Disney’s Tangled – Film Review
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Tangled, Disney’s adaptation of the ancient Brothers Grimm fairy tale of Rapunzel has met with many shining reviews, but is it as good as they say?
Tangled deserves to be given an open mind. The story has all the well known fairy tale elements that audiences familiar with the Shrek series will recognize: lost princess with a curse on her, protected and taken advantage of by an evil witch until her ‘prince charming’ arrives to save the day.
But Tangled is so much more than this. It is a production of extreme beauty, with moments of magic reminiscent of early Disney and more recently Pixar themselves.
Voiced by Mandy Moore, Rapunzel is a brought to life with an aplomb and enthusiasm that is as endearing as it is deliberately naïve. Saved at birth by the power of a magic flower, this power is reincarnated in Rapunzel’s hair, leading the Evil witch, Mother Gothel, voiced by Donna Murphy, to steal her away from her family to use this enchantment for her own vanity.
Moore’s background as a singer means she can belt out the musical numbers, but these are by far the least important aspects of the film. Rapunzel’s relationship with Gothel is portrayed magnificently, with all the pettiness and stubbornness every teenager and parent will recognise. With Donna Murphy’s signature song being titled ‘Mother Knows Best’ I think this will be top of my list for my mother’s next birthday or Christmas present. Once Rapunzel escapes, she eventually finds that the world is her oyster and even the least reputable ruffians she meets fall head over heels for their lost princess. In this manner Tangled rejuvenates the age-old moral of nothing is impossible if you follow your dreams.
The two real stars of Tangled are Flynn Rider, voiced by Zachary Levi, and Maximus, the captain of the guards’ warhorse. Flynn is your stereotypical cad and bounder, reminding those old enough of Aladdin, who steals the crown and makes his escape endlessly pursued by Maximus. The emotional spectrum that the animators have managed to capture for Maximus is outstanding. The two have a relationship much like Shrek and Donkey, but without the animals needing to talk.
The animation work is beautifully done. Repunzel’s hair steals the show as it appears to go on forever. The long, golden locks race behind and around her, and at times she uses them much like a weapon. The hair is animated beautifully, and I bet if you paused the feature and were patient enough you could count the strands.
Intended to keep all the beauty of 2D animation using 3D techniques the production team have produced a masterpiece of animation. The characters move elegantly and the whole piece captures the haunting beauty of many a fairy tale landscape. When Rapunzel and her erstwhile ‘prince charming’, Flynn Rider arrive back in her home town the sheer beauty of the townscape makes the viewer draw breath. The iconic moment, of course, is the scene on the lake, when the two young lovers watch myriad lanterns fill the sky and hover over the town.
This is a film that will make you forget some of Disney’s more recent attempts and take you back to the days when you first were enchanted by their story-telling and characters.
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