Tangled: Disney Channel Announces Animated Series Based on 2010 Film

From Disney Insider.

This is a very awesome surprise, even to us: in 2017 a new animated series based on Disney’s phenomenally popular animated film Tangled will debut on the Disney Channel in 2017. Get your frying pans and flying lanterns and smart aleck-y chameleons ready.

Now, animated series based on Disney animated films aren’t exactly a new phenomenon, with everything from Hercules to 101 Dalmatians getting turned into episodic television. The biggest feature-to-television-series conversion was the syndicated Aladdin TV series, which ran for 86 episodes and included three additional movies. Most recently Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs got the small screen spin-off treatment with The 7D and starting this fall The Lion Guard, which focuses on Simba’s son, will make its official rollout, first as a television movie in November and then at the beginning of next year as a TV series (both will air on Disney Junior).

But what makes the Tangled series so special is the amount of talent that they’ve retained from the original feature film. This new series will feature Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi reprising their roles of Rapunzel and Flynn Rider (nee Eugene) from the movie and showcase new songs from Academy Award-winning composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater, who were responsible for all of those catchy tunes in the original film. Clare Keane, daughter of Disney Legend Glen Keane (who at one point was the director on a very different version of the film and who later served as an animation supervisor), consulted on the film. They’re really getting the band back together. This is roughly the equivalent of snagging Robin Williams for the Aladdin television series.

Additional characters from the feature that will make the leap to episodic television include Rapunzel’s chameleon sidekick Pascal, the uppity horse Maximus, the thugs from the Snuggly Duckling Pub and a brand new character: Cassandra, described as “a tough-as-nails handmaiden, who becomes Rapunzel’s confidant.” We’re sold.

In terms of timing, the series takes place in between the events of the feature film and the start of the utterly charming 2012 short film Tangled Ever After. Apparently there were a lot of adventures that Rapunzel and Eugene got into in the time in-between. We don’t have any details on what the animation style will be but based on the promotional artwork, Tangled fans will be very, very happy.