'Disenchanted' Is Bringing Back James Marsden And Idina Menzel In Disney+ Sequel
How do you know that the Enchanted sequel is moving along smoothly? With the confirmation that 90% of the main cast are back in Disenchanted. James Marsden and Idina Menzel, who played the prince of Andalasia and his new bride from New York City, respectively, are both confirmed to be reprising their roles in Disenchanted, joining Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey.
In a live stream with JLGB Virtual (via Collider), composer Alan Menken, who is in the process of writing new music for the Disney+ sequel, has stated that both James Marsden and Idina Menzel would be returning for Disenchanted.
"Amy Adams is in it. Patrick is in it. Idina Menzel is in it. James Marsden — they're in it," Menken said during the live stream after playing a part of the Oscar-nominated Enchanted song "That's How You Know." He also added that the film is "really good," and that "it's filming" now.
Amy Adams has long been confirmed to return as Giselle, the fairy tale princess who finds herself lost in New York, and recently Patrick Dempsey has announced he'll be back as her love interest in the sequel. But apart from that, it was unclear if the rest of the cast of Enchanted would be appearing in the sequel. Susan Sarandon and Timothy Spall both played the primary antagonists of Enchanted, but the premise of the sequel might mean that it will take place primarily in the real world. However, Marsden and Menzel's inclusion means that the fairy tale world of Andalasia will factor in, in some way, as the two characters paired off and returned to the animated world together after Giselle chose to stay in New York. Perhaps Menzel's character will be given more to do in the sequel, as it seems unlikely a career-driven woman like her would've been happy being a fairy tale princess.
There aren't many more new details on Disenchanted, which will feature original songs from Disney Legend Alan Menken, who confirmed in March of last year that he was working on new songs. It was one of the few updates we had heard in a few years of the Enchanted sequel, which director Adam Shankman had last teased in 2018, revealing that a draft of the script was done. "We are handing in a script in a couple weeks that I'm super happy with," Shankman said in 2018. "Then gotta get the music written."
Disenchanted has been in development since 2010. The sequel will pick up with Adam' former animated Disney princess who decided to stay in live-action New York at the end of Enchanted. The sequel is set 10 years after 2007's Enchanted, with Giselle potentially rethinking her love of the real world.Disenchanted will be joining the plethora of other live-action Disney films that will be heading straight to Disney+.