Tangled: Review

review by M

Disney's latest take on the classic Rapunzel fairytale echoes the decisions made when leaving home for college. Though named 'Tangled' for more boy-appeal, it even strikes a balance between feminism and singing animal friends. Thumbs-up from Mookychick!

Disney's latest fairytale film 'Tangled' tells the classic fairytale of the long-haired princess Rapunzel locked in her tower. As is common with Disney fairytales, the studio has tweaked the story to suit sophisticated palates and modern times...

And, do you know? It quite pleasantly surprised me. The filmmakers used the tale of Rapunzel as a base, but went on to built something entirely unique. And traditional Disney fans need not fear: Though original, the movie contains the proper mixture of songs, Animal Friends and happy endings to ensure Princess Rapunzel a place in the Disney Princess Pantheon...

Feminist ideas and the contextual messages of Disney movies have, on more than one occasion, been at odds with each other. I'm pleased to report that, this time, the love interest is handled quite well. Unlike the majority of Princesses, Rapunzel most certainly does not immediately fall in love with Flynn Rider (named after Errol Flynn, with whom Rider shares a swashbuckling, debonair nature). Flynn, too, has his reservations (just as there is no law by which a woman must immediately adore a handsome gentleman, there is no law that says a man must necessarily immediately adore a beauty). Nevertheless, Rapunzel and Flynn slowly warm to each other through shared experience and peril. Watching their friendship grow was just as charming as the mimed commentary given by Rapunzel's chamaleon friend Pascal. Even after everyone's safe and sound, Flynn and Rapunzel don't run off to get married... Or do they? I shan't spoil the ending for you, but rest assured that it's healthy rather than sickly wholesome and does think about what message it's putting across.

My other fear for 'Tangled' was not that Rapunzel would be a passive, pitiful princess, but that the creators would take her character to the other end of the spectrum as a stereotypical fiesty heroine. Happily, writer Dan Fogelman (of 'Cars' fame) strikes an excellent balance in Rapunzel's character. She passes her days in the tower baking, painting, reading and sewing, but also creates star charts and finds ingenious uses for her magical hair. Once out of the tower, Rapunzel is of course terribly excited, but displays the anxiety and fear one would expect from someone in an entirely new and somewhat-forbidden world. As my friend exclaimed in the theater, "She's such an eighteen-year-old girl!"

Indeed, I saw many parallels between Rapunzel's situation and the experience of leaving home for college and the real world. Disney put a great deal of consideration into attracting varied demographics (I'm still irked that they changed the name of the film from the classic 'Rapunzel' to 'Tangled' so as to appeal to more boys!) and it's quite possible those parallels were intentionally made for the older crowd. I'm sure many parents could also identify with the conflict between Rapunzel and Mother Gothel, although hopefully their love for their child isn't based on magic powers of eternal youth. Unlike some children's films, Tangled contains very few 'adult' jokes. I only noticed one at the very end, and it was actually quite well-played. The humour is based on situations, characters or just silliness, not slapstick, sexual innuendo or other vulgarities. Again, classic Disney.

The movie wasn't terribly song-heavy, but it did feature several very cute numbers as well as a few 'aria' type pieces. The music wasn't catchy enough to get stuck in my head, but maybe that's a good thing! I also loved the amount of detail in all the scenery. Flynn and Rapunzel travel through a variety of locations, each with a different flavour of delicious eye candy and all infused with a delightful sense of magical, fairy-tale otherness. Though the animation was computer-generated, the artists took special care to try to recreate the traditional hand-drawn feel. I didn't notice a jarring difference, though my more artistically-minded friend did wish very much that they had used classic animation.

All in all, I'd give Tangled 4.5 stars out of 5. No film's perfect, but this one comes pretty darn close.

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