“Tangled” Ranks With Disney Classics

By Christopher P. Jacobs
Staff Writer

Back in 1937, Walt Disney pioneered feature-length animated films by adapting the Grimm Brothers fairytale “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” It succeeded because it entertained adults as much, if not more, than children with its blend of brilliantly animated artwork, endearingly individualistic characters, clever writing, and catchy songs that became hits on their own. (It’s now available on an excellent Blu-ray edition, along with such other memorable Disney cartoon features as “Pinocchio,” “Fantasia,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Beauty and the Beast.”)

The latest Disney Studios release currently in theatres is “Tangled,” which was adapted from the Grimm Brothers’ “Rapunzel,” and is being heralded as their 50th animated feature, and supposedly their final film adapted from a classic fairytale.
Like most animated films of the past decade, “Tangled” uses digital technology after a brief and box-office-disappointing return by Disney to traditional hand-drawn animation with last year’s sadly underrated “The Princess and the Frog.” That film’s poor ticket sales likely influenced profit-conscious executives to close the door on future cartoons about princesses, and it definitely switched the promotional focus of the already-in-production “Rapunzel.”

Besides a gender-neutral name change, ads now make sure that the Errol Flynn-inspired rogue who drops in on Rapunzel’s tower and their subsequent action-adventure together is prominent enough to attract boys as well as girls. While “Rapunzel” certainly is still about a lost princess and a wicked stepmother, the story itself, like many Disney cartoons, is a timeless coming-of-age tale about adolescent discovery.

As usual, the Disney variation on the traditional fairytale has been heavily reworked for modern-day audiences, re-thinking various characters and their motivations, and adding plenty of comedy relief (from both loveable ruffians and charmingly eccentric animals). But “Tangled” is a worthy successor to the best of Disney’s animated features, once again due to spectacularly expressive character animation, well-written characters in a sometimes poignant plot, and some great music. For broad entertainment appeal, it easily ranks with “The Little Mermaid” and well above “Beauty and the Beast,” if not quite as much fun as “Aladdin” (whose appeal heavily involved Robin Williams’ manic performance).

The wonderful score and fun songs are by composer Alan Menkin, whose music helped make such popular Disney films as “The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and the more recent Disney satire on its own films, “Enchanted.” In “Tangled,” all the songs are pleasant, but the song “Mother Knows Best” goes even further, with all the style of a hit Broadway showtune. This is made all the more effective with the song’s emphatic rendition by Donna Murphy as “Mother Gothel.” Murphy and the animators responsible for her digital incarnation manage to make her villain almost sympathetic at times, at least much more human than the broad caricature villains in most Disney cartoons.

Mandy Moore does a wonderful job as the voice of Rapunzel, and her vocal expression is perfectly matched visually by her digital cartoon counterpart. The character’s facial and physical nuances are superbly designed and executed by Disney’s animation staff, and the role is (quite naturally) the strongest-written part in the film. Zachary Levi and his character’s animators, aided by the good script, make Flynn Ryder into vastly more interesting a hero than the flat and nondescript prince characters who typically rescue Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, etc. from their predicaments.

Following the tradition going back to the cat and the fish in “Pinocchio,” stealing the scenes whenever they’re on the screen are the non-talking animal characters, in this case a hilarious and inscrutable chameleon named Pascal and a headstrong horse named Max (although Max’s motivations are far too hazy in the otherwise carefully-plotted story).

As with any good film, it’s the story that holds it together, aided by good acting, and in this case outstanding animation to match, with expertly planned “camera” work and editing. “Tangled” has the added benefit of an above-average score and the icing on the cake is the impressive 3-D design of its digital world, which boasts some beautiful depth effects. “Tangled” is well-worth seeing even in two dimensions (and you might even want to bring a kid along), but especially if you can see it in 3-D.

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