Disney dusts off Rapunzel to give its princess formula from the Nineties another try but unlike last year’s The Princess and the Frog, computer animation is used over the traditional hand-drawn style, plus past hit-maker Alan Menken does the music and a Euro-centric look is brought back.
Everybody knows the story. Rapunzel is a girl whose hair grows and she’s kept prisoner in a tower by a witch. Then a prince rescues her. The end. Disney pads it out with a backstory on how she gets the magical hair, shows what motivates the villainess, makes the rescuer a thief with a heart of gold and kills time with a few unmemorable musical numbers.
Is it any good? Yes. The slapstick elements have solid timing and I bet this is Pixar’s true legacy on computer-generated animation; it gives the directors multiple takes to perfect a joke. With hand-drawn, it becomes too expensive, even with the low-budget material Hanna Barbera pioneered. So count on more Rube Goldberg pranks for now.
I was also surprised with the movie’s cast. For the lead characters the only celebrity is Zachary Levi from the sitcom Chuck. I knew Mandy Moore better yet I think her fame has dissipated since she’s no longer popular with young girls, has starred in less family-friendly stuff and got married to Ryan Adams (the Alt-Country guy, not Bryan Adams from the Eighties). The usual cat of comic-relief/heavies are present too: Jeffrey Tambor, Brad Garrett and Ron Perlman.
Worth Seeing? As a rental only because there’s nothing compelling to make it Alamo worthy with today’s ticket prices; we went to see this on New Year’s Eve at $9.75 apiece! Adults will be pleasantly entertained since Tangled does more than keep children pacified for 80 minutes while it doesn’t terrify them as 2009’s Princess could.