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. Brandy told the Hollywood Reporter, 'This is such a magical experience to be able to work with Paolo again, to waltz with him, to sing with him — all of it.'
2. China Anne McClain played a key role in deciding how the new film would honor late Descendants star Cameron Boyce. Executive producer Suzanne Todd told TVLine, 'We, the filmmakers, had some ideas about what we wanted to do, but we also had a lot of conversations with China Anne and her family about it. She landed that moment so beautifully.'
3. Dove Cameron, who starred in the original trilogy as Mal, helped Rita Ora prepare to play the Queen of Hearts. Rita told RadioTimes.com, 'She really helped me on rediscovering all the characters and figuring it out.'
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. Malia Baker told Teen Vogue, 'It's so crazy to see [Chloe as realized] as she fully is at the end because I remember my first meeting with the costume designers and the hair people.'
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. She told Teen Vogue, 'My younger sister got so mad at me for turning the first two down that she was like, 'You need to do this.'
7. For Rita Ora, working with Brandy was a full-circle moment because the first concert she attended was a Brandy show. Kylie Cantrall told the Laughing Place, 'It was also Rita meeting Brandy for the first time.'
8. While filming the scenes where the Queen of Hearts is cruel to Cinderella, Rita Ora apologized to Brandy after every take. Rita told Entertainment Weekly, 'Every scene after that, I would be like, 'I'm so sorry, I don't mean it.'
9. Red and Chloe start off as enemies, but Kylie Cantrall and Malia Baker found it 'hard' to act like they hated each other. On Good Morning America, Kylie said, 'We couldn't be, like, further from that.'
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. Malia Baker told TVLine, 'I remember Dara [Reneé, who plays Uliana] being up in the air for half of the boot camp.'
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. She told the Laughing Place, 'A lot of them fell off constantly, and I was collecting them.'
14. Ruby Rose Turner took Bridget's pearl heart ring home on the last day. She told the Laughing Place, 'I don't wear it because I'm literally too afraid of losing it.'
15. Kylie Cantrall dreamed of being a VK, aka 'Villain Kid,' since she watched the Descendants premiere in fourth grade. She told Decider, 'Descendants is so major to me, and it all really stems from my nine-year-old self.'
16. Joshua Colley, who plays young Captain Hook, dressed as Hook for Halloween when he was seven. He told Sweety High, 'My brother went as Peter Pan.'
17. Morgan Dudley also felt like she manifested the role of Ella through her childhood dreams. She told Sweety High, 'I was a huge Descendants fan before I was cast.'
