Tangled Up In Disney

Tangled is an American, computer animated, musical comedy produced by Disney and released on November 24, 2010. The movie was directed by Nathan Grenco and Byron Howard (from Bolt), written by Dan Fogelman and produced by Roy Conli.

            The movie is about a young, naïve teen, Rapunzel (voice by Mandy Moore), who lives with her mom in a large castle restricted from the rest of the kingdom. One day, Rapunzel is beginning to think her dreams of leaving the tower are unachievable when the kingdom’s most dangerous thief, Flynn Rider (voice of Zachary Levi), seeks refuge from the authorities in Rapunzel’s tower. Up to this point in the movie, the predictable storyline matches that of the well-known folktale. It was at this point that I figured that Disney’s adaption had simply glamorized an unoriginal version of an already told story. Instead, when the “knight in shining armor” climbs into Rapunzel’s tower, the feisty blonde’s first reaction is not to run and welcome her new guest, but rather, to hit him over the head with a large frying pan. Then, her pet chameleon helps her stuff the unconscious body into her closet. From this moment on, the story unexpectedly takes off on a hilarious, thrilling escapade with the help of a moody stallion and a silly chameleon. Walt Disney Pictures describes the movie, “With the secret of her royal heritage hanging in the balance and her captor in pursuit, Rapunzel and her cohort find adventure, heart, humor, and hair... lots of hair”.

The role of art direction was another key aspect in the making of Tangled. Many of the settings including the tower, the village and the forest, include thousands of details. The tower, for example, was covered in swirling garland and hidden by clouds and branches and flowers. These details set this movie apart from other animated Disney movies in the past. Scott from the NY Times praised the difference, “the décor is shinier, the pace a little faster, the overall atmosphere slick and efficient, with a few welcome grace notes of self-conscious classicism.” The art direction in particular has received praise for its specified accuracy and improvement from past Disney movies. Scott went on to say, “To watch “Tangled,” in three dimensions or two, is like entering a familiar old neighborhood that has been tastefully and thoroughly renovated. Not gentrified, exactly, and certainly not razed, but modernized.” This praise proves how far Disney has gone to improve its use of details and art.

Another key aspect that goes hand in hand with the art direction is the use of animation. In Tangled, directors choose to use the 3D CGI to control the audience’s emotions. The animation controlled emotions ranging from enthusiasm to sympathy. The animation also added details to the characters such as Rapunzel’s slight overbite, which made her come off as innocent and endearing. Scott describes the animation, “there are sequences that have some of the ravishing beauty and exquisite detail of the great, old hand-drawn Disney features, including a few that make gorgeous use of 3-D technology.”

The animation also captured the symbolism associated to lighting. Whenever there were scenes with Rapunzel’s mother, they were dark and you could barley see the character or the scene, implying her malicious intentions. However, when Rapunzel was set free from the castle and was exploring the kingdom, the scenes were brightly lit and sunshine was always a large symbolic tool. During one scene in particular, the storyline we think Rapunzel will be disappointed, and the scene is dark, but then a thousand animated lanterns sparkle, and her wide-eyed facial expression is well-lit, making us feel surprised at the change as well as happy for her.

            “Tangled” represents Disney’s 50^th animated feature. I believe that this film proved to be a traditional Disney movie while also positively modifying the story structure and production of most Disney films. Although it continues to be the typical romantic musical fairy tale that we are used to seeing from Disney, the story has taken a many risks with its genre. The idea of a traditional “damsel in distress” tale has been thrown out the window. Instead, Rapunzel maintains the innocence of a traditional Disney princess, and yet represents a feisty, back-talking, sassy, independent, modernized spirit that is rare to find in a Disney female heroine.

All in all, Tangled includes all of the crucial elements of a beloved Disney classic, with a modernized infusion of improved technology and widely accepted humor. This film truly does deliver the best to both people who enjoy Disney and to people who criticize Disney. At its core, Tangled includes the typical storyline, the one we’ve heard a thousand times about a young girl restricted to the darkness and loneliness of a tower. Overall, it is a coming of age tale that we have seen over and over again. At the same time, the story was built with flourishes added by Disney, including jealous pets, hormonal teenager rants, and singing thugs. These are aspects that I had not expected to come from Disney, but have obviously enjoyed and believed to make this film one of my favorites.

Why the "Frozen" Trailer Means Nothing

I'm about as big a Disney fan as you can get. My first year of college, I brought my entire Disney VHS collection for my viewing pleasure. I've read books analyzing Disney's current business model, articles exposing Disney as an evil corporation (which I don't agree with), and biographies on Walt himself. Whether you, like Disney or hate Disney, I feel like they've earned some respect at the very least. 

In recent years, I've become especially intrigued by Disney Animation Studios. After Disney's decision to dissolve their hand-drawn animation studios, and then subsequent re-instate them under the tutelage of John Lasseter and Bob Iger, Disney has produced some good  movies. The Princess and the Frog was at least commendable, and a solid return for the studio. They followed up with "Tangled", a computer generated film which was critically acclaimed and became the 19th highest grossing animated film. That was followed by another computer generated film, "Wreck it Ralph", which was indisputably enjoyable. These three films, perhaps specifically "Wreck it Ralph" and "Tangled", were solid additions to the classic Disney canon, and a great shift from the films that come out during the bulk of the first decade of the 21st century. 

I think Disney is headed in the right direction with their animation, especially given the apparent decrease in Pixar quality (even though Brave and Monsters University had their own merits) (Also, Cars 2 should be destroyed). That's why I've been so excited for full trailer for Disney's new animated film, "Frozen". The trailer was released on Thursday, and to be totally fair, I was underwhelmed. 

The trailer although mildly engaging, seemed juvenile at times, relying largely on comedic relief from the Olaf character, the snowman. Following the "Wreck it Ralph" trailer, which is spectacular, this trailer seemed very two dimensional, and somewhat devoid of any emotional depth, save the blatant emotional hand-holding when Olaf says, "Some people are worth melting for". 

To be fair though, I remember having a similar feeling when the "Tangled" trailer was released. That seemed to ignore a large amount of the depth and charm that the movie had, exchanged for cheap laughs. 

These reductive tendencies in Disney trailers is perhaps a ploy to engage their main demographic, children. Most of the things that a person like myself would find exciting about the movie may go over the heads of their target demographic. The trailer, perhaps, is not indicative of the true movie quality. 

The point is, even though this trailer was "eh" at very best, I'm still excited for the film, given the recent success of Disney Animation.