Actors to voice The Prince, Roderick, and Gef, respectively, in the upcoming original animated film that reimagines the roles of Cinderella’s supposedly ‘evil’ stepsisters in the classic fairytale; streams November 20.
Netflix has just announced that Daniel Radcliffe, Peter Dinklage, and Young Mazino have joined the royal ranks of the upcoming animated comedy Steps. Radcliffe will voice The Prince, while Dinklage will voice Roderick (The Muscle) and Mazino will voice Gef (The Heartthrob). The film streams on November 20.
They join Ali Wong as Lilith, Amanda Seyfried as Cinderella, Stephanie Hsu as Margot, Nikki Glaser as Priscilla, and Bette Midler as the Fairy Godmother in a story that reimagines the classic fairytale, centering on Cinderella’s supposedly “evil” stepsisters.
In the film, sick of living in Cinderella’s shadow, Lilith (Ali Wong) steals the Fairy Godmother (Bette Midler)’s magic wand and hijacks the Royal Ball with her sister Margot (Stephanie Hsu), breaking the Cinderella story as we know it and dooming the kingdom to the tyrannical rule of Priscilla (Nikki Glaser), a villainous schemer who swoops in and snatches the throne. Now, Lilith must team up with Cinderella (Amanda Seyfried) to fight biker trolls, outrun evil henchmen, and escape the Screaming Woods on an epic quest to save the kingdom, but most importantly, their relationship.
“Peter Dinklage is an immense talent, and we are so lucky to have him on the film,” said director Alyce Tzue. “Roderick is a murderous man-nanny who has to be both terrifying and motivated by love. Peter strikes that balance with incredible skill, lending gravitas and humor to the role. Gef is our unexpected heartthrob and one of our most beloved characters. The second we heard Young Mazino, we knew he was the one. Young infused Gef with endearing humility and a true artist’s soul, helping us create a love interest worthy of our heroine, Lilith.”
Director John Ripa added, “Our dream was for our fairytale Prince to be unlike any Prince you've seen before, and Daniel made that dream come true. He brought his incredibly unique and nuanced brand of quirky, big-hearted humor to our Prince, and created a character that's irresistible and delightful. We were blown away by Daniel's range and razor-sharp comedy chops, and it was simply a pleasure to work with him. We feel incredibly lucky to have all three of these massive talents on our film. Our goal was to break the fairy tale mold by making every single character three-dimensional and worthy of a happily ever after, and we couldn't have done it without Daniel, Peter, and Young.”
The film, the first to be fully produced in-house within Netflix Animation Studios, is directed by Tzue, a Student Academy Award winner, and Ripa, co-director of Raya and the Last Dragon; it’s produced by Amy Poehler, Jane Hartwell, and Kim Lessing, with Poehler and Lessing producing for Paper Kite Productions. The screenplay is by Ava Tramer, James Madejski, Jen Chuck, Dana Schwartz, and Felicia Ho, from a story by Tramer, Madejski, Schwartz, Ho, Riki Lindhome, and Kate Micucci.
Source: Netflix
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
