"Tangled 2" Is Not Moving Forward

Disney's plans for a follow-up to the 2010 beloved animated fairy tale "Tangled" were abandoned after the studio struggled to develop a compelling enough story.

Speaking to The Direct, Nathan Greno, director of the 2010 movie, who confirmed that while discussions about a sequel took place, a continuous story made little sense.

Greno shared the news while promoting his upcoming Netflix animated movie, "Swapped," starring Michael B. Jordan, which debuts on Friday, May 1.

When asked whether any ideas had ever been developed at Disney for a Tangled sequel, Nathan Greno said there had previously been discussions.

The 2010 movie was a massive box office success, earning $591.7 million globally, yet a follow-up was never officially greenlit at Disney Animation.

Greno explained that continuing Rapunzel's story is a uniquely difficult creative challenge, drawing comparisons to other beloved Disney classics: "Once Pinocchio becomes a real boy, what else is there to say?".

"No... Again, I'm not against sequels. There was, I will say, after we finished 'Tangled'... It's a tricky place because I'll put it this way: once Pinocchio becomes a real boy, what else is there to say? Once the Beast becomes a human, what else is there to say?," he added.

Greno, however, revealed that the creative team did make a genuine attempt to crack the story."We actually did an off-site at Disney, and we got the original team together, and we really all talked about it for hours, and we kind of walked away saying, 'We couldn't find a story worth telling.'"

Rather than leaving fans without a resolution, the team channeled their efforts into something of a smaller scope.

Greno noted that the 2012 six-minute short "Tangled Ever After," which follows Rapunzel and Eugene's wedding day, "felt natural".

"And so, while I love those characters, and... There was a short that we did the wedding [in], because people come and ask, like, 'Where's the wedding?' So we did do the wedding because that felt natural. But in general, yeah, there just wasn't a story that I could find."

Despite no proper sequel, there's plenty of "Tangled" offerings on Disney+, including the original movie, a 2022 sing-along version, the wedding short "Tangled Ever After," the 2D TV movie "Tangled Before Ever After," the animated series Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, and its companion shorts collection "Tangled: The Series - Short Cuts".

Moreover, a live-action remake of "Tangled" is in development.

The movie stars Teagan Croft as the golden-haired Rapunzel, Milo Manheim as Flynn Rider, and Kathryn Hahn as Mother Gothel.

The Greatest Showman director, Michael Gracey, has been tapped to direct the feature adaptation. While no release date has been set, filming is expected to start this summer.