REVIEW: ‘Disney Twisted-Wonderland The Animation’ Episode 4 — “A Desperate Heart”

Disney Twisted-Wonderland The Animation Episode 4, “A Desperate Heart,” taps deeply into the magics and lore of this twisted little universe. With all the teasing of Riddle Rosehearts (Natsuki Hanae/Paul Castro, Jr) since the beginning, we now get to see how Yumeta Company and Graphinica re-imagine the world of Disney’s Alice in Wonderland in their style, while also expanding further on what we know about Night Raven College’s structure.

Disney Twisted-Wonderland The Animation Episode 4 starts with Yuken dreaming about a mysterious-to-him land. Pulling from archival animated footage from Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, Yuken sees a bunch of cards panicking about painting the roses red. He has no idea what this even means, and neither do we, but since he’s having dreams of places and events he’s never experienced, there must be something to it. 

Before he can fully grasp what the heck he dreamed about, he and Grim(Noriaki Sugiyama/Ben Diskin) are woken up by a very cranky Ace (Seiichirō Yamashita/Max Mittelman), who is now donning a magical collar. His crime? Eating one of Rosehearts’s tarts, which, frankly, I’d be upset too if someone ate my food. Expecting sympathy, Ace is met with understandable criticism from Yuken and Grim. Utilizing his powerful and intimidating piercing stare, Yuken convinces Ace to apologize to Rosehearts in the morning.

The structure of Night Raven College gets further expansion in Disney Twisted-Wonderland The Animation Episode 4.

The next day, the gang runs into Deuce (Chiaki Kobayashi/Hunter McCoy), who happily agrees to show them House Heartslabyul. It’s in Disney Twisted-Wonderland The Animation Episode 4 that we learn the other houses reside off campus. The only way to access them? Magical portals within the college. The group takes the portal to the land of the Queen of Hearts, and it is beautifully reimagined.

We also get a moment that is almost pulled from Yuken’s dream from the beginning, where we are introduced to Cater Diamond (Tatsuyuki Kobayashi/Michael Sinterniklaas), painting the roses red. There’s a party expected, and after yet another convoluted rule reveal, he enlists the help of the group to try to paint the rest so he can get other things done. Of course, throughout all of this, he drops some rather cringy Gen Z-esque dialogue ripped straight from an influencer’s mouth, hinting at his visual obsession. 

Once it emerges that Ace is going to try to apologize to Rosehearts, things take a dangerous turn. Cater’s energy shifts, and he reveals that Ace won’t be allowed anywhere near House Heartslabyul unless he has a replacement for the tart he stole. Using his signature magical spell, he splits himself into multiples and promptly kicks the group out of the land, putting a cap on any sort of apology made by Ace for the time being.

Seeing familiar Disney worlds reimagined is part of the joy of this series.

With little else to do, the group is thrown into their first day of classes. It’s another round of world expansion in Disney Twisted-Wonderland The Animation Episode 4, where we are introduced to a couple of the professors. Some are more easily connected to Disney properties, like the Potionology professor, Divus Crewel, who looks like a genderbent version of Cruella de Vil. Others, like the History of Magic professor, are not as easily identifiable.

Once the gang moves to their lunch break, there is another round of exposition that breaks down the various houses. It’s almost reminiscent of Harry Potter and other YA dark academic properties, with similar house-dorm stereotypes. We’ve already been introduced to House Heartslabyul, with further explanation given to Riddle Rosehearts and how he is seen as a fanatic about maintaining the Queen of Hearts’ rules. It implies that other housewardens have not been so crazy in the past, presenting him as a further antagonist.

The other houses embody the other Great Seven villains the school worships. Savanaclaw is associated with Scar, and its students are known for their proficiency in martial arts. Octavinelle is associated with Ursula, and the students are known for their intellect. Rivaling that house in smarts is Scarabia, which is associated with Jafar. Pomefiore is the oldest of the dorms and is connected to the Queen from Snow White. The students there are known for being ace at potions, and hopefully won’t go out the same way as the Queen did.

Riddle Rosehearts is the harbinger of stress in Disney Twisted-Wonderland The Animation Episode 4.

The latter two houses have some of the more intriguing descriptions. Ignihyde is associated with Hades, but Cater describes the students as antisocial, NEET types. Given the academic atmosphere, it’s just weird to describe these students as NEETs when they are at such a prestigious institute. Then there’s the final house, Diasomnia, which is associated with Maleficent. The students there don’t seem to have much specialization beyond magic. However, the housewarden of Diasomnia is considered to be one of the strongest magic users, apparently. 

After that massive information dump, Disney Twisted-Wonderland The Animation Episode 4 segues into its ending, which sees Ace, once again, putting his foot in his mouth. And, of course, Rosehearts is right behind him, ready to punish, because there is literally nothing else this character does except be angry at everyone around him. Leaving things off on such a tense note seems to be set up for a battle in the cafeteria, a lovely high school trope that will thankfully never die.

As it stands, Disney Twisted-Wonderland The Animation Episode 4 does an awful lot to further expand the world, at the expense of pacing. Rosehearts has been set up pretty much to be the one to hate, with his emphasis on draconian rule in his house. However, with the big info dumps, this episode didn’t push the plot forward much, making Disney Twisted-Wonderland The Animation Episode 4 a middle-of-the-road episode overall. 

Disney Twisted-Wonderland the Animation Episodes 1-4 are now streaming exclusively on Disney+ and Hulu.

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