Tangled is loosely based off of the Brother's Grimm fairy tale Rapunzel. In this version Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) is a princess born with magical hair after receiving the powers from a magical flower her mother ate during pregnancy to cure her illness. This flower was being used by Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy) to keep herself young and in her desperateness to stay young she kidnaps Rapunzel for her hair. To keep her from being discovered Mother Gothel locks Rapunzel up in a tall tower and never lets her out in to the world while pretending to be her mother. This goes on for years until a thief on the run named Flynn Ryder, voiced by Zachary Levi (Chuck), hides out in her tower and discovers her. Rapunzel who has been dying to see the floating lights that appear on her birthday every year, makes a deal with Ryder to be her guide in exchange for his satchel which she holds as a ransom. Little does Rapunzel know she is about to discover a lot more than she bargained for, all the while Mother Gothel desperately tries to get her back to the tower to protect the magic hair and her secret.
Though Disney has said that this will be their last "princess" movie for awhile its obvious they have discovered their winning formula again. After their torrid streak in the 90s of successful animated musicals they've been on a bit of a down slide, relying heavily on their pals at Pixar and discovering more success in live action. Though they've adapted with the times and animated Tangled in 3D they created a film along the lines of their successful films in the 90s. They don't need a princess movie to be successful again. Just a good creative story, with plenty of laughs for kids and adults with a great musical score. With Tangled they provided all of that.
They hired old pal Alan Menken to compose the score. Menken having won 8 Academy Awards for his work on The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Beauty and the Beast. Menken does not disappoint, as just like in those other films he composes fresh, fun songs that fit perfectly into the story and provide plenty of laughs and emotion. Example, "I See The Light" was nominated for Best Original Song at last year's Academy Awards.
Mandy Moore does a very good job of voicing the sheltered, naive Rapunzel. Also, it certainly helps that she can sing as she's the one singing most of the songs. Zachary Levi is also good at voicing the care free self involved Flynn Ryder. His voice was also quite impressive in the couple of songs he had to contribute on.
As with most Disney films the cast wouldn't be complete without some great sidekick characters. In this case the two best ones in my opinion were the non-speaking animal pals. Just like Aladdin had a Abu, Rapunzel has Pascal her cute little chameleon pal. There's also Maximus, the horse of the palace guard that's after Ryder. He's hilarious has he tries to track Ryder down, all the while being smarter than the other guards and reminding one of a bloodhound on the scent.
Tangled is a cute funny film that is appropriate for all ages. I hope Disney sees the success of this film and realizes this formula worked throughout the 90s and they continue to stay with what works. If that's the case then us viewers could be in for a treat in the years to come.
I give the movie a solid 3 out of 4 stars and a big thumbs up. If you haven't seen this yet then I recommend doing so regardless of your age. It can be found on Netflix's instant streaming service or through DVD mail order. It is also available to purchase now on DVD and Blu-Ray. Enjoy!
Editor's Note: As I stated above sorry to anyone who has been curious of what movies to watch lately. I'm going to try and get back in the groove of things and put out at least one review a week. My next review will be on the film Revolutionary Road starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Until next time readers!
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