The Laughing Place
The filmmakers behind the upcoming animated feature discuss the story’s origins, a star-studded voice cast
By Alex Reif
June 26, 2026
Netflix‘s upcoming animated feature Steps takes the classic Cinderella fairy tale and hands the spotlight to the people we’ve always been told to root against: the stepsisters. From directors Alyce Tzue and John Ripa, the film stars Alli Wong as Lilith, a stepsister so tired of living in Cinderella’s shadow that she steals the Fairy Godmother’s magic wand, setting off a chain of events that forces her to team up with Cinderella (Amanda Seyfried) to save the kingdom from a villainous usurper voiced by Nikki Glaser. During Annecy 2026, I sat down with Tzue and Ripa to talk about the film’s rich roots in fairy tale history, what the voice cast brought to the characters, and why Steps arrives on Netflix at exactly the right moment.
Alex: The voice casting has made a lot of headlines. You’ve got a legend like Bette Midler joining contemporaries like Amanda Seyfried. Sometimes, when a voice actor gets in the studio, what was designed in the story room becomes something different through their performance. Did any of your voice actors bring something to a character that reshaped what you were planning?
John Ripa: I think they all influenced it. You have Alli Wong and Nikki Glaser, who are incredible comedians. Their inflections, their timing with comedy, their ability to ad-lib all add to it. Bette Midler came in with a very specific take on the voice and how the character would feel. She arrived super prepared; she’s a legend. And since the voices are recorded first, the animators pick up on all those little nuances of expression and mannerisms. That’s really where the characters come to life.
Alex: In terms of character design, from what I’ve seen, it skews a little modern while still leaning into that Marie Antoinette Rococo style.
