Bette Midler Voices Fairy Godmother in Netflix's 'Steps'
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Bette Midler will voice the fairy godmother in "Steps," Netflix Animation Studios' first fully in-house produced animated film, scheduled for release this year.
- Ali Wong, Amanda Seyfried, and Stephanie Hsu join the voice cast, with Wong as stepsister Lilith, Seyfried as Cinderella, and Hsu as Margot.
- The story subverts the classic tale: Lilith steals the Fairy Godmother's wand and hijacks the Royal Ball with Margot, dooming the kingdom to the tyrannical rule of villainous schemer Priscilla.
- Alyce Tzue and John Ripa are directing the animated film, with Amy Poehler, Jane Hartwell, and Kim Lessing producing through Poehler's Paper Kite Productions.
- Midler described her take on the Fairy Godmother as having "good intentions, but she's a little bit of a bumbler and she's a little bit of a schemer."
Why it matters: As Netflix Animation Studios' first fully in-house produced animated feature, "Steps" marks a structural milestone in the streamer's effort to build out original animation, fronted by a high-profile voice cast including Midler, Seyfried, and Wong. The fairy-tale-subversion premise — reframing Cinderella through the "evil" stepsister — gives Netflix a distinctive hook in a crowded year for animated features.
