike selves, open our hearts to classic Disney moral teachings and prudence and keep our eyes glued to Ortega's touches of energy, fun and sophistication.
_______________
The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.
