Besides BUGGING us to death about going to see HOP, kiddo also wanted to get the dvd of Tangled! As it came out AFTER her birthday, she was stuck waiting a few days!
Tangled is new version of the classic tale of Rapunzel. After the lack of huge box office success with Princess and the Frog (it did much better on dvd), Disney wanted a more boy-centric movie, hence the title change from "Rapunzel", and a more action-orientated cartoon to appeal to more boys.
Tangled is the story of Rapunzel, who begins her life with magical powers, after her ill mother, the queen, drank a magic potion derived from a magical plant owned by Mother Gothel. The magical powers are transferred into the hair of the then unborn child. Soon after birth, Rapunzel is kidnapped by Mother Gothel, as her magical plant was destroyed and she needs the powers to stay young. She locks Rapunzel away in an isolated tower, never cutting her hair, less it loose it's magical powers. Rapunzel develops many uses for her hair, as she is limited on resources, as Mother Gothel is away a lot.
Every year on her birthday Rapunzel sees lights in the distance floating up to the sky and is entranced by them and wished to see them up close. So when she turns 18 and begs Mother Gothel to take her to see them up close. She refuses and Rapunzel, like any other teenager, fumes and pouts. When Flynt Ryder mysteriously appears in her tower, she seizes the opportunity to flee her tower and go to the lights. What follows is singing, action, the introduction of more characters and romance between Rapunzel and Flynt.
Kiddo REALLY enjoyed this movie. Some jokes were over her head, as they were more adult orientated (like all cartoon movies 'made for kids' today, they want the parents to want to go back to see them as well), but it was an enjoyable movie for her. Some additional thoughts:
Overall I am glad we added this movie to our Disney library and it's one that I will let Kiddo watch over and over!
Disclosure: I bought this movie myself. I received NO compensation, monetary or other, for this review (but hint hint, I'd love to be a Disney reviewer/blogger! LOL). All opinions are my own.
Tangled is the story of Rapunzel, who begins her life with magical powers, after her ill mother, the queen, drank a magic potion derived from a magical plant owned by Mother Gothel. The magical powers are transferred into the hair of the then unborn child. Soon after birth, Rapunzel is kidnapped by Mother Gothel, as her magical plant was destroyed and she needs the powers to stay young. She locks Rapunzel away in an isolated tower, never cutting her hair, less it loose it's magical powers. Rapunzel develops many uses for her hair, as she is limited on resources, as Mother Gothel is away a lot.
Every year on her birthday Rapunzel sees lights in the distance floating up to the sky and is entranced by them and wished to see them up close. So when she turns 18 and begs Mother Gothel to take her to see them up close. She refuses and Rapunzel, like any other teenager, fumes and pouts. When Flynt Ryder mysteriously appears in her tower, she seizes the opportunity to flee her tower and go to the lights. What follows is singing, action, the introduction of more characters and romance between Rapunzel and Flynt.
Kiddo REALLY enjoyed this movie. Some jokes were over her head, as they were more adult orientated (like all cartoon movies 'made for kids' today, they want the parents to want to go back to see them as well), but it was an enjoyable movie for her. Some additional thoughts:
- it was great to actually hear the people voicing the characters, actually SINGING the songs sung by their characters. Mandy Moore, as Rapunzel, and Donna Murphy as Mother Goethel, were both wonderful!
- I'm beginning to think the days of catchy kids cartoon movie songs are over. While the songs were nice, other than remembering the chorus from "Mother Knows Best", neither Kiddo or I sang any of the songs the next day. No "Under the Sea" or "Hakuna Matata" echoing in our brains. I think Bolt may have been the last kids cartoon movie to have an original memorable song. SIGH.
- As the mother of a young girl, I was actually VERY happy with Rapunzel being such a strong character- she is resilient, quick on her feet-physically and intellectually (odd considering she seemed to only have 3 books to read in the tower. Oh well, Disney magic at hand), resourceful, creative and good of heart. She can be girly (trying on a crown), but she is not over-Princessy. Great role model Disney!
- Maximus the horse was hysterical. As one of Disney's typical anthropomorphisic characters, he was more dog than horse. Anyone with a large dog however could easily laugh at some of his antics. Plus he made a good foil for Flynt. pascal the chameleon was cute, but as Kiddo said, was 'Uhhh"- translation he served more as a direction device than a character kids would want a stuffed toy of.
- The phrase "frying pan, who knew?" is no etched in my brain....
- The movie reminded me of Snow White or Bambi, in that there were dark moments that for younger children could be a little scary.
Overall I am glad we added this movie to our Disney library and it's one that I will let Kiddo watch over and over!
Disclosure: I bought this movie myself. I received NO compensation, monetary or other, for this review (but hint hint, I'd love to be a Disney reviewer/blogger! LOL). All opinions are my own.
I still loved the film and believe it's a great addition to Disney's animated classics. Lastly, let me just add a big "Yeah!" to the film's final moments when Flynn, back in narrator mode, reveals that it was several years before he and Rapunzel got married. A much better message for children than the more usual we-saw-each-other-twice-before-tying-the-knot which seems almost de rigueur in so many fairy tales.
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