Exclusive: Kenny Ortega Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Disney's DESCENDANTS

it happens every once in a while. It doesn't happen all the time, but it happens every once

in a while where you kind of feel that you're in the midst of something that is really special

And if everybody else connects to it, that's on the team and manages to market it and get it out

there and that it's going to work and that it can change lives. And that happened in High School

Musical. That happened for me with Dirty Dancing. That happened to me with so many different projects

that I've been a part of, you know, as a choreographer, as a director choreographer

And with Descendants, I was just saying, just having a conversation about the moment that

Kristen Chenoweth was on the set and we were getting ready and we were shooting Rotten to

the core with the four principal, you know, characters in Descendants. and I watched them come rocking down the street on the Isle of the Lost

And I was like, whoa, we've got something here. Descendants, not unlike High School Musical

You know, when we first brought High School Musical to the Disney Channel, Barry Rosenbush and Bill Gordon and Peter Barsicchini and I

it was a high school musical working title, you know. And Gary Marsh, the president of the Disney Channel, said

you know what Kenny what would you do if you could do anything with this that you wanted if I gave you

you know free license to do whatever you would want to do with this and I said well I'd want to

turn it into a break into song musical of course he laughed he's been waiting four years for the

right person to come in and to say those words to me and and and with Descendants again you know

they gave me an incredible script you know the children of of you know Disney heritage characters

And I thought to myself, I mean, so many of those films were music driven that featured the parental characters

And we just talked about it. And it wasn't really, I don't think, a conversation that lasted more than 10 minutes

And we brought Steve Vincent in and started talking about creating an outline for music for the film

I'm curious if there's anything you learned from working on the High School Musical Movies

anything that you brought creatively into Descendants from your high school musical experience Sure I mean taking your time in casting is a big thing There so many things you know I learn every time I step out and do something and you know

I'm forever, you know, remodeling my, my, my, the approach that I have to work in and film with young people

I would, I would say that, you know, the chemistry of the cast in high school musical that we took our time

I got in trouble. I remember Judy Taylor, our casting director at Disney channel said the agents are freaking out

Why are you keeping the actors in these auditions for so long? And then the next day she came back and she said

Zac Efron's agent called and said that he had the best audition of his whole

life. And even if he doesn't get the role, it was like so monumental that I really put everyone through a lot

And, and, and, and I'm always looking for partners, not just actors

partners that bring something to the party every day. And, And I learned the value of that and how much we could accomplish with actors that were bright and inspired and colorful in their thinking and imaginative like Ashley Tisdale

My gosh. And so that was what I learned was that's the key tool

Yeah. So when we went after the cast for Descendants, I was looking

You can't create chemistry. You can't direct it. You can't ask for it

It's there. so you're looking for that chemistry between the actors and then you're also looking for those folks

that are going to bring something you know to help sort of build build the world and and i got lucky

again i got lucky yeah and in both examples i mean it wasn't just one movie you know they're

going to continue to work together and so that chemistry continues to grow throughout which is

which is exciting i mean and maybe you didn't probably didn't know that at the time and it was

it was and it did the friendships grew the chemistry grew the talent grew they helped one

another they were like food for one another there was never competition it was just always sort of

feeding off one another responding to one another connecting making a greater connection and they

did that just naturally both casts yeah beyond you know the principles i mean we sarah jeffries

and Brenna D'Amico and Mitchell Hope and us China Ann McLean Jada Marie So many of the actors that came in were impossible to let go of because it just you know it was it was we were very fortunate and grateful to Disney too for the time that they allowed me you know in the search

We looked globally for Descendants. Thomas Doherty came from, you know, the British Isles

Right. You know, we had kids from all over the United States and audition. Mitchell came from Australia, you know

all the way from Sydney, Melbourne, Melbourne. So yeah, Disney was really

really great in letting me get a chance to look at everyone. Yeah, that's so important

And then they feel seen like you, well, and like your Zac Efron example you just gave, you know

people will feel seen when they have, they're really there and they have that, you've invested that time in them

which obviously we know is worth it now. And, and thinking about how

I mean, Descendants has really taken off. It's become such a huge franchise

I'm curious if there was a moment, maybe after the first movie came out, that you kind of

encountered it in the wild or something where you realized, wow, this is really big

I'm curious if you have had a moment like that, or if you can recall anything like that. Yeah, it happens every once in a while

It doesn't happen all the time, but it happens every once in a while where you kind of feel

that you're in the midst of something that is really special. And if everybody else connects to it, that's on the team and manages to market it and get

it out there and that it's going to work and and and that it can change lives and that happened in

high school musical that happened for me with dirty dancing that happened to me with so many

different projects that i've been a part of um you know as a choreographer as a director choreographer

um and with descendants i i was just saying just having a conversation uh about the moment that

kristin chennewith was on the set and we were getting red and we were shooting uh rotten to

the core with with the four principal you know um uh characters and and and descendants and i

watched them come rocking down the street on on the isle of the loss and i was like whoa we've got

something here this is good bad you know this yeah yeah good bad and and people love to hate right

yeah you have a villain like that and i just felt it and and i think that there was an exhilaration

throughout the entire making of the film. I think without saying it we all kind of knew that there was this great possibility that we were on to something that was enjoyable Everything was enjoyable And the kids were so multi so capable of anything that I could throw at them

And again, like in High School Musical and Cheetah Girls and working with Miley and the Jonas Brothers

And, you know, I've been so fortunate at the Disney company, you know, working with young people that bring so much, you know, and that becomes so big, a big, a big part of the end result

Yeah. And I think that's what keeps people coming back. I mean, to come see the descendants two and three and so forth because of that energy, because of that just talent that that is just so addicting kind of in a way

People ask me, a lot of people say, what is it? What is that magic

What is the magic? And it's the kids themselves and how they surrender themselves into these roles and into the world together with each other that makes it just so fun

Yeah. I'm curious if they're relatable characters too. Yes. Yes. Even if it's in a fairy tale world, there's still the human element there, right

Which is important. I'm curious if there was ever a Disney fairy tale or character or property that you weren't able to include in the original movie or movies that you were interested in, or if you think would be a good fit, like in a future one

Well, that's a great question, because, you know, I got to have a few in there

You know, I got to have Maleficent's daughter and not that I chose her, but we had Maleficent's daughter in there

You know, we have the evil queens, Captain Hook's son, Thomas Doherty, that played Captain Hook's son

There were a lot. I'm thinking maybe I always was a big fan of Peter Pan

And, you know, if I was ever to come back and do Descendants again, I would probably kind of say, hey, you know

I love that. And, and of course there is more descendants coming out next year

And then there's this tour. So the, the, the, the franchise of property continues to expand and I'm excited to see where it

goes next. Yeah. I'm so proud of the franchise and how it continues to grow and manage to

entertain. And I too, I can't wait to be able to catch the show

I'm looking forward to the concert