Jun 3, 2015

Disney to bring "Tangled" to TV

Starting in 2017, Disney's popular retelling of the Grimm's fairy tale Rapunzel will become a new animated television series. [Gary Marsh, president of Disney Channels Worldwide, said production has begun at Disney Television Animation, with acclaimed animated feature co-stars Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi and composer Alan Menken, lyricist Glenn Slater will reunite for the show, he said.

The series is being developed by two respected industry veterans. Feature animator Chris Sonenberg, most recently aboard Gravity Falls and Futurama, and Shane Prigmore, who has worked on The Boxtrolls, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Mr. Peabody &. Sherman," and has designed characters for a variety of projects. Sonnenberg will serve as executive producer and director, while Prigmore will serve as executive producer and creative director.

The studio has not revealed whether the series will be 2D or CGI, but promotional artwork released by Disney today depicts, and given Disney TV's current Toon Boom pipeline and Prigmore's highly regarded character design skills all signs point to a 2D series.

"The genius of the original film was its seamless blend of cinematic adventure, character-driven comedy and touching emotion," Marsh said in a Disney Channel press release." We are fortunate to have some of the film's creative talent on board with this new production. With Chris and Shane joining us as executive producers, we have the perfect team to make a series worthy of the original film."

"We are very excited to have Chris and Shane on board as executive producers,"

"We are very excited to have Chris and Shane on board as executive producers.

The animated series will take place between the 2010 feature film and the 2012 short "Tangled Ever After," which centers on the wedding of Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. In this series, however, Rapunzel puts her marriage and ascension to the crown on hold, and the couple continues their adventures with Pascal the clever chameleon and Maximus the wonderful steed. New characters also include Cassandra, "a tough servant who becomes Rapunzel's confidante," according to Disney.

"Tangled" and "Frozen" artist Claire Keen served as a consultant for the animated series. Other story editing was done by Jace Rich ("Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles") and music composition by Kevin Creech ("Tangled Ever After").

While "Tangled 2" was not aborted because "her hair is gone," it still sounds like the TV show may tide fans of the "Tangled" film franchise over until a feature-length sequel finally appears.