The Disney Descendants universe recently entered a new chapter with the premiere of Descendants: The Rise of Red, starring Kylie Cantrall as Red, the Queen of Hearts’ daughter, and Maila Baker as Chloe Charming, Cinderella’s daughter.
Here are 17 behind-the-scenes facts about Descendants: The Rise of Red:
1.
Brandy and Paolo Montalban played Cinderella and Prince Charming, new versions of the roles they previously played in the 1997 Wonderful World of Disney movie Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella.
3.
Dove Cameron, who starred in the original trilogy as Mal, helped Rita Ora prepare to play the Queen of Hearts.
4.
Keeping each character within their color palettes and ensuring all the different shades complemented each other was a huge collaboration across departments. The costuming, props, sets, location, and background departments were “all given a bible of color with specific color ranges for each character.”
5.
Mattel also contributed to the costume design, helping make decisions based on what would look best on Descendants dolls.
6.
Malia Baker declined the opportunity to audition for the role of Chloe twice because she didn’t think she was a strong enough musical theater performer.
7.
For Rita Ora, working with Brandy was a full-circle moment because the first concert she attended was a Brandy show.
8.
While filming the scenes where the Queen of Hearts is cruel to Cinderella, Rita Ora apologized to Brandy after every take.
9.
Red and Chloe start off as enemies, but Kylie Cantrall and Malia Baker found it “hard” to act like they hated each other.
10.
Zellie, a young version of Rapunzel played by Sam Morelos, was cut because they “just literally ran out of real estate.”
11.
Ahead of filming, the cast spent about a month in boot camp for dancing, harness work, sword fighting, and any other special training their roles required.
12.
To prepare for the role of Uliana, Ursula’s younger sister, Dara Reneé “definitely studied every Ursula that existed” and “studied China Anne McClain as Uma religiously.”
13.
Morgan Dudley took home a few butterflies from Ella’s shoes as a keepsake.
14.
Ruby Rose Turner took Bridget’s pearl heart ring home on the last day.
15.
Kylie Cantrall dreamed of being a VK, aka “Villain Kid,” since she watched the Descendants premiere in fourth grade.
16.
Joshua Colley, who plays young Captain Hook, dressed as Hook for Halloween when he was seven.
17.
And finally, Morgan Dudley also felt like she manifested the role of Ella through her childhood dreams.
