Mandy Moore to voice Rapunzel in animated musical

Source: heatvisionblog.com

Talk about letting your hair down.

After combing the acting landscape, Walt Disney Pictures has chosen Mandy Moore to voice the lead role in its Digital 3D-animated musical action-adventure "Rapunzel," inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairy tale.

Zachary Levi, star of NBC's "Chuck," has been cast as the voice of the dashing bandit who finds himself on the road with the rebellious, teenage hair apparent.

Byron Howard and Nathan Greno will direct, and Roy Conli is producing. Regular Disney collaborator and multiple Oscar winner Alan Menken ("Beauty and the Beast," "Aladdin") will compose the film's music.

The film is scheduled for a holiday 2010 release.

Disney has long been trying to make a film about the character and years ago developed a project titled "Rapunzel Unbraided" with a number of writers. That project eventually faded, but when Disney/Pixar chief creative officer John Lasseter came aboard in 2006, he started from scratch.

Disney's new "Rapunzel" picks up with the princess, famous for her 70 feet of golden hair, after she's been stolen from her parents' castle as an infant and imprisoned. Now a teenager, Rapunzel escapes and goes on the run with a bandit as her captor pursues them.

Rapunzel eventually could become a contributor to the Disney Princess merchandising line launched in 2000. (The character also made a brief appearance in DreamWorks Animation's "Shrek the Third" in 2007.)

For 2010, Disney also has scheduled a 3D rendering of "Beauty and the Beast," Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" and "Toy Story 3."

Moore, repped by UTA and Storefront Entertainment, is shooting the romantic comedy "Swinging With the Finkels" in the U.K. The singer-actress released the album "Amanda Leigh" this year and starred in the features "Saved!" and "License to Wed."

Levi, repped by WME and the Coronel Group, next appears in "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," which opens Dec. 25.

Howard co-directed the Disney Animation film "Bolt," which grossed $306 million worldwide last year. Greno served as head of story on the pic.