Picture Credit: Netflix
When Netflix first announced Steps, its highly anticipated twist on the Cinderella story, it came with a very specific label: an animated movie musical. But as we get closer to its November 20th release date, fans have noticed a distinct lack of singing in the marketing, especially in the trailer that dropped yesterday. So, what happened?
With that first trailer now officially out in the wild, excitement is at an all-time high for Lilith (Ali Wong) and Margot’s (Stephanie Hsu) side of the fairy tale. However, the high-octane footage—featuring biker trolls, high-speed carriage chases, and a killer original score by Kris Bowers—has left many viewers wondering if the characters will actually be breaking into song.
The short answer? No, Steps is no longer a traditional musical. But the full story behind that decision is a fascinating look into how animated movies evolve during production.
From Broadway Aspirations to Action-Comedy
When the project was first greenlit and spearheaded by Amy Poehler’s Paper Kite Productions, Steps was heavily billed as a musical comedy. However, as the movie continued through production, we heard things had shifted creatively. That was confirmed during our massive deep-dive at the Annecy Film Festival; the creative team made the bold decision to redevelop the film midway through its production cycle.
As the story of Lilith teaming up with Cinderella (Amanda Seyfried) to take down the tyrannical Priscilla (Nikki Glaser) began to take shape, the pacing of the film naturally started leaning much harder into the realm of action and comedy.
In our exclusive interview with directors Alyce Tzue and John Ripa, Ripa opened up about this massive pivot and why a conventional musical format just didn’t work for the story they wanted to tell.
“The movie did start out as a musical, but it has evolved in so many ways since 2020, when we started working on it,” Ripa explained. “The movie started to hit this kind of comedic tone and a groundedness that made a pure musical kind of feel like it wasn’t the right fit anymore.”
By stripping away the need to pause for traditional musical numbers, the film’s sharp, rebellious writing and the stellar voice cast’s natural comedic timing were truly able to shine.
Will there be any musical elements?
If you were hoping for a few catchy tunes, don’t worry entirely. While Steps won’t be a wall-to-wall musical in the same vein as Netflix’s record-breaking juggernaut K-Pop Demon Hunters or classic Disney fairy tales, we’re told that it hasn’t completely abandoned its musical roots.
As Ripa went on to tease in our interview:
“We still have just an incredible soundtrack of original songs and needle drops that I think audiences are very excited about.”
So, while Lilith and Cinderella might not be belting out duets to express their inner feelings, fans can still expect some show-stopping musical moments and an awesome score by Kris Bowers. Whether those original songs are diegetic or just part of an epic soundtrack to accompany goats riding motorcycles remains to be seen.
By breaking the Cinderella story as we know it, the team behind Steps also broke the mold of how a fairy tale movie has to sound. And judging by the hilarious first trailer, it looks like taking the action-comedy route was the perfect glass slipper for this specific story.
Are you glad Steps pivoted to an action-comedy, or do you wish it had stayed a full-blown musical? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
