The RAPUNZEL Logo
When last we heard about Disney’s Rapunzel, Kristen Chenoweth was going to be the voice of Rapunzel with Dan Fogler as the Prince; Glen Keane was at the helm; and some initial character designs had been released. Things have changed. The latest confirmed news for the 3D film is as follows: Mandy Moore will play Rapunzel, Zachary Levi will play the “prince” (a bandit named Flynn Rider) and Donna Murphy will voice Mother Gothel, the witch. The score has been written by Alan Menken (with Glenn Slater). Byron Howard and Nathan Greno will direct.
Rotten Tomatoes has an interview with Mandy Moore about her work on the film and she has the following (and more, if you follow the link) to say:
She’s definitely the quintessential sassy, young Disney heroine. She’s a bit of a spitfire too, and a very curious young woman. She’s really curious about the world she’s never really seen and she’s coming into her own…. I’ve done a little bit of work already, but the bulk of it I’ll start when I get back home. It’s a lot of fun. And there’s music involved; really great music.
More buzz on the film is that we can look forward to a complex villain with complex motives in Mother Gothel. Rapunzel, a princess rather than the daughter of peasants, will be more active and will not be trapped in her tower throughout the film. And for the Alan Menken fans: the big love ballad in the film will be sung respectively by Mother Gothel and the lovers in different styles. Things are looking pretty good so far…
Here’s some preliminary artwork for the film, the visual style of which was apparently inspired by the style of the painting “The Swing:
Artwork from RAPUNZEL
Musical Cyberspace 
I’m thrilled Alan Menken is going to be writing the score!
I wish it wasn’t CGI and still wish that Chenoweth would be in it. Mandy really can’t act and I’m out of wishes for this movie.
Wait, why isn’t Cheno Rapunzel anymore?!
“Schedule conflicts”. I found this out a few weeks ago. Disappointed.
I am morbidly curious about the movie, although I wish that Mandy Moore weren’t providing the voice of Rapunzel. Of course, I wish that I was going to provide the voice of Rapunzel! I’d love to see more official pics from the movie.
I must say that I love that they are making the CGI stylized. With 2D animation, they always play around with the style of the entire production. But a lot of times with 3D, they just go for the typical style in terms of backgrounds and characters: they all have that ‘3D animation’ look. I love the character design for Rapunzel.
I strongly dislike the way Rapunzel looks. She isn’t pretty. That face would look good on Pearl from The Scarlet Letter, though. The voice casting isn’t bad, though. And I guess the design is good, if too abstract for my personal taste. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that, like so many of its fellow “contemporary Disneys”, it will be a box office success financially but not endure as a masterpiece. Sadly, classics are not made anymore in any medium. In my opinion.
Beagle On Stage wrote:
I strongly dislike the way Rapunzel looks. She isn’t pretty.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think she looks very cute and I like the slightly sassy facial expression. Not sure how Rapunzel is spunky, so hopefully the movie sells that point, which I’m sure it will.
If you were locked in a tower the size of your bathroom for eighteen years, you’d either become very independent, spunky and quick-witted, or become a vacant shell-shock of a person. Looks like she’s the former, and Into the Woods has the latter.
Unfortunately, the spunky princess has become as much a cliche as the demure princess. I was hoping for something a little more fresh.