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The fairy tale of Rapunzel doesn't seem like enough for a movie. The long haired princess is confined to a tower where she lets princes climb her hair to see her. That's why Disney has revamped Rapunzel and turned her into an action hero in their version, with the voices of Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi.
"Telling a fairy tale is not an easy thing to do," Levi said. "In the '50s and '60s, when animation was still a new thing, people would just be amazed by the animation, so you could tell it in a more classic, slower way. But, we live in the YouTube generation, so if you don't keep it interesting and moving, than you're going to lose the audience anyway. And, Pixar knows how to do that. I have every confidence that it will be an amazing film, and I'm just super-excited to be a part of it."
No longer the princess in waiting, Rapunzel doesn't need a prince. "My character is a bandit, named Flynn Ryder," Levi continued. "It's funny because when I auditioned for the part, he was supposed to be British and I auditioned with a British accent. And, I got the job and was like, 'Sweet! I get to do something outside of the box.' And then, they decided, 'No, we're not going to make him British. We're just going to do your voice. Just do what you do.' And, I was like, 'But, I don't wanna do that.'"
With Disney animation under the command of John Lasseter, Levi is willing to trust the masters. "It's funny, I've seen some blogs and things with people freaking out because they're like, 'They're going to make her action Barbie Rapunzel,' and that's really not the case. As far as I'm concerned, John Lasseter is one of the most genius guys on the planet. He has done no wrong at Pixar, and it's because he really knows how to make amazing movies. There has not been one Pixar movie that hasn't done well. They've all been hits, it's just the degree of hit. There's no like, 'Oh, it did okay.' They're all amazing movies, every single one of them, because adults and kids watch them and there's no gaps. It's not like the parents are tuned in and then they've gotta tune out and then tune back in. I'll watch a Pixar movie, over and over and over again. I'll be with friends of mine, who have kids, that want to watch Finding Nemo, and I'm like, 'Yeah, okay, let's watch Nemo again,' for the seven billionth time, because they're amazing movies. They have heart, relationships, story and characters, and they're not gimmick-driven. They're all really amazing films. And, Rapunzel will be no different."
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