Tangled (2010)

Quite simply, the best animated action/adventure/comedy since the original "Shrek", beautifully crafted by the Disney brush. Off course that the Disney purists (me included if we mention the period from "The Little Mermaid" to "Pocahontas"), will consider this a sort of sell out, but Disney just tries to keep up with the times, and does it without abandoning its more universal values, despite abandoning some usual techniques, most notably the use of song as an instrument of story-telling. "The Princess and the Frog" was not as big a hit as Disney anticipated, so they returned to the CGI animation and a larger focus on a male character, although telling the story of yet another princess: Rapunzel. She is born under special circumstances and her long hair is a sort of fountain of youth. She is kidnapped at birth by an evil woman who raises Rapunzel as her own in a distant tower. 18 years pass and Rapunzel hungers to see the world outside. Her only friend is a camelion (non speaking), but which is yet another brilliant side-kick, full of amusing moments. One day dashing Flynn Ryder, a good-hearted thief who has just stolen the crown destined for the long lost princess, stumbles on her tower. They begin a friendship that will eventually lead into love, as he helps her escape the tower and shows her the world she so eagerly wants to see, culminating in the festival of lights that unravels the riddle of her past. Along the way they are pursued by the evil woman, the palace guards and other evil characters, and gain another brilliant side-kick, in the form of a horse, and aid from other unlikely characters. "Tangled" is fast paced, witty, very humorous, and has its eye set on a teenage audience, especially in the almost ridiculous (but believable) mood changes of 18 year old Rapunzel. The "moral" side of the story was the worse part for me, maybe because I am not a teenager, and also the scene when Rapunzel realizes everything about her past. It seems very much forced, as if the writers were stuck on how she would understand it. Aside from that, and especially in the comic/action parts, it was simply amazing. Actually, the only thing almost that the movie didn't need were the songs. Don't get me wrong, I am the nº 1 fan of Alan Menken, I just worship the man, but here it seems that they just asked him to write a couple of songs as a favor. True Menken (most notably on "Beauty and the Beast"), was a set of songs that pushed the story forward and developed characters. It is incredible to note how little "normal" dialog "Beauty and the Beast" has. "Tangled" is a screenplay movie (some of the earlier scenes trying to explain the plot are perhaps a little too long), and the first three songs actually stop the flow of the picture, instead of aiding it. They are off course very good, but were they really necessary? The last song, the love song, "I see the Light", was something else entirely. As it started you could hear the noises in the theater quiet down, and everybody just became in awe. It was one of those unforgettable moments, just like hearing Angela Lansbury sing "Beauty and the Beast" in the ballroom scene, or seeing the colour changes on screen as "Colors of the Wind" was heard. The scene was just amazing, and used 3D technology to a beautiful rendering. It was truly a fabulous scene which moved me a lot. On the other hand, the score was fabulous, Menken-style. All in all, "Tangled" delivered. The 50th Disney picture, is maybe not a Disney classic in its true definition, but its a classic of our times. It made me laugh more than it moved me, and I did not think that the "moral" part of the story was that much developed, but hey, the principles are always the same, so you can't innovate much. What they achieved was to put a lot of visual humor, which is less seen in a Disney production. It pleased me. The Golden Age of Disney will probably never return, but both "Princess and the Frog" and "Tangled" are high class products, that should be cherished by the younger generation.