Enchanted star Patrick Dempsey has been discussing the upcoming Disney+ sequel, Disenchanted, revealing that, not only will he sing and dance in the movie, but that it is just the "escapism" that audiences need right now. While teasing the quality of the story, the actor also declared his excitement at working with the cast again.

"I've been talking to director [Adam Shankman]. The story is getting better and better. There's a great cast coming together. And the musical numbers, I get to sing and dance. To work with everybody again after 14 years is just really exciting. We need some escapism right now. We need those romantic comedies and those musicals to get people out of the doldrums that we're in."

Word of an Enchanted sequel began to spread as far back as 2010, and Patrick Dempsey has now addressed why the highly anticipated follow-up was stuck in limbo for so long, even suggesting that all the years that have passed since the release of the first movie has benefitted the approach to Disenchanted.

"Every year they were like, 'We're going to do this. It's going to get done,' but then no one could agree on the script. It's such an important film for them and it's a satire. It's not a typical Disney movie. It's kind of off-brand a little bit. Yet we give honor to all of those Disney movies that have come before and they finally now have figured it out. And we're old enough, so it's like a midlife crisis movie."

Dempsey will reprise the role of Robert Philip, a cynical Manhattan divorce attorney whose life and outlook on love is changed when he comes across Amy Adams' Giselle, a singing and dancing Disney princess-to-be who is forced from her traditional animated world into the live-action world of New York City.

Alongside both Dempsey and Adams, the sequel also sees James Marsden and Idina Menzel return, and while Dempsey has confirmed that he will throw some shapes and stretch his vocals in the movie, it won't be with the Broadway star. "I don't sing with her," Dempsey said of co-star Idina Menzel. "I don't know the exact amount, but there are a lot of cool numbers in this."

In fact, Disenchanted will feature the debut of Dempsey's singing voice, with the actor downplaying his talent in this area and hoping that fans will just "embrace it."

"I will be singing for the first time. I've never ever sung publicly - for a reason. So bear with me. I hope the fans embrace it. But they've set me up for success and the lyrics are really fun. The numbers have really great choreography. And the premise is going to be interesting."

Directed by Adam Shankman and with music by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, plot details for Disenchanted are currently being kept under wraps, though it was recently confirmed that Maya Rudolph, Yvette Nicole Brown and Jayma Mays have joined the project as villains. Disenchanteddoes not yet have a release date but will premiere on Disney+. This comes to us courtesy of Variety.