ShowBiz News | Netflix has released the first trailer for the animated musical Steps on Thursday, September 17, 2026. The short Trailer immediately gives the impression that the film will not follow the usual pattern of Cinderella adaptations. Cinderella is not the main character. What is raised is precisely the point of view of Lilith, the half-sister who has always been labeled as an evil character in classic fairy tales. This way of telling stories puts Steps as part of the trend of modern fairy tale adaptations that try to give psychological depth to characters who were once just a nuisance to the storyline.
In the trailer, Lilith is introduced as a character who consciously questions her Reputation, which has been considered bad. Lilith even broke the fourth wall and spoke directly to the audience regarding the injustice of her image all this time. In the first trailer, we are also treated to a thrilling horse-drawn carriage chase, glass shoes that break apart, as well as the appearance of a group of biker trolls who look very angry. The combination of action and comedy scenes shows that Steps deliberately moved away from the romantic and serious tone attached to the Cinderella story.
Netflix released an official synopsis explaining that Lilith is tired of always being Cinderella's shadow. He steals the Fairy Godmother's wand, then with Margot rummages through the royal ball. The chaos makes the plot of Cinderella's story that has been known to the public so messy, and the kingdom is finally ruled by Priscilla, a cunning villain who seized the throne. Lilith must finally team up with Cinderella to fight biker trolls, escape the pursuit of criminals, and pass through the forest of screams in order to save the kingdom as well as repair their relationship.
Steps is directed by Alyce Tzue and John Ripa and written by Ava Tramer, James Madejski, Jen Chuck, Dana Schwartz, and Felicia Ho. The film's story comes from Tramer, Madejski, Schwartz, Ho, Riki Lindhome, and Kate Micucci. The Film was produced by Amy Poehler with Jane Hartwell and Kim Lessing on behalf of Paper Kite Productions, with original background music by Kris Bowers. The combination of these names shows that Netflix is positioning Steps as an animation project with high production standards, not just catalog filler content.
Steps' voice line-up is star-studded and covers a broad spectrum of talent. Ali Wong voices Lilith, Amanda Seyfried as Cinderella, Stephanie Hsu as Margot, Nikki Glaser as Priscilla, and Bette Midler as the Fairy Godmother. In addition, there is Young Mazino and two stars who have previously been rumored to join, namely Daniel Radcliffe and Peter Dinklage. WWE fans are also looking forward to the involvement of Damian Priest who also voices in the film. This configuration shows a casting strategy that targets several audience segments at once, from comedy fans to the sports entertainment community.
Steps will air exclusively on Netflix on Friday, November 20, 2026. Steps makes its way into the Netflix original animation lineup that already includes KPop Demon Hunters, Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, and Klaus. The success of Kpop Demon Hunters as the most watched movie in the platform's history created high expectations for Steps. Steps ' position in Netflix's portfolio is also an indicator of the extent to which the platform is able to maintain momentum in the global animation market.
What makes Steps different from other fairy tale adaptations lies in its status as a full-fledged in-house production of Netflix Animation Studios. The Film no longer relies on outside partners such as Sony Pictures Animation or Skydance Animation, which have been the backbone of a number of Netflix animation projects. The decision indicates a serious change of direction. Netflix does not seem to be satisfied with just being a place to show movies, but also wants to master its own animation production. If Steps is successful critically or commercially, this model could change the map of the animation industry that has been controlled by major Hollywood studios.
From a market analysis perspective, the November 20, 2026 release date puts Steps adjacent to the Thanksgiving holiday period in the United States. Netflix has consistently taken advantage of holiday moments to release excellent content targeting a family audience. Steps will also compete with other animated releases in the same period, including Disney's Hexed which is scheduled to hit theaters on November 25, 2026. The difference in distribution models, where Steps is directly available on streaming while Hexed relies on Cinema-exclusive windows, will be an interesting case study of the shift in animation consumer behavior post-pandemic.
In terms of themes, Steps is in line with a trend that has long emerged in the entertainment industry, namely efforts to rehabilitate the image of female antagonists. Maleficent and Cruella first paved that path by making room for characters who have always been labeled evil to tell stories from their own sides. The difference is that Steps chose a lighter and funnier tone than the two films. Placing Lilith as the main character who deliberately rummages through the standard storyline makes this film have the opportunity to become a kind of meta comment about who really has the right to rewrite fairy tales.
For Netflix, Steps also serves as a market test for its musical animation content strategy. The animated musical Genre has a loyal fan base but also requires a small production investment. The presence of Kris Bowers as a composer shows that the musical aspect gets serious attention. If the songs in Steps were able to penetrate popular culture as happened with Encanto or Moana, Netflix would have a musical animation franchise that could be further developed. On the contrary, failure in this aspect can be a valuable lesson about the limits of the streaming approach to the musical genre.
Thus, Steps is not just a fairy tale adaptation with a narrative twist. The Film represents Netflix's strategic bet on building an independent, competitive and sustainable animation ecosystem. Its success or failure willgive anidea of the direction of the streaming animation industry in the next few years. Viewers can watch it globally and exclusively on Netflix starting November 20, 2026.
Source: Netflix Tudum, Variety