Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
While it may lack some of the emotional depth of what remains Disney's finest modern animated feature, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, the studios 50th film, TANGLED, is as good as or better than works like THE LITTLE MERMAID and ALADDIN, due in large part to the man who wrote the music for all three of the aforementioned works, Alan Menken, whose tunes have also had us leaving theaters humming after such films as LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, NEWSIES, and ENCHANTED. With lyricist Glenn Slater, Menken gives us about a dozen music cues, most of which are infectious tunes. My personal favorite is their ode to overbearing mothers everywhere, "Mother Knows Best," performed by the mind-blowingly good Donna Murphy, who voices Mother Gothel. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
TANGLED is a reworking of the legend of Rapunzel. It's not exactly the Brothers Grimm version, but it's not that far off (so much so that this is the first of Disney's "princess" films to earn a PG rating). The king and queen of the land have a child who has been infused with the power of a flower that grants those who recite an incantation near it the power of eternal youth as long as you rejuvenate yourself about once a week. Because her mother drank medicine with the flower in it, the youth-giving power was passed onto the baby Rapunzel, turning her hair golden. The evil witch Gothel, how had been using and hiding the flower to keep herself young for years, kidnaps the child and hides her away in a tower, convincing her "daughter" that the outside world is too scary and dangerous to go into. When Rapunzel questions Gothel about possibly going out, Gothel breaks out "Mother Knows Best," and a big smile grew across my face. Most of you know Murphy as Mrs. Dr. Octopus, who is killed early on in SPIDER-MAN 2 or from THE FOUNTAIN, but I've never heard her pull out the mean quite so convincingly. Joan Crawford would have played Gothel 60 years ago.
The now-18-year-old Rapunzel is voiced by Mandy Moore, who effortlessly captures her character's sweetness and a little bit of her crazy. She has been locked up in one big room for her whole life, so it's not surprising she's a bit eccentric. Her best friend is a chameleon named Pascal, who is quite funny and expressive. In fact, two of the best characters in TANGLED don't have voices. In addition to Pascal, there's the Captain of the Guard's horse, Maximus, that is hellbent on protecting Rapunzel and capturing a handsome thief named Flynn (Zachary Levi), who, while running away from the heist of a valuable crown from Rapunzel's real parents, stumbles upon the hidden tower where she is being held. The two eventually strike a deal whereby if Flynn escorts Rapunzel to the village where, every year on her birthday, thousands of paper lanterns are launched into the air, then she will return the crown that she has hidden from him.
I watch "Chuck," so I thought I was aware of Levi's capabilities, but I've never heard him be quite as funny as he is here. It's like the restraints are off, when I didn't realize they were ever on. There's a moment when he tries to take advantage of Rapunzel being torn about disobeying her mother by leaving the tower, and his powers of persuasion are as magnificent as they are unsuccessful. One of my other favorite musical moments takes place at a tavern where all manner of thugs drink and cause trouble. The establishment is called the Snuggly Duckling, and Flynn takes Rapunzel there (again, hoping to scare her back to the tower), but instead her talk of realizing her dreams sends the hooligans (including those voiced by Brad Garrett, Jeffrey Tambor, Paul F. Tompkins, and Richard Kiel) into the pub sing-a-long "I've Got A Dream."
Also along for some villainy are a pair of thieves, the Stabbington Brothers who also happen to be Flynn's ex-partners, chasing him down for that crown. If I'm not mistaken, one of the brothers doesn't talk and the other is voiced by the great and unmistakeable Ron Perlman. You can probably guess where things lead on this road to the lamp ceremony, which Rapunzel doesn't realize is done to commemorate her disappearance. And while she's convinced Flynn only wants his treasure, she starts to have feelings for him during their journey, which includes being pursued by the Stabbingtons and Rapunzel's fake mother.
Disney opted not to go the hand-drawn animation route as they did with THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG last year, and while I truly do not want to see that art form die out, the computer animation used for TANGLED is quite richly realized, while the 3D is spectacularly flawless. First-time feature director Nathan Greno and Byron Howard (who also directed the entertaining BOLT) did a great job getting these energetic performances from the voice players, without their work coming across as pandering to young children, who might be a little shocked by parts of the film. There's a bit of death, a lot of endangerment, and even some icky kissing. But mostly, TANGLED is pure enjoyment of the highest level. It's a classic story told in a refreshingly new way; the music is superb; and the animation is exciting, fluid, and strikingly realized. It's impossible for me to imagine anyone not having fun with TANGLED, easily one of Disney's best in the last 20 years.
-- Capone
capone@aintitcool.com
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