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And you thought you had it rough as a kid. Homework. Chores. Curfews. Now imagine all of that times a zillion and pretend your parents care about only one thing: being evil.
Yep, that’s the predicament that four impressionable kids are facing in Disney’s latest villain-filled film Descendants. Each child boasts a truly villainous parent from a popular Disney movie: Mal (Maleficent’s natural-born leader of a daughter), Evie (the Evil Queen’s creative and mirror-worshipping daughter), Jay (Jafar’s always scheming and stealing son) and Carlos (Cruella De Ville’s puppy-fearing son).
I picked up a copy of Descendants at Walmart recently, where the fearsome foursome of evil-minded kids stalk the store shelves! As the movie is live action but for kids, I actually found it in the children’s DVD section as well as the regular new releases section.
As typical of these Disney movies, you better believe there’s loads of dancing and songs to move the story along. Whether it’s the kids’ “Rotten to the Core” anthem or Maleficent’s parental advice in “Evil Like Me,” chances are you’re going to want to pick up the soundtrack on CD too. I was lucky enough to snag a copy at Walmart, since there were only two copies left!
The Descendants DVD even comes with a neat bracelet for your kids to wear. It’s covered with symbols from the four villains in the movie.
In Descendants, Beast (from Beauty and the Beast) has married Belle and the couple lovingly rule the United States of Auradon. All the villains from the movies have been placed on their own island with a magical spell on it, keeping them trapped there forever. Sounds like a good plan, until those villains start having kids of their own their.
That’s where King Beast and Queen Belle’s son Ben (next in line to claim the throne) shows some serious compassion. He has no love for the villains, but feels a real sympathy for the children who are growing up on that island, away from love, sweet desserts and all the good things life has to offer.
Ben’s first proclamation as king is to free the children of the villains, and he starts out by “testing” this out with the quartert of Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos, allowing them to attend Auradon Prep school and learn right alongside the rest of them. Will these four fearsome friends turn to a life of good or do they have more sinister plans in mind?
No spoilers, here. You’ll have to watch Descendants yourself to find the answer to that one! But, as a parent, there are always lessons to be learned. It’s not just kids who need education. As adults, we’re constantly learning as well, often times from our very own kids!
After watching Disney’s Descendants as part of our weekly Family Movie Night, there are certainly a lot of lessons I took to heart, so I thought I’d share them with you here!
10 Things Disney’s Descendants Taught Me About Being a Better Parent
- Love matters. A lot.
- It really is the little things in life. Like simply baking chocolate chip cookies for your kids when they’re feeling down.
- Appearances can most definitely be deceiving. Get to know a person for who they are first before jumping to conclusions.
- Listen to your kids. You don’t have to always agree, but really listen to what they’re saying.
- This is a toughie, but let your kids fail. Let them make mistakes. It’s the only way they’re truly learn to grow.
- It’s a cliche, but that doesn’t make it any less true: Be yourself. Don’t try to be what you think others want you to be. Just be true to yourself.
- Don’t drag your kids into the middle of any grudges you’re having with other adults.
- Live in the now. It’s fine (and good) to remember the past and learn from it. Just don’t dwell on things that have already happened and instead make new memories moving forward.
- Nurture is more important than nature. You may have lots of baggage in your closet, but if you’re raised a certain way, you can overcome anything.
- Never underestimate your kids. They’re way smarter than you’ll ever realize!
Who’s your favorite Disney villain?
We must have watched this movie a dozen times or more, our kids loved it. There were lots of lessons in that movie, I agree. I think it helped my kids to realize I wasn’t such a horrible Mom after all, haha. I am with you on the list all of those things are so very important especially 1 and 4.
#5 rings very true for me. It’s so hard for me not to intervene but that’s the only way they can learn things. I remember needing to learn for myself on so many occasions as a kid!
I have to check this out. I never caught wind of this. It sounds very interesting. You always wonder how the happily ever after plays out.
I have not seen descendants yet! Will have to check them out!!
I enjoyed reading this and as I’ve not see this movie found it very interesting. I’m pretty sure that my grandchildren have seen this movie as they all love Disney movies. You’ve made some good pointers here too, thanks for sharing. 🙂
I have not seen the Descendants. Your article is fascinating
This movie wasn’t too bad. Better than the usual Disney fare. But worth watching.
This sounds like an interesting idea. I always wondered what happened to the villains. It makes sense that they’d have families of their own and those kids would have problems adjusting.
My fave villain is Maleficent! This movie sounds great; we haven’t seen it yet!
I just sat down with my daughter this weekend to watch this, it was really nice.
Kids ARE way smarter than we’ll ever realize, right? And the old nature v nurture debate! I hope I’m nurturing the lazy right out of my eldest son. I just need to figure out how to nurture the basement dweller that is my youngest. 🙂 #client
My daughter is in love with this new show! She loves a few of the songs too! I didn’t realize the DVD was out already – she is going to want it this weekend.