Tangled

In 2010, Nathan Greno and Byron Howard directed Disney’s 50^th animated canonical feature, based off the German fairy tale, “Rapunzel.” Starring Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, and Donna Murphy, Tangled grossed $591.8 million worldwide. Spending six years in production, It was nominated for two Annie Awards, an Academy Award, a 2011 Teen Choice Award and won a Grammy.

Long ago, a single drop of sunlight fell to Earth and birthed a flower that had the power to heal anything. A woman named Gothel (Murphy) used the power for centuries, but it is taken by the kingdom to heal the pregnant queen. Wanting the power back, Gothel steals the princess and hides her in a tower, naming her Rapunzel (Moore). She is never allowed to leave the tower, but grows increasingly eager to head outside.

The Lion King started off massively huge and never backed down and The Great Mouse Detective began small and at various intervals, continued to top itself, but in very grandiose ways (the bar song, the trap, Big Ben). Tangled is able to do both, start off pretty big and continue to top itself, but does so subtly many times. It begins strong, with the idea of a flower springing up from a drop of the sun and giving a woman renewed life for centuries, then immediately growing with just how Rapunzel deals with staying in a tower all day. Then the pub song, her entering the kingdom for the first time, the lanterns and then the realization of who she is. Granted, the pub song, and those portions, are grandiose in various aspects. But the subtleness of it comes from the imagery laden throughout those parts and the shots and angles that work give them exposure, while still keeping the central focus on the characters. This can especially be seen during the "Kingdom Dance" segment. And the reprise to "Mother Knows Best" really cemented just how evil Gothel has been this whole time. It was established early on and the original run of the song showcased her manipulation, yes, but it drove the final nail to show how she'll resort playing off the desires of others to get what she wants back. It all continues to build and build and build until the climax.

And the cherry on this whole cake of wonder is the quality of the animation. Rule number one of 3D animation is to avoid hair, but the animators threw that rule out the window to feature 70 feet of it. And not just the hair by itself. It’s used as a rope, a lasso, gets wet, braided and then light up at times. And it never looks awkward, forced, or badly done.

This isn’t even going into the character arcs. Flynn is a thief and a flirt who really just wanted to hide until the heat went down, but got caught in helping some random girl into seeing floating lanterns. Said girl doesn’t even realize she’s heading to her destiny and just wants to see floating lights. But when she’s taken back to the tower, she comes to realize what she’s subconsciously been telling herself for 18 years. And Flynn comes to realize there’s more to life than stealing, money and being a hermit. And true, the romance is central to the story, but it doesn’t overpower their individual character arcs.  

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