It’s hard to call Tangled a ‘Disney Princess’ film. Yes, it has some of the elements, such as the pretty teenage/early twenty-something girl wanting more and being part of royalty or being infatuated with royalty. It even has the songs. But there is a certain amount of sass that doesn’t tend to appear in Disney films. In fact, it seems more like it should have been made by Dreamworks!
The story of Tangled is that of Rapunzel (Mandy Moore), who is imprisoned in a tower by her ‘mother’, Mother Gothel, (Donna Murphy), who uses the power in Rapunzel’s hair to keep young. However, after escaping from the tower with the help of outlaw Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi) she begins to see more of the outside world and experiences all that she missed.
This adaptation of Rapunzel is amazingly entertaining. There are enough moments of comedy and real drama to keep the audience invested. It seems as if Disney pulled out all of the stops here to actually create a rather challenging film, as it does not stick to the somewhat cutesy style associated with some of their titles. There are many moments that seem slightly dark compared to any other Disney film that may prove distressing for some younger children, but are extremely interesting to watch from a more adult standpoint.
As mentioned before, this film has songs. The majority of the songs in this film are sung by musician Mandy Moore, who carries off the vocals within the songs with such power and emotion that it is hard not to feel for Rapunzel. Sadly, these songs aren’t overly catchy and I feel they won’t be instant Disney classics like songs from Aladdin or The Lion King. Nonetheless, these songs are generally good, with one or two not really hitting the mark.
The voice work of Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi is pretty much perfect. Moore is able to carry off Rapunzel naivety and Levi conveys Flynn’s sense of smarminess, whilst still giving him a touch of likeability. Donna Murphy is able to do the voice of the evil Mother Gothel with seemingly far too much ease, showing the extent to which Mother Gothel is both evil yet at the same time somewhat caring towards Rapunzel.
The relationship between Rapunzel and her ‘mother’ is awkward to watch, knowing that Gothel is not truly her mother and that she is taking advantage of her. In fact, the villain acts just like a mother would towards her daughter, making Gothel seems even more insidious.
The animation style of the film is wonderful, too. This may come from the fact that this film is the second most expensive film ever made, and also the most expensive animated film ever made. The world feels alive and feels like it is huge. Action scenes are intense and gripping and there are scenes that take place in wide areas of land that feel like they are as large as they are.
Considering that the actual style of the film looks and watches like Dreamworks’ answer to a Disney Princess film, with it not entirely fitting into the Disney Princess genre, this film feels like it might be the correct step forward for Disney to introduce a more fun and enjoyable animated film without having to rely upon Pixar to do so. Go see this film when you can, as it is an amazing film and probably one of my favourite Disney films to date.
Final Verdict: 8/10
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