Hear ye, hear ye: Our Cinderella is still Black! 90s babies and Brandy fans alike fangirled down the timeline after Disney posted a snippet teasing the return of Brandy Norwood as Cinderella in the newest movie in the Disney Descendants franchise.
Rocking a light, baby-blue gown and a dazzling silver crown atop a waist-length, blue fishtail braid, Brandy is seen on set in the behind-the-scenes footage in a compilation of shots alongside her OG Prince Charming—now King Charming—Paolo Montalban.
“Time does not pass when I’m with Brandy,” Montalban said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
Echo that sentiment, as it almost seems just like yesterday when Norwood became our first Black princess in the 1997 adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. She starred alongside other iconic, black stars like Whitney Houston and Whoopi Goldberg and a diverse cast that contributed to the overall criticism and iconic status of the film, even today.
Descendants: The Rise of Red was originally called The Pocketwatch in its first announcement. It is the fourth in the Descendants series and will follow the daughters of Cinderella and the Queen of Hearts as they go back in time to fix the past and change the present, according to Disney.
The Descendants franchise follows the children of popular Disney royalty, heroes, and villains. Although the first movie’s premiere became the platform’s most-watched children’s TV movie since High School Musical, it’s safe to say an entirely new fanbase is being tapped with the inclusion of Brandy’s Black Cinderella and our Filipino Prince Charming, Paolo.
“I feel so blessed to be able to share with this new generation this wonderful piece of art,” Norwood said in an interview with Variety. “I mean the music is just going to change everybody’s life.”
I’ll speak for everybody when I say that we are beyond excited to see Brandy slip on the glass slippers again and give us a few runs as the famous Disney princess. Catch the singer-actress in Descendants: The Rise of Red, premiering on Disney+ this year.