On Jan. 7, Disney announced that, after its lengthy search, they have officially cast Teagan Croft as Rapunzel and Milo Manheim as Flynn Rider in the upcoming live-action “Tangled” movie.
This is not Croft’s first time bringing a beloved purple-themed character to live action as she played Rachel Roth or Raven in “Titans (2018).” The show put the Titans in a grittier environment, especially compared to the cartoon “Teen Titans Go!” The show premiered on the shortly-lived DC Universe streaming platform before moving to HBO Max.
Manheim, on the other hand, has been a Disney kid from the start. He is most known for starring as Zed Necrodopolis in Disney’s “Zombies” franchise; he also starred in the 2023 Disney film “Prom Pact” as well as the second season of “Doogie Kameāloha, M.D.” Manheim also currently plays Wally Clark on Paramount's “School Spirits.” Season three of “School Spirits” is set to premiere Jan. 28.
But “Tangled” is not complete without Mother Gothel. Despite rumors about actor Kathryn Hahn being in talks to play Mother Gothel, nothing has been confirmed yet.
The film will be directed by Michael Gracey, who is best known for directing 2017’s “The Greatest Showman.” He also directed “Better Man” as well as the music video for Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten.”
Jennifer Kaytin Robinson is in charge of revamping the original “Tangled (2010)” for the live-action production. Robinson's most popular works include “Thor: Love and Thunder.” “Do Revenge” and “Someone Great.”
Although many fans seem excited about the casting, many aren't. Of course, as with all announcements of Disney making live-action versions of their animated classics, people want to know why Disney feels the need to keep producing the same stories repeatedly instead of producing something new.
When Disney first announced production for a live-action Cinderella film in 2013, the movie was trying to push the narrative of “we wanted to make her stronger, less passive.” This would become a pattern with their various live-action princess movies. “Tangled” never had that problem, so many fans are left wondering what new aspect of the story there is to tell.
There is also a group of fans who are upset about Croft’s eyes being blue instead of green because they feel there isn’t much green-eyed princess representation. This is especially interesting after a major controversy started online after a fan said actress Avantika would make a good Rapunzel, which went viral in 2024.
Despite the casting not being real, this event seemed to rehash a lot of the conversations people had about Halle Bailey and her role in “The Little Mermaid (2023).” Some people were really against the idea of a Black woman playing a character who was originally white. While others were really excited about the representation, some people didn’t care at all.
The biggest difference is Avantika was never even actually cast in the role of Rapunzel. She was just a fancast, yet extremely negative backlash was thrown her way.
Fancasting seems to be another reason people dislike Croft and Manheim’s casting. Fans had certain actors in mind to play the roles for so long that they felt let down when the casting was announced.
Some of the most common names being thrown around by fans when talking about who they wanted to see play Rapunzel instead are Florence Pugh, Ruby Rose Turner, Makenna Grace and Manheim’s “Zombies” costar Meg Donnelly.
Meanwhile, besides Manheim, who was a pretty popular fancast for Flynn Rider, some of the other often mentioned names include Avan Jogia, Charlie Gillespie and some fans even wanted Ruby Cruz to play the role.
Other fans are just excited that Croft and Manheim are relatively fresh faces. Though there is no official release date yet, many fans are already getting excited to watch Rapunzel’s life begin again.
