10. It's a fairy tale. It's Disney. Why complain about how it's predictable or done before? Why not note how lovingly and wittily and beautifully those tropes are used instead?
9. Those who think it doesn't do things as well as the "great" Disney films - well, I think it does things just as well, we just have 20 years of nostalgia making those old films (which really are great) perfect. They're not. Neither is Tangled - but I think it's pretty darn close.
8. I love Charlotte from Princess and the Frog. While the movie lacked the sweetness that pushed Tangled over the edge into Loved for me, Charlotte's character walked the fine line of the rich, spoiled girl (like a blonde, southern Emma) without falling over into annoying sugar or moronic evil. From her sweet idealism as a child chasing her dream, to her unselfish love of Tiana in giving her a dress and sincerely admiring it on her friend, to her final, sacrificial giving of her dream to Tiana in the end. And then she is willing to wait twelve years for a new prince! I think I have a thing for what TvTropes calls "genki girl" - the short, perky, cute, very very energetic character who sweeps the protagonist all over the place - sort of the good side of the evil shady friend who sweeps the protagonist into drug addiction. Alice from Twilight, Coraline, Asokha from Clone Wars, Olivia from Twelfth Night, Rosalind from As You Like It, Kaylee from Serenity all share elements of this character, and I tend to love them all muchly.
7. Why was Tangled rated PG, when the much, much darker and creepier Princess and the Frog was G? Is CGI scarier than 2D? Because I was much, much more creeped out by the voodoo shadows than the realistic psychological horror of Mother Gothel. Though the small girl behind me in the theater thought she was pretty terrifying in the climax of Tangled. Poor thing.
6. Voice acting was really, really nice. Mandy Moore and Donna Murphy were spot-on, the former singing cleanly (if a bit lacking in high range) and speaking sweetly, the latter being quite different than her nice, T. S. Eliot-loving wife from Spider-man 2. But Zach Levi, Christian actor best known as TV's Chuck, really brings his sweet-awkward-suave-hilarious vocal mannerisms to the show. From his awesomely moronic "smoulder" to the don't-freak-out-I'm-not-freaking-out-which-is-why-I'm-talking-so-fast-like-I'm-totally-freaked-out voice when he finds out about Rapunzel's hair, Levi really enhances the character and the movie as a whole, while not showboating and trying to steal the movie away from the rightful center of Rapunzel.
5. The songs - well, yes, Alan Menken is stealing liberally from his own work - but he does so much more coherently than the last major Disney fairy-tale-type film, Enchanted, which aside from the annoying over-the-top-ness and the unworkeable blend of cynicism and sentimentality, was musically incoherent, all over the map from the banal Snow White "True Love's Kiss" to the delightful but out of place "That's How You Know." The songs for Tangled are catchy, energetic, sweet (an important missing element from Princess and the Frog, for all it's strengths), and fit very well together.
4. Hmm. Well, I'm not sure what to say here. This is the last point I'm writing, since I filled things in the way I felt they would make a nice list to read. Er. Um. Oh, right. Silly me. THE ANIMATION IS AMAZING! From the brilliant texture of the cast-iron frying pan, to the hair (of course), to the beautifully rendered skin, to the amazingly precise cast-backs to the way 2D animation from famous movies in Disney's legacy - from Ariel's feet, to Pegasus, to the Beast's redemption - it's all there - but not in the cynical, ugly, disgustingly cheap way of the Shrek films, but in a loving, witty, humorous, lighthearted by completely sincere and genuinely moving way.
3. When I saw the trailers and read the early articles, both of which emphasized the male main character, I was really, really worried that it would turn into a movie about the male character. I don't care if it's called Tangled. I don't care if there is a strong male character - after all, Beauty and the Beast really benefitted from a strong male character. But like the earlier masterpiece, the male character serves the journey of the female character, rather than the other way round. Rapunzel is unquestionably the main character, with full perspective, development, and utterly likeable character. Am unbearably relieved.
2. I get quite misty in the floating lights scene. The combination of utter imaginative creativity with genuine romantic beauty is very, very moving to me. Plus, though the song shamelessly rips from Aladdin's A Whole New World, it's very nicely sung, and I was shocked to hear Zach Levi's voice ring out so clearly and cleanly. I like singing the song to myself as I walk around campus. A lot.
1. GO SEE TANGLED. Embrace innocence. Embrace a love of beauty. Embrace catchy, sweet songs. Embrace long, long hair.
1 comment:
Tangled is on the list for Xmas viewing with the family. My son already saw it with friends, and insists that all of us will like it as well.
I liked your list--ratings often baffle me, and Disney is like McDonalds in that you should have a pretty good feeling about what you're going to get when you walk through the door.
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