Disney Is Making A Bizarre Series About A Pregnant Teen Who’s Dating The Devil
Disney has greenlit the German series Pauline from the makers of How To Sell Drugs Online (Fast) on Netflix.
Disney has long been the destination for esoteric entertainment ideas brought to life, with a film catalog including a genie in a lamp, a voiceless little mermaid who loves to sing, and a pride of talking lions reenacting Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Now, according to a write-up from Deadline, Disney appears to have greenlit an original German series called Pauline, in which a pregnant teenage girl falls in love with the Devil. This series comes courtesy of the team behind the Netflix crime drama How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast) and promises to be the first of many German original projects with the entertainment giant.
While little is known about the show’s plot at this time, the Disney+ series is said to follow an 18-year-old girl named Pauline, who unknowingly engages in a one-night stand with the Devil, resulting in an unplanned pregnancy. Despite the hundreds of factors that may compel someone not to continue pursuing a romantic relationship with the literal Devil, Pauline quickly finds herself catching feelings for the creature, who goes by the name of Lukas. It may not sound as romantic as being swept off your feet by Aladdin‘s magic carpet ride, but Pauline is sure to join the illustrious ranks of Disney princesses who paved the way before her.
Despite her status as a Disney protagonist, Pauline quickly finds herself mired by a number of other issues, including the stress of finishing school, as well as the mounting climate change crisis, which continues to force young people into activist roles like Greta Thunberg. With society seeming to collapse around her, Pauline finds herself between a rock and a hard place in the upcoming Disney+ series. At this time there is no word on how many episodes the series will have in its first season, nor is there an expected release date, but the strange synopsis is certain to turn some heads.
Disney’s Pauline seems reminiscent of other series in recent memory which have used the Devil as a character to skewer social and cultural issues, such as Danny DeVito‘s recent FXX series Little Demon. The current state of the world is certainly rife with difficult circumstances which might lead one to lose faith in the systems around them, proving that series of this nature act as art imitating life. Pauline is written by Sebastian Colley, with Facundo Scalerandi, Arabella Bartsch, and Alma Buddecke set to direct, alongside executive producers Philipp Käßbohrer and Matthias Murmann.
Käßbohrer and Merman previously collaborated on Netflix’s How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast), which began in 2019 and is currently renewed for a fourth season at the streamer. The pair have expressed excitement at Disney’s willingness to pick up Pauline, as the series is apparently very close to their hearts. The series is set to star young up-and-coming actors such as Lukas von Horbatschewsky, Ludger Bökelmann as Lukas, AKA the Devil, and Berlin Nobody‘s Sira-Anna Faal in the titular role as Pauline.
