Disney Princess Review: Tangled

TANGLED

I have to say that when I first heard about this movie I was not that impressed. I mean computer animation always seemed more like PIXARs thing and I admit to preferring hand drawn animation. Like Princess and the Frog, Tangled left a kind of lukewarm feel to itself but did good enough at the box office and with critics that Disney kept going with computer animation. Personally the film did not do a LOT for me but I admit that is a good to great movie and I can see why people like it. It was a nice to see them tinkering with the formula, especially with the music and went for a combo with a lot of the songs; particularly “Now I See the Light” which was mostly internal like “Can You Fell the Love Tonight”. The animation is what really took my interest here, especially with Rapunzel’s hair. It still feels like an animated film, which was the plan for the team of making an animated movie that had the look and feel of a traditional hand-drawn Disney Classic in 3D.

The characters were honestly great, loved Pascal and Maximus (who to me felt like Altivo from the Road to El Dorado). Pascal was the obvious straight man in the film, things happened to him and he responded in kind, he was a nice call back to Flounder and Abu in the role of best friend. It had been a long time since Disney had done a movie where the animals were not talking and this was done really well as opposed to some of the other movies. Flynn is very Aladdin meets Naveen and I admit he looked rather generic but it worked out. He had a lot of character and his cynicism played off well to Rapunzel’s optimism. He had Naveen’s sense of flair and Aladdin’s wit and talent for manipulation. Mother Gothel would appear new at first glance for a villain but her type was last seen in Frollo from Hunchback and Medusa from Rescuers and even Gaston to an extent. The only difference between Gothel and those is that at times I almost thought that she did to some extent grow to love or at least care about Rapunzel to some extent. Unlike most villains, she is really has no large goal in mind, she does not even start off as the villain in the beginning and only becomes one when the flowers magic is in Rapunzel’s hair and it seemed that she had no intention of kidnapping her until it she found that cutting the hair removes it’s magical properties. Her motivation is pretty much she doesn’t want to die and like Gaston, she becomes the villain. These often make good, realistic villains as it doesn’t have you asking “If you can do all that, why are doing this?”

The music of Tangled is not really that great but it does get the job done. The orchestrations were great but the songs did not win me over 100% and it had nothing to do with what some people said about the voice actors not sounding like their characters, it just didn’t work. I did enjoy “I See the Light” and “Mother Knows Best” and I did enjoy the visuals for “I’ve Got a Dream.” I guess what I am saying is that there was no song that had me whistling or humming afterwards but each song is enjoyable and ultimately that’s good enough.

The tone for the movie is very sweet and innocent but I think something everyone can relate to in the idea of waiting for our lives to begin and that hits a lot of people. In a way I think this is a little like how I thought the Little Mermaid should have been though only a little. Rapunzel wants to go see the outside world but she is afraid at times of not just the world but what her “mother” will do. There also is not just one single story, as it breaks itself down into Rapunzel trying to see the lights, Flynn trying to get the crown, Gothel trying to recapture Rapunzel, and Maximus trying to catch Flynn while the King and Queen wait and hope for the return of their daughter. I think it is all done well enough but I think seeing more of the King and Queen would have been nice.

Ultimately I enjoyed this movie and will keep it on my shelf and list of recommended movies. There was some issue with the name change. Apparently the name was changed so they would not alienate the boy demographic and some critics chastised Disney for it. Personally I do not really see the big deal with the change. If you could call Snow White or Cinderella something else that makes sense and doesn’t sound stupid then do it. Tangled makes sense because her hair is part of the story, heck it is the plot, it even helps end the story. Now there is the obvious metaphor in Tangled with the Tower, and the stuff inside representing the dreams we all have and Gothel representing our self-doubts, fears, etc. but I honestly do not think there was anyone who saw this and did not think that on some level. I would also like to give points to this for having Rapunzel and Flynn save each other, something I like to think was a holdover from Princess and the Frog.

Now on to Rapunzel. Good lord this girl is cute! Remember the Goo Goo Eyes Phil warned Hercules about? Well that is Rapunzel right there. Just about everything about her just screams cute from the beginning but that goes without saying. I think the eyes worked better with long blonde hair but I think that is also another meaning (most people cut their hair when they mature, so it would make sense that she would not do the eye thing anymore but that’s just one way to look at it). One thing I have to point out is how strangely mature she seems about most things. She is very smart, and in my opinion clear headed. You could say she is hyper or energetic but considering she spent most of her life cooped up in a tower, basically with nothing to do but grow her hair and various other indoor activities it’s understandable. I would expect her to be more sheltered and reserved, but I guess that is just one alternative way of looking at her character. She is not necessarily helpless, I mean in addition to being one of the few Princesses who can fight with the best of them, she also has rather good people skills, despite only having only her mother to talk to. In a way she reminds me of Ariel, especially when she takes everything in when she steps outside of the tower, but I never got the feeling that she was in over her head or that she just did not know better. While she was never 100% in control, I was able to believe everything she did to get out of the problems presented to her.

Evaluating her is a bit tricky but looking at her I think its safe to say that she could be an amalgamation of different Disney Princesses. Her character has traits from some of her predecessors; Ariel, Cinderella, Belle, Jasmine, and maybe even others. The film really does not have anything for her to learn except who she really is, and I have to give her major points for how she dealt with it. She was assertive and demanded the truth, feeling betrayed by someone she trusted.  I’m going to give her an A, I was going to give her a B, but those EYES and hair (remember I have a thing for girls with long hair) bumped her up a grade.