The Disney Revival period technically began with films such as "Bolt" and "The Princess and the Frog" being modest hits for the studio. However, it was Disney's first 3D-animated fairy tale film that truly kicked off the hot streak that is the Disney Revival period. Despite having a massive budget, "Tangled" made nearly $600 million during its initial release, not only making a profit, but giving the impression that 3D animation is where the money is at compared to hand-drawn animation. Regardless of that consequence, is the film good enough to be on par with the best of Disney's hand-drawn work? Well, for the most part, yes. The story follows Rapunzel, a young women with extremely long blonde hair who is kept locked up in a tower by her adoptive mother known at Gothel. Gothel refuses to allow Rapunzel to step foot outside the tower as she claims that the world is a dangerous place for her daughter. In reality, it's to keep the truth hidden that Rapunzel is in fact a princess that Gothel kidnapped to take advantage of her magic hair, said magic allowing Gothel to stay youthful and alive after years and years. When a young thief seeks refuge in the tower, Rapunzel takes the opportunity to have the thief, Flynn Rider, to be her guide to the outside world and experience a festival that occurs on her birthday in the kingdom of Corona (yes, that's the name of the kingdom...). Obviously based off the fairy tale popularized by the Brothers Grimm, the story recaptures the magic and creativity in regards to Disney adaptations, similar to the films during the Disney Renaissance. It's the familiar Disney musical/romance with comedy throughout to keep viewers of all ranges entertained. There can be a plot hole or issue, but the emotions of the film can overlook these details. It's a really charming, even cute, movie that's great at making you root for the leads and their blooming romance. The comedy on the other hand is a mixed bag. While Flynn is a funny character and Rapunzel can be goofy in her awkwardness, it's the side characters and animal sidekicks that are very hit-and-miss. It's not the most comedic Disney film, but it does get a chuckle here and there.
Rapunzel, voiced by Mandy Moore, is one of the better female leads in Disney animation. Not only is the viewer always rooting for her as she never makes a questionable choice due to her strong motivations and desires, but both Moore and the character animation give her so much personality and quirks that make her one of the most likeable princesses in the Disney line-up. She is really only matched by her love interest, Flynn, voiced by Zachary Levi. Flynn is a great foil/pawn to the determined yet innocent Rapunzel that their chemistry of playing off each other and bonding makes him perhaps the best male lead in Disney animation. He's funny, charming, and Levi's vocal performance is underrated in how genuine it can be. Not only are the two leads great, but the villain is too. Mother Gothel, voiced by Donna Murphy, is seen as the last great Disney Villain and it's not hard to see why. The character is so well-written in how she manipulates Rapunzel and the audience into giving the illusion that she actually cares for her adoptive daughter. Whether it's all an act or not, she's one of the best villains in the animated line-up as she doesn't need magic powers or an army of henchman to carry out her deeds, but because of her intellect and psychological warfare in terms of keeping Rapunzel under her wing. So, both the heroes and villains prove to be some of the best the studio has offered in recent years, yet the side characters are where things get a bit fuzzy. With the case of the king and queen of the kingdom, they are so great in regards that the film never lets them utter a single line yet they prove to be so distressed about the whereabouts of their long-lost daughter. The animal sidekicks, Pascal and Maximus, are just too juvenile for my liking and offer some of the lesser comedic potential, despite an occasional laugh. The Stabbington brothers, only one of them is voiced by Ron Perlman, are just typical thugs who are after Flynn due to the latter betraying them, and the bandits residing in the pub called the Snuggly Duckling are the brief comedic relief that never make me laugh at all. Perhaps other could like the side characters, but they weren't as likeable or entertaining compared to others in the Disney catalogue.
While not the first 3D animated film produced by the studio, this was the first fairy-tale that got the treatment with good, yet interesting, results. Because the filmmakers and animators were initially hesitant to have this film be computer-animated, they tried to have the CG animation to be in style/nature to that of a traditional hand-drawn film. While the animators did accomplish this goal, the animation has sort of aged a decade later. The hair animation is perhaps the best and most polished element of the film with Rapunzel's long hair feeling natural and having independent strands along with Gothel's distinct hairstyle and the use of grey during her stages of aging. The other characters also benefit from the hair tech and the lush colours make the forest location and the lantern festival sequence pretty to look at and represents the inspirations from certain paintings the animators went off from. However, the downside is that the textures and physics of most elements aren't very polished. Skin texture is mostly smooth like clay with an occasional touch of detail such as Rapunzel's freckles. The articles of clothing and certain textures of material such as rocks or minerals also have this simplistic design. The background characters in the town look like they came out of a video game at times. The water, aside from the chase sequence in the middle of the film, has questionable physics and almost looks like gelatin at times. While this does make it seem like the animation is completely flawed, this might just be how the animators designed the aesthetic of the film. Hand-drawn animation isn't supposed to be extremely detailed, but fluent and energetic, which the film does do right. So, the animation is good, especially with the hair element, but you just have to accept the decision to not make things hyperrealistic. Alan Menken provides his last original music for a Disney film with four new songs and it's fairly decent. "Mother Knows Best" is a great villain song as it fits the personality and devious nature of the seemingly sweet Gothel. "I See the Light" is probably the best love ballad with Moore and Levi doing fantastic jobs singing. While these two songs are great by themselves, the other two are a bit underwhelming. "I've Got a Dream" has a catchy chorus, but is otherwise a generic comic relief song. "When Will My Life Begin?" sounds nice mainly due to Moore's performance, but is a pretty average "I Want" song. Regardless, Menken does at least offer some memorable songs and even nice lyric-less music with the scenes of the king and queen and the town square celebration.
"Tangled" is perhaps going to be the last good Disney fairy-tale/princess movie we will have for a while. Although the comedy, side characters, and select songs can be hit-and-miss along with a distinct animation style that isn't the most polished in regards to 3D animation a decade later or even during its release, the film is still one that's going to be remembered for a long time. With a great retelling of a beloved fairy tale Disney is tend to be known for, great emotional and romantic moments, Rapunzel being a loveable female protagonist, Flynn being a enjoyable love interest with the witty and good-hearted nature of his character and Levi's vocal performance, Gothel proves to be the last great Disney villain with her unique role and actions, the animation can be pretty impressive and gorgeous at times in regards to the lush colours and hair physics/detailing, and the few songs and musical tracks by the always great Menken manage to be memorable and wonderfully performed by the voice actors. I feel that "Tangled" is a film that I tend to respect rather than love. It's a bit hard to love something that killed hand-drawn animation along with carrying some mediocre elements. However, the stuff that's good is really good and is the height of the studio's creativity and effectiveness in crafting a great classic.
Verdict: 7.5/10. Really good film, but is not exactly the best of the best that Disney can offer. Still a nice film to watch from time to time.
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