TANGLED is the 50th Walt Disney Pictures feature-length animated movie. It all started with the fantastic SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS all of the way back in 1937, and now nearly 75 years on, the studio are still making movies… still on top… still industry leading. Through the years we have witnessed the tales of ROBIN HOOD, CINDERELLA, ALADDIN, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and many more brought to the screen, as well as some original tales including THE LITTLE MERMAID and THE LION KING to screens. Oscars have been won, Princesses have been crowned, frogs have been turned into Princes, little fluffy animals have met their maker and billions of dollars at the box-office have been made.
In 2011, we have TANGLED, which is basically a film based on the Brothers Grimm tale RAPUNZEL, albeit with a modern-ish twist.
It’s classic Disney stuff. A princess is born with mystical, magical powers gained by a special flower to a loving mother and father (indeed King and Queen of a fairy tale land), but moments after birth, baby Rapunzel is taken from her parents by old Mother Gothel, an aging witch-like woman who knows that her everlasting youth resides in the blonde locks of the young infant. For the next 17 plus years, Rapunzel is locked in a tower, a hostage in a home she shares with Mother Gothel, who has passed herself off as Rapunzel’s mother since the day she kidnapped her from her adoring parents. On every birthday, Rapunzel gazes out of her window at the top of the tower, looking across to the kingdom far away, dreaming of leaving her home to see the ‘magic lanterns,’ which incidentally are released in memory of the lost princess, all unknown to her. Across town, budding thief and pretty boy Flynn Rider is on the run from palace guards after stealing a priceless artifact from the royal family. Upon making his exit and escaping during the chase, Flynn discovers Rapunzel’s tower and seeks refuge not knowing that a fiery little princess is waiting for him inside. After belting young Flynn on the head with a frying pan, and stealing his erm, stolen crown… Rapunzel ultimates the young thief saying that she will give him back his treasure if he promises to help her escape the capture of Mother Gothel, and see the magical lanterns up close on her 18th birthday.
TANGLED is brought to the screen in glorious Disney Digital 3D, and although I saw the film in a relatively small screening room in the depths of London’s Soho, it is absolutely stunning. I saw AVATAR at theaters back at the tail end of 2009, and countless films in between, but TANGLED for me was my most fulfilling and spectacular 3D theatrical experience yet. The use of the 3D, if you pardon the expression, is not so much thrown in your face. The 3D is almost secondary to the plot, framing, characters and that glorious animation. It adds to the spectacle. It’s wonderful. The animation itself is also something noteworthy to mention. It’s not computer animation — well it is, but the animators have managed to capture classic Disney traditional animation, and then blend it with CG to give you this fantastic contemporary three-dimensional classic stuff. It’s hard to describe, but as I said gloriously enhances the 3D experience.
The characters are wonderfully thought out, especially the very unique Maximus – the supercop, the performances ay all of the actors, which includes Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Ron Perlman, Donna Murphy, Brad Garrett, MC Gainey and even Jaws himself Richard Kiel. The score by Alan Menken is superb (as always), the story is just wonderfully directed by helmers Nathan Greno and Byron Howard (BOLT), supported the incredible genius of Disney animation legend and veteran of nearly 40 years with the studio, Glen Keane. I loved this movie! Loved it, loved it, loved it – right to the very end. I literally wanted to bolt up in my chair and applaud it out loud. My only, only niggle, and believe me, this is a very minor niggle to an otherwise perfect movie, is that there isn’t one particular song from the film that stood out. There is no Be Our Guest, or the actual title song from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. There is no Part of Your World (THE LITTLE MERMAID), or A Whole New World (ALADDIN) that I can say that I was whistling all the way home – but hey, I do not want to end this review on a negative note.
TANGLED is an outstanding piece of modern filmmaking, and that’s in general terms, and not just animation. It’s up there with TOY STORY 3 in terms of quality, but right back to the glory years of the early nineties in terms of Disney magic too.
I loved it right up until the very last frame. Paul Heath, male, 33 years old.
Grade: A
