ScreenRant
Netflix’s Upcoming Fairy Tale Movie Is An ‘I Can’t Believe It’s Not Disney’ Moment
By Adrienne Tyler
July 23, 2026
Netflix has an upcoming fairy tale movie that looks so good, it’s hard to believe it isn’t a Disney movie. Despite some heavy competition nowadays, Netflix is still one of the biggest and most popular streaming platforms. Netflix continues to offer a wide variety of licensed content along with original projects, of which some now rank among the best movies of all time. Netflix has covered a range of genres with its original movies, and it has slowly but surely built its reputation in animation.
Some movies under the Netflix Original banner that are considered among the best of all time are Klaus and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, and the streamer had a huge year in animation in 2025 thanks to KPop Demon Hunters. Now, Netflix has a new animated movie coming in 2026 thanks to Steps, directed by Alyce Tzue and John Ripa. Unlike most of Netflix’s animated movies so far, Steps is a fairy tale, making it the biggest Disney competition in 2026.
If there’s one thing that has to be praised about Netflix’s animated movies is that they have different designs and animation styles, unlike the biggest animation studios that have a specific style that makes them instantly recognizable. Steps is no exception, and its fairy tale story, animation, and tone make it hard to believe it’s not a Disney movie, which speaks volumes about it even before its release, and is great news for Netflix’s animation branch.
Steps Can Continue Netflix’s Animation Domination
Loosely based on Charles Perrault’s classic fairy tale Cinderella, Steps is a completely different take on the famous tale. Instead of following Cinderella and her journey from being abused by her stepmother and stepsister to marrying the prince, Steps focuses on her stepsisters. In this version, the stepsisters’ names are Lilith (voiced by Ali Wong) and Margot (Stephanie Hsu), and it all starts when Lilith steals the Fairy Godmother’s wand, and so she and Margot take over the Royal Ball.
As a result, the throne is taken by the tyrannical Priscilla (Nikki Glaser), dooming the kingdom. Lilith, then, must team up with Cinderella (Seyfried) and Margot (who is turned into a frog) to fight trolls and Lilith’s henchmen so they can escape the Screaming Woods and save the kingdom. In this version, the stepsisters aren’t evil, and though their actions aren’t exactly good at the beginning, they get their redemption.
The first images from Steps (via Netflix Tudum) give a good look at the movie’s design, very fitting with animated fairy tales, and some are even reminiscent of some Disney characters (Cinderella looks a bit like Tangled’s Rapunzel in those images, and the Prince looks like the good-guy version of Frozen’s Hans). Steps also has a star-studded cast, with the talents of Daniel Radcliffe, Peter Dinklage, Young Mazino, and more, which further adds to the “I can’t believe it’s not Disney” feeling – and that’s great for Steps.
As good as Disney’s animated works still are, it was about time that it got some serious competition. Studios like Illumination, DreamWorks, and Sony Pictures Animation have become their own thing, but Netflix has the potential to become the real competition. Netflix has taken a bit longer to establish itself in the field of animation, but it made a huge impact in 2025 with KPop Demon Hunters. The movie was a worldwide phenomenon, giving Netflix the recognition it deserved in animation and the confidence it needed.
KPop Demon Hunters marked a new era for Netflix, and Steps can carry on with that success and maintain the platform’s current popularity in animation. A huge advantage that Steps has is that it stars well-known characters, which is already a big draw for the audience, but it’s offering something new and some big twists to keep viewers engaged. Steps can further establish Netflix as an animation studio to look out for, proving that it can do a variety of animated stories with high quality, in different styles, and with fun stories.
