Common Sense Media Review
By Joly Herman
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Cute wedding special suffers from poor animation.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 7+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Descendants: The Royal Wedding
What's the Story?
The Descendants movies' power couple, Mal (voiced by Dove Cameron) and Ben, are preparing for their big wedding day in DESCENDANTS: THE ROYAL WEDDING. Their friends are helping with decorations, dressing, hair, makeup, getting everything prepared for a huge bash in Auradon. But one guest immediately causes problems when he arrives. Will the most special day in Mal and Ben's relationship be ruined? Or can their friends work with them to create a magical moment?
Is It Any Good?
This special has a short window of time to scratch a couple of itches. Ben and Mal are getting married-- and any Disney franchise wedding has got to be over the top: there's royalty involved, after all. But these royals are different-- there are villians in the mix, who are trying not to be horrible. That's a lot to pack into twenty-two minutes.
Though the voice acting in Descendants: The Royal Wedding is lovely, and the short script pretty compelling, the animation is sub-par. There are old-school Scooby Doo shows from the 1970s that boast better animation than this Disney installation. And if the franchise is trying to bring jerky, lo-fi effects back into vogue, they have set the bar pretty low. Fans can close their eyes and get some rewards from the great musical number at the end, but parents will wonder why there's such dissonance between the high-quality voice acting and the womp-womp visuals.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about franchise shows like Descendants: The Royal Wedding. How do franchises deliver content that has the brand embedded in the show? What is marketing all about?
Mal's friends help her have the wedding that she wants. How do they persevere when things are tough?
The teen characters in this show have small waists and tiny feet. How does seeing body images like this make you feel? What is healthy body image?
TV Details
- Premiere date : August 13, 2021
- Cast : Dove Cameron , Sofia Carson , Booboo Stewart
- Network : Disney+
- Genre : Kids' Animation
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic , Fairy Tales ) , Animals
- TV rating :
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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