Image via NetflixPublished Jun 26, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT
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Summary
- Collider's Steve Weintraub talks with co-directors Alyce Tzue and John Ripa for Netflix's Steps.
- The directors discuss their inspiration and influences, how Steps flips the script on Cinderella, and the delicious visual design of the movie.
- They also talk about the themes of the movie and how streaming on Netflix impacts the making of the film.
Later this year, Netflix invites you to revisit one of the most beloved fairy tales of all time, Cinderella, through a brand-new perspective. Steps, an upcoming animated movie from first-time feature director Alyce Tzue and John Ripa (Raya and the Last Dragon), flips this magical tale on its head in a reimagining that examines feelings of jealousy, rejection, rebellion, as well as empathy and misunderstandings.
Netflix Animation Studios, which brought us KPop Demon Hunters, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Nimona, and more, now teams with an all-star vocal cast, starring Amanda Seyfried and Ali Wong, for a look at the royal ball from a new set of eyes. In the movie, the “evil” stepsisters, Lilith (Wong) and Margot (Stephanie Hsu), are sick and tired of being cast in Cinderella’s (Seyfried) shadow. But when Lilith cooks up a scheme to steal the Fairy Godmother’s (Bette Midler) magic wand, all manner of enchanted shenanigans ensue, dooming the kingdom to the villainous rule of Priscilla (Nikki Glaser). Now, Lilith must join forces with Cinderella to battle biker trolls, outsmart evil henchmen, and escape the Screaming Woods on an epic quest to save their kingdom and discover surprises about themselves along the way.
At this year’s Annecy Film Festival, Collider’s Steve Weintraub had the opportunity to sit down with Tzue and Ripa to discuss new details ahead of Steps’ premiere. The duo begin by explaining their approach to the classic fairy tale and how and why they wanted to turn it on its head, as well as some of their most surprising influences, including The Terminator and Tom Cruise. They reveal the sweet inspiration behind their French Rococo designs, how they discovered new layers of Cinderella to explore, and discuss how Tzue’s involvement completely changed Steps’ original story and how streaming influences the film. For all this and more on “the girl who was never given the magic,” check out the full conversation below.
'Steps' Is a New Twist on the Classic 'Cinderella' Story
"It's funny. It looks beautiful. It's action-packed. It's got surprising heart."
COLLIDER: No one has seen the movie yet, so what do you want people to know about it?
ALYCE TZUE: Steps is a twist on the Cinderella story from the point of view of one of the so-called evil stepsisters, called Lilith, and Lilith lives in the shadow of the seemingly perfect Cinderella. So, on the night of the royal ball, Lilith steals the magic wand and breaks the Cinderella story as we know it. Really, the story is about this wonderful, hilarious, heartfelt buddy comedy between Lilith and Cinderella as they go on a journey to save the kingdom, but really, more importantly, their relationship.
JOHN RIPA: It's funny. It looks beautiful. It's action-packed. It's got surprising heart. I think the story and the relatability of the themes of it are something that I think everyone is really going to kind of connect with and enjoy.
In the clip we saw, I couldn't help but feel that the security dude might have been inspired a little bit by Agent Smith from The Matrix, or am I way off base on this?
RIPA: I think there's an overall sort of type that kind of influenced him that is in the same sort of area or realm as Agent Smith from The Matrix and stuff. Because you have The Terminator, you have Tom Cruise, who runs fantastically in every movie.
I was also going to ask you about the run, and if you studied Tom Cruise because of the way the arms were going.
RIPA: I think it was a little bit of everybody. There were different things — Terminator, Tom Cruise. The thing about animation is the animators, a lot of times, will film themselves doing references, as well, because you have to understand and learn the mechanics of it. When I was an animator, too, I studied a lot of physicality of athletes and actors and all this kind of stuff. So, yeah, there were definitely influences. I'd say Tom Cruise and Terminator were two of them.
This is such a familiar fairy tale, but you're approaching it from the stepsister’s point of view. What was the first idea or emotional hook that made you feel there was a full movie here?
TZUE: That's a good question. Actually, the scene that you saw in the progression reel, where Lilith finds Cinderella's dress. In a lot of the adaptations you remember, the canon story of the stepsisters making sure that Cinderella can't go to the ball, there are versions where the stepsisters rip the dress off of Cinderella. This is a good example of how we're subverting the trope by having Lilith actually find Cinderella’s dress and feel a yearning to be like Cinderella, to try on her dress. The rest of the scene actually shows her getting caught by Margot and then ripping the dress off of herself because she's embarrassed to show that side of herself below the rebel exterior that actually wants to fit in. So, when we found that scene, we felt, “Oh, this is the fresh perspective of the girl who was never given the magic.”
What were the biggest visual rules for this world? Did you want it to feel like a classic storybook, a modern comedy, or something in between?
RIPA: I’d say something in between. The influences originally are French Rococo, so Marie-Antoinette, and that kind of time period, pre-revolutionary France, which is very ornate and detailed and rich with costumes and textures and fabrics and everything like that. But then there's a different side of it.
TZUE: I think the philosophy generally was, especially to execute on the detail and richness of a Rococo world, to push 3D to its boundaries, 3D that shows off its craft and not necessarily looking like 2D. But actually, there is this secret ingredient in our movie where the textures are inspired by things like desserts and candy and cake, like the wood is inspired by chocolate, and the wigs are inspired by cotton candy. It's not very literal, but the overall feeling you get is that this is a world that you want to touch and taste with your eyes, in a sense.
Cinderella Is Still a Central Character in 'Steps'
"We had to learn what we could do with her character and what we couldn't."
How did you approach Cinderella herself in a story focused on the stepsisters? How do you avoid making Cinderella feel like a symbol or a plot device?
RIPA: Landing in the journey of how we discovered Cinderella took a while to do, because, again, it's a fairy tale that everybody knows and everybody loves. I think our characters are probably some of the most popular in all of fairy tales. So we had to learn what we could do with her character and what we couldn't, because there are certain things that people struggle with and maybe wouldn't accept.
But at the same time, we wanted to find layers to her. We felt like we could still have this Cinderella character that you know and love, and that you're used to, but then as the film goes along, start to reveal layers to her that other fairy tales and other versions haven't really gotten into — this character that's an orphan and lost both her parents. So, speaking to the same themes of loneliness and belonging, we were able to build her more as you get into the story. As Lilith learned more about her, because she's our perspective, our point of view, we learned more about Cinderella.
Cinderella stories often revolve around kindness, beauty, and transformation. What themes did you want Steps to explore through the sisters instead?
TZUE: We wanted to explore the themes of empathy, what happens when two people from different families come together, the active decision to continue to understand and reach out to each other, and love in all its different forms. A Cinderella story often leans into the romantic love, and we have that too, but in terms of familial love and love between two kindred souls, that is the kind of love that we lean into.
Animated movies change a lot during the development process. From where you started, when you sat down to start making it, to what people are actually going to see, did you go through crazy revisions, or was it more like slight tweaks along the way?
TZUE: I jumped onto the project in 2020. John can speak to how animated films change a lot generally, but the personal journey was that we knew we wanted to do the stepsister story and a twist on Cinderella, and we knew we wanted to lean into the theme of everyone deserves a happily ever after, of empathy, and showing two sisters that want to belong.
Everything else changed quite a lot. Originally, before I hopped on, it was white stepsisters. When I came on, they became Asian stepsisters. It was at first focused on two stepsisters, and then we realized the message was much better told focused on one of the stepsisters and Cinderella as her opposite. So when you switch and adjust your main characters, yes, the story definitely adjusts around it. I am confident that this is the strongest version and the version that I've always wanted to tell.
RIPA: Yeah, you know when you find it because you feel it, and everybody feels it. When you see something in the room, or you see the dress-ripping sequence with Lilith’s character, and all of a sudden you all know that this is the right version. But because they take so long, five or six years, to do an animated film, where you start and where you end are never the same. You build, you learn, you make mistakes, you make discoveries as you go, and it leads you down paths. The more you get to know the characters, the more they speak to you and tell you where they need to go, as opposed to forcing them into a preconceived plot that you may have had. But they all change.
I'm sure you've done friends and family screenings or test screenings recently. What have people been telling you about the movie now that they've seen the rough version that you have?
RIPA: What’s really great, and the funny thing, too, is watching those rough versions. People aren't used to watching things in storyboards or previs, but the response overall has been really great. We’ve had some focus groups and things, and even a teacher said, “This would be a great tool to show to our class in terms of talking about things like bullying and perception and feeling left out,” and things like that. So overall, I think we've gotten a really great response.
TZUE: A great response, also, in terms of how far the reach can be. Adults have said that they've really enjoyed the sharp comedy, the jokes that are meant for everyone, and the kids have chosen their favorite characters, and you'd be surprised by what those favorite characters are. It's not just Lilith. It's also the villain, you know? And so we're really excited to share a very rich movie that's hopefully for everyone.
How did you ensure Lilith and Margot felt like completely distinct protagonists right out of the gate rather than falling into the boilerplate, misunderstood anti-hero tropes we've seen in recent years?
TZUE: That's a good question. I think the key to all of this is that they are flawed. It's not just that we're saying, “Oh, these are completely misunderstood sisters that are only do-gooders.” We tackle feelings like jealousy, and when you feel rejected, the ways that you rebel and you keep people at an emotional distance. So, we really try to lean into relatable, layered characters overall, but especially our female protagonists.
RIPA: Yeah, I think that's the key to relatability. We are the audience watching the fairy tale with Lilith, and maybe seeing how unfair some of it is to everybody else around that one person who gets the benefit of magic. So, I think that kind of relatability and flawed characters that are underdogs.
Because the movie's about people being misunderstood, were there specific scenes where you wanted the audience's perception of Lilith or Margot to shift?
RIPA: Yeah, I think so. Again, it's like with every character, you get to learn about them as you go. You're coming into a movie cold and you don't know who they are, and I think that's why, right off the bat, we have Lilith speaking to the audience because we didn't want to follow those things of, “Oh, this person's evil,” and some of the live-action films that have been tackling fairy tales lately, and to just right off the bat say who she is and let her speak to what her version of the story is, what her perspective is on it. So, right off the bat, I think we do that.
TZUE: Yes. I think there is a particular scene, and you’ll know more when you see the movie, but Lilith can be very spiky on the outside. You can think of Ali Wong as the perfect kind of personification of this character. But also, in terms of when you mentioned Margot, there's a scene where you see Lilith and continually see Lilith as a protective older sister, and that is a role that you might not expect out of one of the stepsisters, but it feels relatable.
Why Netflix is the Perfect Home for 'Steps'
"We are fortunate enough to have a depth of information to let us know how things are reading."
Image via ShutterstockThis movie is also part of Netflix's growing original animation slate. Did making this for streaming affect how you thought about the pacing, comedy, or the family audience you were aiming for?
RIPA: It's interesting, I've been in animation for over 30 years, and 27 of that, or so, has been theatrical, and so for me, this was a very new experience. And yeah, we did have to kind of look at when you're watching it in your home in terms of what you present right away and the openings of films, and how people perceive them. So, it was looking at how do we pull people into this, how do we engage them quickly? Because it is a different thing. You can turn it off in five seconds. You're not an audience in a theater. But it did sort of change my thinking of it and how you approach it.
The thing about Netflix is that they have so much access to analytics and data in terms of when people push pause, when people will watch the whole thing. As filmmakers, obviously, you're telling your story, but how much in the back of your mind is there someone from the studio giving you this information that can possibly impact it? I saw the beginning of the movie today, and immediately you're being pulled in, sort of like the way a lot of TV shows or movies do a big action set piece just to pull you in quickly.
RIPA: Actually, what's really interesting is they do test screenings where they collect data and stuff like that in terms of people's responses throughout the film, and we get that information. We also do friends and family screenings. Also, when we screen, we have a story trust of other directors and writers in the studio who are working on films that we do note sessions with, and we are fortunate enough to have a depth of information to let us know how things are reading. Are we communicating it the right way? Are the things we're seeing clear?
So, I think, yes, there are definitely analytics that Netflix has, and there are also our own instincts. There's also the other directors and feedback we get from leadership, Paper Kite, and [Amy ] Poehler, Kim Lessing, our producers, Jane [Hartwell], our producer. So, we’re actually really lucky to have a lot of sources to kind of help us test things and guide it in that way.
TZUE: I would say I totally agree with that, and data is still a small part of the craft. It is a useful tool. Ultimately, like John is saying, it is driven by the filmmakers, and we get to decide what our North Star is.
RIPA: Totally.
Steps is set to premiere on Netflix this year.
Director Alyce Tzue, John Ripa
English (US) ·