Tangled Review

 There are no spoilers in this review.

PLOT: The long-haired Princess Rapunzel has spent her entire life in a tower, but when she meets a thief a bandit who was just passing by, she ventures into the outside world for the first time.


THE GOOD: Story. Disney did well with making Tangled their 50th animated feature as it is a well-known fairytale told in the classic Disney way. We all know about the Brothers Grimm story of "Repunzel", who was placed in a tower by an enchantress who would enter and exit the tower via Repunzel's long hair. Like all Disney animated films based on fairytales, it takes the basic premise of this plot and turns it into something slightly different, and great. In this version, Rapuzel's hair has a magical quality, she is kidnapped as a baby and placed in the tower rather than handed over, and a thief is the one who discovers her instead of a prince. And it works. It totally works. I liked what they did here.

Animation. Tangled is Disney's first CGI fairytale film. Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons had too much of a cheap and cartoony look for me, but Disney Animation has certainly improved in its skills. They're no Pixar, but they are good. I thought Bolt's animation looked great and Tangled is certainly their best yet. Disney was smart and brought on animation supervisor and directing animator Glen Keane to figure out the movie's visual style. He has worked with Disney ever since The Rescuers was released in 1977 and was the supervising animator through many of Walt Disney's Renaissance era films, like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin. Keane intended that the film look and feel like a traditional hand-drawn film, but in 3D. I really enjoyed the floating lanterns part.

Music. Original music was composed for the movie by Alan Menken with lyrics written by Glenn Slater. For those who remember my Top Ten Disney Songs from Animated Features and Shorts, Menken's songs made the list a couple of times. He is, without a doubt in my mind, the best composer to have ever worked on Disney's films. Menken said he attempted to blend medieval music with 1960s folk rock to create the new songs in Tangled. A few of them were quite memorable and I'm sure at least one will get an Oscar nomination.

Voice acting. The voice acting in the film is great. Good idea casting Mandy Moore as Repunzel who can both speak and sing the parts of her role. Zachary Levi of Chuck fame stood out quite a bit and was an excellent choice to play Flynn Ryder, the thief who happens upon Repunzel (And did you catch the inspiration for the name? Flynn comes from Errol Flynn, who played the good-natured thief in the original 1938 production of The Adventures of Robin Hood.). I was also really impressed with Donna Murphy as Mother Gothel. She plays villain pretty good.

THE BAD: Title. I fall in the boat that is upset about the title change. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, Mulan, and Pocahontas all have "girly" titles, but had successful box office runnings. Disney's previous animated feature The Princess and the Frog in 2009, while being highly critically acclaimed and taking in nearly $270 million worldwide, was not as successful as Disney had hoped. Disney expressed the belief that the film's emphasis on princesses may have deterred young boys from seeing the film. I think that is total crap. Look at how similar the title "Beauty and the Beast" is with "The Princess and the Frog". Anyway, Disney decided to change the name from Repunzel to Tangled to market the film to both girls and boys. It's a desperate move and one that I don't think mattered in the end. As Justin Chang of Variety said, it would be like changing the title of The Little Mermaid to Beached.


THE END: Being the huge Disney fan that I am, I think Tangled is a wonderful addition to the classic Disney fairytale movies and will be enjoyed for years to come. Julie went with me and my parents, and she was glued to the screen the whole time. We skipped the 3D showing because I didn't think it was necessary, and from what I hear, it isn't. However, I'm sure it is still a very enjoyable experience. Tangled is one of my favorite animated films of the year and certainly up there with a couple of my other favorites. Would it make my top ten of the year? You'll just have to wait and find out.


DISCUSS: What did you think of Tangled? What is your favorite Disney fairytale movie? What is your favorite Disney movie, period? What did you dislike about the movie? What is your opinion on the title change?