Tangled Blu-ray review
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After dozens of animated films, Walt Disney Studios presents Tangled, its 50th full-length animated feature. This blockbuster will be available on Blu-ray, DVD, On Demand and for download on March 29, 2011. It features the voices of Mandy Moore (A Walk to Remember) as Rapunzel, Zachary Levi (“Chuckâ€) as her love interest Flynn Rider, and Donna Murphy (Spider-Man 2) as the wicked Mother Gothel.
Tangled is presented in very much the same style as other Disney fairy tales, such as The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast. The narrative is based (albeit sometimes loosely) on a classic fairy tale (in this case, Grimm’s Rapunzel) and told in a musical-theater format. While Tangled sometimes diverges wildly from the original tale, Disney has done a fine job in putting their own spin on the story.
During her pregnancy, Princess Rapunzel’s mother became ill and was healed by a magical flower. This same flower’s healing properties have secretly kept a woman named Mother Gothel youthful for hundreds of years. When the flower is used for healing the Queen, not only are the magical powers endowed to Rapunzel, but the flower does not survive. Since the flower is no more, Mother Gothel kidnaps the infant child and raises her as her own for 18 years. During these years Gothel uses the magical powers (which emanate from Rapunzel’s uncut hair) to keep herself young, all the while keeping the young girl captive in a secret tower in the woods. When the roguish Flynn Rider stumbles across the hidden tower while on the lam, he becomes a participant in a series of events that lead Rapunzel to discover who she truly is and why she has magical, uncut hair.
For the most part, I have always loved Disney’s “princess moviesâ€. However, I was supremely disappointed in The Princess and the Frog a couple of years ago. I was also unsure how a fairy tale would translate to CGI for Disney. Pixar has captured the magic many times, and they’ve always seemed a few steps ahead of the game in this regard. Disney’s forte has always been hand-drawn animation. So I kept my excitement in check when I saw Tangled for the first time in the theater.
Fortunately, my doubts were not realized. I absolutely loved this movie. The Disney magic was very much alive and well. The storytellers took some of the best elements of the original text, worked in a bit of new material and coated it with the old Disney touch. That with Alan Menken’s musical score makes this, in my opinion, the best Disney fairy tale since Beauty and the Beast. They struck a wonderful balance of classical fairy tale, adventure, romance and humor. I laughed, I cried, I gripped my seat in excitement. While I didn’t get a chance to see this in 3-D, the CGI looked gorgeous on screen. I definitely got my money’s worth with this one.
At a recent online virtual roundtable for Tangled, I had a chance to pose the following question to the directors of the film, and received a response from Nathan Greno:
Question: I haven’t always appreciated the comic relief of some Disney characters, but I highly enjoyed Maximus the Horse. From what/whom did you draw inspiration to put together his dynamic personality?
Director Nathan Greno: We just wanted to do something different with Max. We put together a board with photos of all the different animated horses that had been done… we wanted to do something fresh and new. We wanted Max to feel unique. Glad you like the way he turned out.
Indeed, the palace horse Maximus was one of the many small touches that made Tangled so enjoyable for me. Unlike other past Disney sidekick animals, Maximus was genuinely entertaining and hysterical, all without saying a word. After seeing him in the theater, I couldn’t wait to see him and the other characters again on Blu-ray.
Tangled Blu-ray and DVD Special Features
The film has transferred to Blu-ray beautifully. The images are crisp, clear and eye popping. One of my favorite scenes in the film involves a dam breaking, and it’s just as amazing in this format as it was when I originally saw it. Given the choice to purchase this on DVD or Blu-ray, I would definitely recommend the latter.
Another reason to favor the Blu-ray is the Special Features. The DVD (which also comes in the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack) only includes a short retrospective of Disney’s 50 animated films, plus 2 alternate openings to the film. The Blu-ray includes those, plus the following:
- Untangled: The Making of a Fairy Tale (Behind the scenes making of the film)
- 3 Deleted Scenes
- 2 Extended Songs
- 9 Tangled Teasers (Promotional spots for the film)
I enjoyed the features that were offered, but to be honest, I was surprised there weren’t more. I would have enjoyed a music video and a movie commentary, for example. Maybe they’re saving this for the next iteration of cinematic technology.
Tangled got a PG rating, possibly for just a few moments that might be a tad adult for young children. One character is routinely drunk (particularly in the “I’ve Got a Dream†tavern song sequence that I could have done without). A character is stabbed, but you don’t actually see it, and there is no blood on the dagger. Only a small stain is seen for a fleeting moment on the victim’s clothing. Finally, Mother Gothel’s ultimate fate may be a little disconcerting for very young viewers. But overall, Tangled is an extremely family-friendly film.
Walt Disney himself began to think about a Rapunzel retelling as early as the 1930’s, and the film’s development began over 60 years later. It’s been a long wait to see Walt’s dream become a reality, and it was worth the time and effort. Tangled is a wonderful film, one that will be treasured for decades to come.
MPAA Rating: PG
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: March 29, 2011
Director: Nathan Greno and Byron Howard
Writer: Dan Fogelman
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Posted by Laura Hartness
on Mar 20 2011. Filed under Blu-ray Reviews.
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I actually was tickled by “I’ve Got a Dream”. I didn’t expect the stereotypical seeming bruiser types to all of a sudden belt out into songs about surprising dreams about who they are inside or who they want to be, all of which were realized in the heartwarming, cute epilogue.
Everything else I agree with.
An amused snort from Maximus for “Maybe they’re saving this for the next iteration of cinematic technology” on the absence of a commentary, but overall, two big thumbs up.