Disney gets Tangled in new TV Series
After the incredible success of Disney’s 2010 film Tangled, the Disney Channel have commissioned the film to be made into an animated show. The animated show will feature the same characters Rapunzel, Flynn, chameleon Pascal, horse Maximus, and the Snuggly Duckling Pub Thugs with voice artists Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi returning to their roles. However the show will also introduce a new character – Cassandra, who has been described as “a strong-willed handmaiden who also serves as Rapunzel’s confidant”.
Disney didn’t let the Tangled film die after it’s release when it released a short film with Beauty and the Beast‘s 3D re-release in 2012. The short titled Tangled Ever After was set on Rapunzel and Flynn’s wedding day and received high praise. As well as this, Rapunzel and Flynn managed to sneak a cameo appearance in Frozen in 2013. It is said that this new TV show will take place after the Tangled feature film but before the Tangled Ever After short.
The show will also see the return of musical duo – composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater, who will reprise their roles writing songs for the series. The series is being developed by executive producer Chris Sonnenburg (Enchanted, Kung Fu Panda) and co-executive producer Shane Prigmore (The Lego Movie, The Boxtrolls).
This is obviously not the first time Disney have adapted one of their films to a TV show on Disney Channel and Disney have a proud history of doing this. Between Tarzan, Hercules, Lilo and Stitch and Aladdin, Disney have had a very strong success rate with this method, and it looks like they have no plans of stopping any time soon.
Just some of the many Disney animated films that have been adapted to TV series
Disney issued a press release with the announcement saying that “Her irrepressible spirit and natural curiosity about the world drives her to the realization that there is so much more she needs to learn before she can truly accept her royal destiny. She boldly puts her crown and impending marriage on hold to seek out epic adventures, much to the dismay of the King who, after missing out on Rapunzel’s youth, must accept that his daughter is now an independent young woman.”
There are many similarities between how Disney is handling Tangled to the way they are handling Frozen. Tangled started with a feature film, then got a short film and now has a TV show. Frozen started as a feature film, then got a short film, could this be a big hint that a Frozen TV show may be in the works at some point down the line. Who knows? With the incredible box office intake from Frozen including the merchandise it wouldn’t be surprising if Disney did adapt the franchise to another corner of the Disney realm after the second Frozen feature.
The Tangled TV show is currently in production and will be released on the Disney Channel in 2017.