"Tangled" Review

Rest easy, folks: Walt Disney Feature Animation is back. After proving they still had it with The Princess and the Frog, Tangled goes on to prove that "it" is here to stay. For their landmark 50th animated feature, Disney has gone back to their roots to adapt basically the only fairy tale they haven't done yet, with good old Alan Menken and Glen Keane along for the ride.

We all know Rapunzel's story already, so I'll skip that part. What we don't know, however, is this film's version of the Prince: A non-royal thief named Flynn Rider. After ditching his two partners-in-crime with a stolen royal tiara in his satchel, Flynn takes shelter in a mysterious tower hidden far away inside a wood. Little does he know that it's the home of our impressively- haired heroine, Rapunzel, who knocks him out with a frying pan (her weapon of choice). When Flynn comes to, Rapunzel offers to make him a deal: she'll let him go and give him back his satchel with the valuable goods, if he will take her to the kingdom to see the numerous, strange golden lights that appear in the sky every year on her birthday.

Tangled has had quite the troubled production- it was originally titled Rapunzel Unbraided and set for a 2006 release- but it's massive budget ($260 million- the most expensive animated film ever) has definitely paid off: the animation is the most vibrant and beautiful CGI I've ever seen, with camera angles and character designs that are quite reminiscent of a classic traditionally-animated Disney film. In particular, Rapunzel's hair looks fantastic- hair is infamous as the most difficult thing to animate in CG, and making a whole film about hair is quite ballsy.

It wouldn't be a true Disney film without a few musical numbers, and for Tangled, the studio has brought back the only man for the job: Alan Menken, composer of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, and Home on the Range. Although the music in this film isn't quite up to par with those classics, the musical score is quite pretty, and the songs are catchy and fun (especially the opening song, "When Will My Life Begin", and the signature villain song, "Mother Knows Best").

For the two lead protagonists, Disney has recruited singer Mandy Moore as Rapunzel and Chuck lead actor Zachary Levi as Flynn. Moore brings tons of adorable energy to Rapunzel, an innocent but strong-willed girl. Levi is perfect for the role of Rider, given his reputation for a deadpan, snarky delivery, and he reportedly ad-libbed some of his lines. And he sings, too!

Considering this is supposed to be the film commemorating the 49 films that came before it, Tangled is unworthy in that respect- it's a great movie, to be sure, but it's not fantastic, as previous milestone Disney films have been (for comparison, the 30th film was Beauty and the Beast). Still, it's hard to dislike such a strong production, and there's no doubt the kids will love it, so Tangled earns 70 feet of

Awesome!