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Descendants 3 is an American musical fantasy[1][2] television film, being the third installment in the Descendants series, following Descendants and Descendants 2, and the last one in the film trilogy focused on Mal (Dove Cameron) and her friends. It is written by Sara Parriott and Josann McGibbon, and is directed by Kenny Ortega. The film premiered on Disney Channel on August 2, 2019, and in other territories worldwide starting on October 12, 2019. The film was followed by an animated television special, Descendants: The Royal Wedding, released in 2021.
| Descendants 3 | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Genre | |
| Written by | |
| Directed by | Kenny Ortega |
| Starring | |
| Composer | David Lawrence |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Wendy Japhet |
| Cinematography | Adam Santelli |
| Editor | Don Brochu |
| Running time | 108 minutes |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | Disney Channel |
| Release | August 2, 2019 |
| Related | |
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Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos visit the Isle of the Lost to choose four new villain kids (VKs) to take to Auradon. They pick Dizzy, granddaughter of Lady Tremaine; Celia, daughter of Dr. Facilier; and Squeaky and Squirmy, the twin sons of Mr. Smee. As the older VKs return to Auradon, Hades attempts to break through the Isle's barrier, but Mal stops him.
The day the kids are to be picked up Mal's boyfriend Ben, the king of Auradon, proposes. Mal accepts. Ben's ex-girlfriend Audrey seethes with jealousy, and her grandmother Queen Leah admonishes her for failing to secure the family legacy by marrying Ben.
Unable to let go of her resentment of Mal, Audrey steals the Queen's crown and Maleficent's scepter from the museum, gaining magical powers and becoming a villain. Following the theft and Hades' escape attempt, Mal suggests the best way to protect Auradon is to close the Isle's barrier permanently.
Audrey curses Mal with Maleficent's scepter, so she and the other VKs go to the Isle to get Hades' ember, the only artifact powerful enough to break the scepter's curse. Upon entering the Isle, Mal is freed of the curse and Celia gets her into Hades' lair, but Hades thwarts their effort to steal the ember.
Hades is revealed to be Mal's absentee father and reluctantly gives her the ember, warning her to avoid getting it wet as it will not exhibit its powers for her, and that since she is only “half Hades”, it may not do everything for her that it does for him. While leaving the Isle, Mal and the others are intercepted by Uma, Gil, and Harry, who agree to help after Mal falsely agrees to release all the children from the Isle.
Meanwhile, in Auradon, Audrey crashes Jane's birthday party with a sleeping curse; Chad aligns himself with her, while Jane escapes into the enchanted lake. As the entire kingdom falls under Audrey's spell, she offers to reverse it if Ben will marry her. His refusal prompts Audrey to turn him into a beast and she begins turning people to stone.
Mal and Uma, vying for the leadership of the VKs, return to Auradon with their friends. Despite their conflict, they eventually work together to find and defeat Audrey. After finding Ben in beast form, Carlos calms him after removing a splinter from his hand, while Jane restores him to human form with the enchanted lake water.
At Evie's house, Mal and Uma make amends while Evie wakes Doug with true love's kiss. Audrey traps them in the house, but they are able to reverse Audrey's spell by combining their magic, and they and their other friends reunite.
At the Fairy Cottage, they find only a shell-shocked Chad. When Mal admits her plan to seal off the Isle permanently, the group breaks apart and Celia, learning she can never see her father again, drops the ember in water. After Evie confronts Mal for lying to her and their friends, they are all suddenly turned to stone, save for Mal.
Audrey takes Celia hostage and attacks Mal, who turns into her dragon form. Realizing she is Mal's only hope, Uma combines their magic to reignite the ember; Mal defeats Audrey, who falls comatose, and the curses are lifted. Mal and her friends reconcile, and she convinces Hades to use the ember to revive Audrey. Hades does so, but decries the double standard by which Audrey is immediately forgiven for her crimes as she is not considered a villain. Audrey awakens, and she, Mal and Ben make amends.
Changing her mind, Mal tells Ben that she cannot become queen of Auradon unless she can help the Isle as well. With Ben and Fairy Godmother's approval, Mal replaces the Isle's barrier with a bridge, and the people of the newly merged society celebrate.
In the end, Evie is with Doug, Carlos is with Jane, Mal and Ben are engaged, Jay and Gil plan to travel the world together, and Audrey seems to become romantically attached to Harry after Uma rejects him.
In a mid-credits scene, Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos race across the bridge to the Isle to reunite with their parents.
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- Dove Cameron as Mal, daughter of Maleficent and Hades[3]
- Cameron Boyce as Carlos, son of Cruella de Vil[3]
- Sofia Carson as Evie, daughter of The Evil Queen[3]
- Booboo Stewart as Jay, son of Jafar[3]
- Mitchell Hope as Ben, son of Belle and Beast[3]
- Sarah Jeffery as Princess Audrey, daughter of Aurora and Prince Phillip[4]
- Brenna D'Amico as Jane, daughter of the Fairy Godmother[5]
- Melanie Paxson as the Fairy Godmother, the headmistress of Auradon Prep and Jane's mother[6]
- Thomas Doherty as Harry Hook, son of Captain Hook and ally of Uma[4]
- Dylan Playfair as Gil, son of Gaston and ally of Uma[4]
- Zachary Gibson as Doug, son of Dopey the Dwarf[5]
- Jedidiah Goodacre as Chad Charming, son of Cinderella and Prince Charming[5]
- Anna Cathcart as Dizzy Tremaine, daughter of Drizella Tremaine and granddaughter of Lady Tremaine[7]
- Jadah Marie as Celia, the daughter of Dr. Facilier[7][8]
- Dan Payne as King Beast, Queen Belle's husband and Ben's father[6]
- Keegan Connor Tracy as Queen Belle, Beast's wife and Ben's mother[6]
- Bobby Moynihan as the Voice of Dude, Carlos' dog who gained the power of speech in Descendants 2
- Cheyenne Jackson as Hades, ruler of the underworld and Mal's father[6][9]
- China Anne McClain as Uma, daughter of Ursula[3]
Additionally, Judith Maxie reprises her role as Queen Leah, Princess Audrey's grandmother, from the first Descendants film.[10] Christian Convery and Luke Roessler play Squeaky and Squirmy, respectively, the twin sons of Mr. Smee.[6][10] Also appearing are Jamal Sims as Celia's father Dr. Facilier,[7][8] Linda Ko as Dizzy's grandmother Lady Tremaine, and Faustino Di Bauda as Squeaky's and Squirmy's father Mr. Smee.
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On February 16, 2018, Disney Channel announced the production of Descendants 3, which Disney scheduled to air in mid-2019.[11] Descendants 3 is written and produced by Sara Parriott and Josann McGibbon, and is directed and executive produced by Kenny Ortega.[3] Wendy Japhet is a producer on the film,[5] with Ortega, Sara Parriott, Josann McGibbon, and Japhet also serving as executive producers.[6] Mark Hofeling and Kara Saun return as production designer and costume designer on the sequel, respectively.[5] In addition to playing Dr. Facilier, Jamal Sims also serves as the film's choreographer,[7][8] along with Ortega who has served as choreographer for all three Descendants films.[3]
Rehearsals and pre-recording on the film began on April 23, 2018, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[5] Production began on May 25, 2018.[12] On July 18, 2018, it was reported on social media that production on the film had "officially wrapped".[13] Teen Vogue reported that Descendants 3 will be the last film in the series.[14]
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Promotional footage for the film was released on the film series' official YouTube channel in February 2018.[15] In late May 2019, it was announced that the film would premiere on August 2, 2019.[16][3][17]
A related short film, Under the Sea: A Descendants Short Story, which features Mal and Uma facing off in "an epic underwater showdown", was released on September 28, 2018.[18][19]
On July 11, 2019, Disney announced it was canceling a red carpet premiere originally planned for July 22, 2019, in the wake of Cameron Boyce's death. The film's television premiere went on as scheduled, dedicated to Boyce's memory.[20]
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Descendants 3 was watched by 4.59 million viewers on its August 2, 2019 premiere,[21] with viewership increasing to 8.43 million viewers after three days of delayed viewing.[22] On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 78% based on nine reviews.[23]
Accolades
| Year | Award | Category | Recipients | Results | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Movie Actress | Dove Cameron | Won | [24] |
| 2020 | Billboard Music Awards | Top Soundtrack | Descendants 3 | Nominated | [25] |
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Descendants 3 (Original TV Movie Soundtrack) is the soundtrack accompanying the film of the same name. The soundtrack and lead single, "Good to Be Bad", was released on May 31, 2019, along with the pre-order of the soundtrack. The soundtrack was released on August 2, 2019. It reached number 7 on the Billboard 200 album chart,[26] and number 1 on the Billboard Kid Albums chart.[27] The single "Queen of Mean", reached number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100,[28] number 57 on the Canadian Hot 100,[29] and number 89 on the UK Singles Chart.[30] It was the longest charting Descendants song, spending over eight consecutive weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
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Sara Parriott pitched ‘’Descendants 4’’ to Disney Channel executives, but it never came to fruition. However, Descendants: The Rise of Red was released as the fourth installment in the Descendants franchise.
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