New Set Images Reveal First Look at Disney’s Live-Action Tangled and Fans Already Have Mixed Feelings
Disney’s decade-long campaign to translate its animated classics into live-action blockbusters has produced some of the studio’s biggest theatrical events, from Beauty and the Beast to The Lion King, alongside costly missteps. That pipeline is now reaching one of Disney Animation’s most beloved modern fairy tales, Tangled, the 2010 musical that reimagined the story of Rapunzel and became one of the highest-grossing films of its release year. First announced in December 2024 before a brief pause and a subsequent restart, the live-action Tangled has spent 2026 quietly assembling its cast and crew in Spain. With production now well underway, the best glimpse of its leading lady is circulating online.
New leaked set photos gave fans their clearest look yet at Teagan Croft as Rapunzel in full costume, walking the production’s Spain location in a deep purple gown that closely echoes the character’s animated silhouette. The images spread quickly across social media, prompting an immediate wave of reactions split between enthusiastic praise for Croft’s casting and pointed criticism over her hair falling well short of the floor-length blonde braid that defines Rapunzel. “Wow, she looks absolutely stunning as Rapunzel! The hair and that purple dress are perfect, so excited for this live-action!” one fan wrote, while another added that Croft “looks like she was born to play Rapunzel.” Other users zeroed in specifically on the length of her hair. “Why isn’t her hair super long like Rapunzel’s?” one asked, while another put it more bluntly. “Long blonde hair is the real first lead in the movie. We want to see that long glowing blonde hair.”
The shorter hair makes sense once we consider the source material. Rapunzel’s hair in Tangled glows, moves on its own, and heals wounds and reverses aging whenever she sings, feats no practical wig could replicate live on a set. Disney is far more likely to save the character’s full-length mane for a visual effects pass added later in post-production. Still, for a fandom that has spent over a decade associating Rapunzel with long hair, seeing Croft without it in these early images can be a shock.
How Will Tangled Fare Against Disney’s Mixed Bag of Live-Action Remakes?
Tangled enters production against a considerably more complicated commercial backdrop than the one Disney enjoyed at the height of its live-action remake boom. Hits like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King each cleared a billion dollars worldwide, cementing the live-action remake strategy as one of the studio’s most reliable revenue sources throughout the 2010s. That momentum has since stalled. For instance, Snow White opened to just $42 million domestically and finished its run with $205 million worldwide against a reported $250 million budget, leaving Disney with a massive loss. Moana is following a similar trajectory this July, debuting to $43 million domestically and $95 million globally against another $250 million budget. At the same time, Lilo & Stitch opened to $146 million domestically and eventually crossed a billion dollars worldwide, proving that live-action remakes can still be profitable when timing and execution align.
It’s clear that nostalgia alone no longer guarantees a return on investment. It doesn’t help that Disney’s remakes lean on photorealistic visuals to replicate animated frames beat for beat, rather than finding clever ways to use the live-action format to retell a beloved story. As a result, we get a movie that looks worse than the animated version and is often forgettable. The early Tangled photos, hair included, suggest Disney is once again leaning on digital effects to recreate an established animated look. However, the movie does feature Diego Luna in a role created specifically for this adaptation. It’s still too soon to tell, but Tangled needs to find a way to stand on its own to justify its existence.
Tangled does not currently have an official release date.
Are you excited to see Teagan Croft’s live-action Rapunzel, or does the absence of her signature long hair have you worried? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
