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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