Though it failed to dominate the zeitgeist with the same icy grip as Frozen, 2010’s Tangled was a charming box-office hit that established Disney’s CGI princess style. The Rapunzel retelling follows the sheltered heroine as she sets off on a quest of self-discovery with the dashing thief Flynn Rider, a.k.a. Eugene Fitzherbert. Now the film is getting new life as an animated TV show on the Disney Channel with original voice actors Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi reprising their roles.
The duo previously revisited the world in a short film called Tangled Ever After that aired on Disney Channel in 2012. That short centered on Rapunzel and Eugene’s wedding day, and this new show will fill in the gaps between the end of the film and those nuptials. According to Variety, the series begins with a now brunette Rapunzel struggling with her new royal identity and deciding to “seek out epic adventure” before accepting her duties. She does so with the help of Eugene, her sidekick chameleon Pascal, authoritarian horse Maximus, the lovable thugs from the Snuggly Duckling Pub, and a new character named Cassandra who is billed as a “tough-as-nails” handmaiden and confidant.
Moore and Levi aren’t the only connection between the series and the original film; Legendary composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater will also return to write new songs for the series, having earned a Grammy for Tangled’s “I See The Light.” Since the film’s debut, Rapunzel has become a top-selling princess for Disney, and the Mouse House likely want to give her even more visibility (and more downloadable songs) in the post-Anna and Elsa era. The new series is set to premiere in 2017.