Brandy reprising her role of Cinderella in new Descendants movie

Singer-songwriter Brandy is officially reprising the role of Cinderella — but this time, she is also joining Disney’s Descendants universe. That means: Cinderella (1997), the Disney TV movie version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, is officially canon in Descendants. And we couldn’t be happier about it.

This 1997 film is an enchanting, funny, and touching version of this beloved fairytale. Starring Whitney Houston, Bernadette Petras, Jason Alexander and many others CinderellaIn 1997, magic is breathed into a tale that’s been told a million times. This movie also featured Cinderella as a Black character and Prince Charming from the Philippines. This movie is a classic and a reunion special with cast members was aired by ABC earlier in the year. The fact that Brandy’s version of the Disney princess is being included into the Descendants movies basically codifies her as the official Cinderella in that world’s canon.

Uninitiated: The Disney Channel Original Movies is the most popular Disney Channel Original Movies since 1997. High School MusicalDescendants follows the descendants of Disney’s most beloved villains and heroes. All the villains have been banished for being evil, but Ben, Belle and the Beast’s son, extends an invitation to some of their children to attend a prestigious academy.

While the first three films primarily followed Mal (Dove Cameron), Mal’s daughter, Maleficent introduced several other children, including Captain Hook, Cruella de Vil and Mulan. Descendants is a franchise that has produced three films, as well as a couple of TV series, books, and short films.

Proposedly, the new film is called PocketwatchThe story will shift away from Mal, Ben. Red (Kylie Cantrall), rebellious child of Queen of Hearts and Chloe, plucky and well-off daughter of Prince Charming and Cinderella will be the focus of this story. Rita Ora will portray the Queen Of Hearts, in addition to Brandy as Cinderella.

Now, technically, one of Cinderella’s children already appeared in the Descendants world: Chad, as played by Jedidiah Goodacre. He’s one of the antagonists of the first movie, and as a white blonde man, looks more in line with the animated version of Cinderella than the 1997 movie. But then again, the 1997 movie was delightfully race blind, with Whoopi Goldberg and Victor Garber playing the parents of Paolo Montalbán, so bring on a new generation of implausible mixed-race families.

If you want to get technical about it, Cinderella and Charming did already have a blink-and-you’ll miss it appearances in the earlier movies. They didn’t play big roles so it is not a big deal to recast them.

Although the movie’s release date has yet to be revealed, it will be Disney Plus Exclusive. Word’s out on whether or not Montalbán will join the cast as Prince Charming. However, Whitney Houston sang in the song. Cinderella (1997), “Keep building up impossible hopes!”

Descendants movie and Cinderella (1997) can be streamed on Disney Plus