Rita Ora and Brandy (Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella) have joined China Anne McClain, Kylie Cantrall, and Dara Reneé in The Pocketwatch, a new entry in Disney+’s Descendants franchise. Ora will be playing Alice in Wonderland‘s Queen of Hearts and Brandy’s on board to reprise her role as Cinderella in the new musical directed by Jennifer Phang (The Flight Attendant).
The cast also includes Malia Baker (The Babysitter’s Club), Ruby Rose Turner (Coop and Cami Ask the World), Morgan Dudley (Jagged Little Pill on Broadway), and Joshua Colley (Senior Year). Melanie Paxson will return as Fairy Godmother, a character she played in the previous Descendants films.
Disney+ released the following description of The Pocketwatch (the tentative title) as well as detailed character descriptions:
“The Descendants movies unfurled an imaginative mythology of two new lands, idyllic Auradon and the ragtag Isle of the Lost, home to the teenage progeny of Disney’s most iconic characters and notably, its most notorious villains. The bold new story of The Pocketwatch returns to these lands and also takes audiences through the rabbit hole to the hostile unincorporated territory of Wonderland, a magical, mysterious place made famous in Alice in Wonderland.
The expansive new story finds polar opposites Red and Chloe crossing paths at a momentous celebration in Auradon when unexpected chaos breaks out. In order to prevent an impending coup, they must join forces to travel back in time, via a magical pocket watch created by the Mad Hatter’s son, to stop an event that would lead to grave consequences.
- Brandy as “Cinderella,” the classic Disney character, who is elegant, warm, good-hearted and diplomatic.
- Rita Ora as the withholding, tyrannical “Queen of Hearts,” who rules over the kingdom of Wonderland with an iron fist.
- Kylie Cantrall as “Red,” the rebellious 16 year-old daughter of the Queen of Hearts. Red knows she’ll never get the Queen’s approval, so she finds ways to provoke her mother and stir up trouble.
- Malia Baker as “Chloe,” the cheerful 16 year-old daughter of Cinderella and Prince Charming, who is book smart and athletic, but her privilege makes her somewhat naive about the real world.
- China Anne McClain returns as “Uma,” daughter of the infamous sea-witch Ursula, a role she previously played in Descendants 2 and Descendants 3. Strong and fierce, Uma always fights for what she thinks is right.
- Dara Reneé as “Ulyana,” the younger sister of Ursula. She’s a teen sea-witch and mean-girl bully with eight wicked tentacles and a crew of lackeys.
- Ruby Rose Turner as “Bridget/Young Queen of Hearts,” who is sweet-natured, bubbly, generous, and the complete opposite of her grown-up self.
- Morgan Dudley as “Ella/Young Cinderella,” who is blunt, pragmatic and has a bit of a chip on her shoulder about being forced to work for her wicked stepmother.
- Joshua Colley as “Hook,” one of Ulyana’s sycophants, a rich kid with a hoop earring and a shiny hook where his left hand should be. His arrogance is only surpassed by his vanity.
- Melanie Paxson returns as “Fairy Godmother,” the wise and kind headmistress of Auradon Prep, who appeared in all three Descendants movies.
