Synergy!

The Mouse's animation library can never be sequeled and prequeled and spun off enough.

The Disney Channel has another potential hit movie franchise on its hands with Descendants, a modern-day coming-of-age tale about the teenage sons and daughters of Disney’s most infamous villains.

In its premiere at 8 PM Friday night, the movie drew strong 6.6 million total viewers, including 3.0 million Kids 2-11. Additionally, the movie set a record with 1.4 million views on the WATCH Disney Channel app since Friday July 24. Adding up the two, the total pre- and premiere night viewership for Descendants would eclipse the 7.7 million who tuned in for the TV premiere of the first High School Musical movie. ...

Descendants‘ soundtrack, released on premiere date, Friday, July 31 on Walt Disney Records, is currently at #1 on the iTunes soundtrack chart and #2 on the iTunes album chart. On Twitter, Descendants was the #1 most social non-sports program on Friday, July 31, producing over 2 million impressions. ...

There have been several times in Disney's corporate history when management decided fairy tales were no longer where It was at. In the mid-eighties, Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg thought that Princess-type movies were pretty much moldy figs. And Rich Ross, briefly Disney studio chief in the 21st century, shelved Frozen.

But the company, I think, has been disabused of the notion that princesses and fairy tales aren't viable. At least it certainly seems that way.