Tangled (2010)
Certified: U
Duration: 100 minutes
Directed by: Nathan Greno & Byron Howard
Voices of: Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy
KRS release

Disney’s 50th animated feature to grace the silver screen is a fantastic adventure. Judging on the basis of the film’s takings at the box office – which so far has garnered nearly $400 million – one can rest assured that the Disney Princess line is here to stay and that the empire of the Mouse will be selling quite a number of Rapunzel dolls.

The film has been six years in development. The innovative animation, which seems to be a fusion of CGI and traditional animation, justifies the film’s costly budget. However, it will also act as a launching pad for subsequent movies using the same technology.

The story kicks off with an old woman named Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy) finding a magical plant that has the power to keep her eternally young and heal any malady. However, when the queen, who is pregnant gets sick, the king sends the soldiers to get this plant and uses it to heal her. A baby girl with beautiful golden hair is born. Mother Gothel sets off to kill her but when she discovers that Rapunzel’s hair has inherited the plant’s power she ends up kidnapping her.

The story skips to 18 years later. Rapunzel (voiced by Mandy Moore) has become a beautiful and sweet girl with blond hair that goes on for unbelievable lengths. She has been raised in a tower, thinking Mother Gothel is her mother. She is constantly reminded that the world is a dangerous place and out to get her. Her only companion is her chameleon, Pascal.

Then there is Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi), a handsome rogue who is also a thief. Along with the brutish Stabbington Twins (Ron Perlman), he has just stolen a crown from the palace and the royal guards are after him. These include Maximus, a stubborn horse who is more of a military bloodhound than an actual horse.

Flynn ends up in Rapunzel’s tower and life will never be the same for both of them on the night when the king and queen host a ceremony celebrating their long lost daughter’s birthday.

I was highly impressed with the characters, the film’s vibrant animation and with the pacing of the film. I was less impressed with the tunes of Alan Menken, eight-time Oscar winner. In a film where everything seems to be fresh, the lackadaisical tunes are quite a sore point.

Mandy Moore is quite spot on in her Rapunzel voicing as she blends in chirpy with sadness and innocence. Yet this is a Rapunzel who is not afraid to have a chameleon as her best friend, kiss an oversized barbarian thug, hit a thief on the head with a pan and see the world through her own eyes. Most of all she is fun.

Despite being a bit less interesting, Flynn Rider has a debonair look to him and it’s very much obvious that he has been modelled on the 1930s swashbuckling hero of Errol Flynn. The film benefits in its choice of sidekicks – a chameleon and a horse who are both funny – and even more so in the choice of villain: Mother Gothel masquerading as Rapunzel’s mother while at the same time exploiting her strikes quite a note.

Most of all, it’s the animation that will once again strike a chord and under the eyes of John Lasseter of Pixar fame as one of the executive producers, it seems that the Disney winning formula is going to keep on winning.