4 out of 5 Popcorn Kernals
From the days of rotoscoping and acetate-cell paintings to the newest advent of computer imagery, animaiton has taken new wings in the realm of cinema that have gone beyond those of childhood entertainment and have become more for the adult audience than the little munchkins from the past. No other company can achieve this delicate balance than that of Disney - with their ability to pull a string of emotions from one production that can attract young and old alike.
I had my misgivings when seeing Tangled - a remake of the Repunzel tale (which was the original name) - because I have become a Pixar champion, but since seeing both Despicible Me and Tangled (and The Princess and the Frog), I was reminded that a good screenplay with clear sides of good and evil always makes a good story regardless of the medium used. Disney knowsa how to do this, and in this fairy tale, they are no less successful.
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| Seeing Eye 2 Eye and Hair 2 Hair |
Tangled is the story about a young princess who was born with the gift of the fountain of youth locked within her hair - which only a certain song can cause to extract. This child is stolen by an old woman; Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy) who knows the secret, and guises as the young girls mother, who keeps Repunzel in a tower and away from the world so that she can stay young forever. on her 18th Birthday, Repunzel (Mandy Moore) wants to leave the tower and explore the kingdom just beyond the horizon of her window, but Mother Gothel refuses, but does go to make her her favorie meal which is a 2-day walk for the ingredients. During that time a rouge thief named Flynn Ryder (Zachary Levi) who is in hiding, runs into Repunzel's tower thinking it a good place to evade his captors, only to discover Repunzel...and so the tale begins.
I went into this movie thinking it would be a childish fanfare, and was pleasently suprised at what I encountered. There was the downsize of the "white-washing" of Disney, but we are used to that in the Magic Kingdom (even with The Princess and the Frog - which I will comment on in Disporia soon). But this is a FANTASY as well as a FARY TALE, so sure the beckground characters can elicit a few rainbows of color here and there...I'm just saying. But the overall message in this movie is a very adult one.
I've studied animation for a few years in college, and the mannerisms and direction in this movie is very good. The jokes are timed right, and the pacing is good. The tention that Mother Gothes brings reminded me of the evil Queen in The Little Mermaid and a little of Snow White's - her actions are very modern (which is difficult to explain - but true), in that we expect and are suprised at how she is treating this young woman and the way she twists her words to keep Repunzel in check - and even later, when she discovers Flynn Ryder having taken her. I was moved right up until the very end of this movie. And suprisingly, I had not known the plot of this tale except for her mother climbing Repunzel's hair (this was not one of my bedtime stories).
The 3D is adequate, and actually very lovely in some cases. But as I have discovered (and you will too, when you take the shades off), is that the colors and hues that Disney has put into place on this film, have been sourly muted to darker tones because of the glasses. But with such a fast-moving and very touching tale, it was forgiven - and there is a lantern scent in this movie that uses the 3D to full effect and is amazing; I only wish there were more moments like that in the movie.
All in all, this is a great tale to see. The only large downside of it all, is the musical numbers: nothing to be remembrered. I don't know what happened to Disney after Beauty and the Beast, but their musical animation series have fallen way below expectations when it comes to memoriable and moving melodies. It's a good think that your mind will only ignore them, and remember a great tale about another little plucky girl who grows up to become a woman, and the power she has in choosing the man she wants to be with her.
My stomach gets all tangled with emotions just thinking about it.
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