Tangled

Starting with “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, Walt Disney Studios Animation has changed the world. Their 50th animated feature film is a fairy tale that seems long overdue. Disney finally brings the story of Rapunzel to the big screen through “Tangled”. It stays quite true to the original Brothers Grimm tale while at the same time altering it enough to be fresh for a modern audience. Walt Disney did this in his time and so did the Disney artists during the "Renaissance", some of whom worked on this film. The film is not a satire but at the same time, it is very funny. Despite the minor story critisisms I have, what is more important about the movie is the heart and sweet spirit that you feel while watching it. You are genuinely entertained and captivated by the visual design of the movie. Even as time passes, the film still has an appealing look. You may be surprised to learn that because of its six year long production timeline, wherein many changes to the film took place, "Tangled" is not only the most expensive animated film ever made but it also has the fifth largest budget in Hollywood history. Thankfully, it made the money back. If the Disney Renaissance ended in 1999, this film helped begin the Disney "Resurgence". Because of “Enchanted”, the world remembered how wonderful the Disney animated genre is. “The Princess and the Frog” officially kicked off this new era in Disney animation, if you can call it new. “Tangled” is set apart from those two movies due to the fact that it is computer animated but this film also stands apart from other CGI movies. In addition, this movie itself paved the way for another animated film that took the world by storm

If you compare this film’s design to other CGI fairy tale films preceding it like the Shrek movies, there is an obvious difference. The filmmakers working on this film wanted to take the look & feel from a traditionally 2D animated film and replicate it in the CG world. They were successful in that traditional Disney style animation will continue on in future films by means of the computer. If "Tangled" wasn't made, we still would have got "Frozen" but it would have had a much different appearance. When I first saw images of the movie, I could see the reference to 2D animation. They not only created a familiar storybook look but they particularly imitated Rococo paintings in order to be distinct. I liked the acting of the characters in the movie as they radiate love, sadness and drama very realistically. I credit this to executive producer and animation supervisor Glen Keane, who is one of the “Nine New Men” at Disney. I am a fan of his work as the supervising animator of Ariel, the Beast, Aladdin, Tarzan and Long John Silver. I am also a big fan of executive producer John Lasseter of course and I believe that the combined passion & work from those two filmmakers gave the film the heart & humor that it needed. I can also see Lasseter's philosophy in making the CG world believable as opposed to completely real. Another huge factor in the success of this film is the 8 time Oscar-winning musician Alan Menken (who also has a total 19 Academy Award nominations by the way). As one of the men who made the Disney Renaissance what it is, it is only fitting that he be a part of helping the Resurgence to get started. His work in “Enchanted” was a huge factor of that film’s success. In both that film and in “Tangled”, his music brings to our remembrance the feelings from such classic films as “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin”. The songs in this movie are well done and the feelings that they create tap into childhood memories and real life emotions of the audience. “When Will My Life Begin” and “I See the Light” are good examples of this. I wished that Alan Menken would have won another Oscar for "I See the Light" but who better to lose to than Randy Newman. During the songs, the relatable feelings that we feel are made even more potent by the images we see. The lanterns during “I See the Light” are more wondrous than what Rapunzel or even we the audience could have imagined. In 3D on the big screen, the lantern sequence was incredible and it still is on Blu-ray 3D. With this being the 50th Disney animated feature, there are a few hidden references to its predecessors. It seems like every animated Disney character with a hook for a hand can play the piano and very well I might add. The thug's hook is even on his left arm just like Captain Hook. Also if you are looking, Pinocchio and Pumbaa have cameos in the Snuggly Duckling. Despite all the work that went into the appearance of the film as well as other elements, those in charge did not sacrifice the story.

I wish to point out the minor mistakes I have with the story first so as to end on a good note. I felt that the relationship between Rapunzel and Mother Gothel was a little too genuine and too strong when I first saw the film. At times it felt like an actual mother/daughter relationship, especially with the interchange “I love you more” and “I love you most”. I can think of two better things that the filmmakers could have done with this relationship: they could have created a little more emotional distance between them or had their arguement during the climax be just a tad more dramatic. For example, the relationship between Quasimodo and Frollo at the start of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” was like a guardian/adopted son relationship. This allowed the deterioration of their relationship to happen realistically. I understand that Mother Gothel's obsession with youth makes Rapunzel very valuable to her but I still desired a tad more emotional distance between the two characters. When Rapunzel realizes that she is the lost princess, she is angry and confrontational. While that is a good representation of her character, I feel that it doesn’t acknowledge the fact that she had a loving relationship with Gothel. I would have had Rapunzel’s anger towards Gothel be more heartbreaking in nature. She thought Gothel was her mother and the truth would probably be heart wrenching after 18 years. Upon multiple viewings, I know I am being way too critical but I still wish to mention those ideas of mine because I care. The ending of the film had a little problem also. I am not upset that Rapunzel’s tear brought Eugene back to life because that was part of the original Brothers Grimm tale. The problem is that there was no foreshadowing for this event. There is a deleted scene of "Tangled" that did hint that Rapunzel's power was not limited to just her hair. Something that good storytellers do, like those at Pixar, is establish a few important story elements very silently so as to create a better payoff at the end. We have seen many “death” scenes in climaxes before but sometimes, something mentioned earlier in the movie brings a character back to life. The best example of this is true love’s kiss. Pinocchio is brought back to life because he proved himself “brave, true and unselfish”. The Beast doesn’t die because he earned Belle’s love before the last petal fell. WALL-E gets his memory back because EVE holds his hand. My point is that during “Tangled”, at least once, it should have been insinuated that the power that Rapunzel possesses was also inside her. I was very happy with the way that our characters live happily ever after; I just felt like the ending had a microscopic plot hole. Now that I have given my negative criticism, I will give the film the praise it more than deserves. It seems the more times I watch this film and the more time passes from its original release, those criticisms I had become less and less important.

As mentioned, the filmmakers used the Brothers Grimm version and created justifications for portions of the tale. Upon looking at the original tale, one might ask why the old woman hides Rapunzel in a tower. “Tangled” gives Rapunzel's hair magical powers and Gothel becomes a woman obsessed with eternal youth. Her act of hiding Rapunzel makes a lot more sense as a result. The film also creates a reason for why Rapunzel has long hair in the first place. The opening narration was perfect in establishing the mood of the whole film and the first two songs are wonderful in setting up characters & relationships. The stage has been well set. Rapunzel, in both the Disney and Grimm versions, starts out as a damsel in distress. Once the handsome leading man arrives however, Disney makes a good alteration with Rapunzel's character. Even though Rapunzel has feelings for Gothel, Eugene's arrival changes things. Rapunzel realizes that her "mother" isn't always right and she now has proof of this but Gothel's furious loss of temper indicates loud & clear that Gothel will not budge on her stance. Even revealing the man in the closet would not change Gothel's mind. Rapunzel's desire to see the lanterns and her newly found confidence start to separate her emotionally from her guardian. Rapunzel has to make her dream come true on her own. Thus in the Disney version, Rapunzel is quite proactive as she makes a deal with Eugene behind Gothel's back. Despite her inner conflict, she is determined to see her plan through. Even Eugene's deception of taking her to the Snuggly Duckling is not enough to stop her. She is able to win the friendship of the thugs because of her heart's desire. I also like the character of Eugene. To me, he feels like a combination between Tulio and Miguel, the lead characters on DreamWorks' "The Road to El Dorado" and that appeals to me a lot. His appearance seems to based on that of both the directors of "Tangled" and the voice talent for Eugene: Zachary Levi. Instead of being a prince, Eugene is a dreamer lost in the wrong crowd. He is a thief only because he wants to achieve childhood aspirations. At first we don’t know this and so the revelation of it half way through the film makes Eugene quite likeable and relatable. We feel sympathy for him. That kind of drama, when delivered genuinely, does wonders for the audience. The change he undergoes in the film is quite romantic and therefore he becomes even more appealing. The story device of “hopes and dreams” is always emotionally enthralling for an audience because we all have wishes and aspirations. Rapunzel and Eugene come to represent so many of us because of our desires for something better. The film is also full of some great lines that, thanks to the cast, are very humorous. The movie relates very well to Disney’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” in that both stories have the protagonist hid up high above the world by a parental antagonist who lies about the true nature of the outside world. I like the silent supporting animal characters in “Tangled”: Maximus and Pascal. They bring some great comedy to the story. Maximus also reminds me of another character from "El Dorado": Altivo. The “I’ve Got A Dream” sequence is full of irony, contrast and cheesiness but it is handled in such a way that it is very entertaining. It reminds me of “The Princess Bride”, "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" or "Monty Python". I think the scene works mostly because of Menken’s genius in songwriting. There is an example from this film where the story team reprised a plot point in the climax to great effect. When Rapunzel meets Eugene, she tells him that she always keeps her promises. She does this in a very serious manner but despite that, the audience didn't think that it would end up creating drama at the end of the movie when Rapunzel makes a promise with Gothel. At that moment, we can not see much hope of resolution and so when we get it, an emotional ending is created. It would have been great by the way if Eugene's first sentence after coming back to life was, "You healed my smolder."

The reason why I like "Tangled" more than "Frozen" is because it has a better story and I can relate to it more. The film was emotional the first time I saw it but "I See the Light" can still bring tears to my eyes because of Menken's song, because of what we see and because of what we feel. “Tangled” gave even more legitimacy to the Disney Resurgence. I see this movie, "Frozen", "The Princess and the Frog" and "Enchanted" as the crown jewels of this new era so far just as "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin" and "The Lion King" are the crown jewels of the Disney Renaissance. "Tangled" is one of my favorite animated films because the Disney Studio, with the help of Lasseter, has begun to resurrect the kinds of films that were popular in the days of Walt Disney and in the 1990’s. In fact, this movie is my #1 favorite computer animated film not produced by Pixar. It, along with “Frozen”, lead to many more wonderful cartoon films that have a sweet feeling to them. "Tangled" has a unique design and the audience can easily relate to what they see. The film is true to the Brothers Grimm tale while adding a slight modern twist. Some films you want to see again and again. “Tangled” may not be one of those for me. Just like "Up", I feel I want to avoid seeing it too many times so as to keep its sweet and touching spirit just as potent.

5 Stars