 ***PLEASE NOTE: A Blu-ray 3D disc is only compatible with 3D Blu-ray players.*** Tagline: They're taking adventure to new lengths Disney presents a new twist on one of the most hilarious and hair-raising tales ever told. Your whole family will get tangled up in the fun, excitement and adventure of this magical motion picture. When the kingdom's most wanted - and most charming - bandit Flynn Rider hides in a mysterious tower, the last thing he expects to find is Rapunzel, a spirited teen with an unlikely superpower - 70 feet of magical golden hair! Together, the unlikely duo set off on a fantastic journey filled with surprising heroes, laughter and suspense. Let your hair down and get ready to cheer for Tangled. Storyline: After receiving the healing powers from a magical flower, the baby Princess Rapunzel is kidnapped from the palace in the middle of the night by Mother Gothel. Mother Gothel knows that the flower's magical powers are now growing within the golden hair of Rapunzel, and to stay young, she must lock Rapunzel in her hidden tower. Rapunzel is now a teenager and her hair has grown to a length of 70-feet. The beautiful Rapunzel has been in the tower her entire life, and she is curious of the outside world. One day, the bandit Flynn Ryder scales the tower and is taken captive by Rapunzel. Rapunzel strikes a deal with the charming thief to act as her guide to travel to the place where the floating lights come from that she has seen every year on her birthday. Rapunzel is about to have the most exciting and magnificent journey of her life. Written by Douglas Young (the-movie-guy) Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, March 18, 2011 You were my new dream. -- Like other Disney films based on a classic Fairy Tale, Tangled takes plenty of liberties with its original story, re-imagining a part here, rewriting a stretch there, all in the name of constructing a final product that's a little more suitable for light and family-friendly animated fare than the darker original Grimm tale would have allowed were it followed more precisely. As it is, Tangled is fairly typical of Disney Princess Fairy Tale pictures: its story is built around well-conceived characters and a clear contrast between good and evil. Superficially, Tangled is made of song, adventure, humor, heart, and romance, all of which have been hallmarks of these sorts of films since it all started with 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Certainly things have changed in the 70-some years between Snow White and Tangled, but Tangled is still classic Disney at its core, even if the animation style has been upgraded, modern technology allows for a more robust film, and the budget has risen astronomically. Tangled -- Disney's 50th feature-length animated film -- is the studio's most expensive yet, but it's not quite as rich as Disney's best offerings. While it's a classy and traditional Disney picture, Tangled occasionally plays as a little long in the tooth and a bit rough around the edges of its story, but it's nevertheless an enjoyable little jaunt back into Disneys bread-and-butter, and even with its few flaws, it leaves audiences wondering what took Disney so long to get around to making a movie based around the classic story of Rapunzel. A single drop of sunlight fell to the earth. From it grew a magical flower that could heal the sick and make the old once again young. Its powers have long been used by an old woman named Gothel (voiced by Donna Murphy), but when the pregnant queen of the land becomes ill, she is made well by the flower and gives birth to a daughter named Rapunzel (voiced by Mandy Moore) whose hair retains the flower's unique gift. When a once again old Gothel learns of Rapunzel's magic hair, she kidnaps the child, keeps her locked away in a tower, and forbids her hair to be cut, lest it lose its powers. Gothel regularly visits Rapunzel and makes use of the magic hair, but Rapunzel -- now a teenager with hair 70 feet long -- wants out. She yearns to see the world and, for her gift on her 18th birthday, wishes to see up close the floating lights that appear every year on her birthday. Little does she know that the lights represent a yearly vigil held by the kingdom where she's actually a princess, the lights symbols of her parents's love and their desire for their girl to return home. Gothel refuses Rapunzel's request, but when a local criminal named Flynn Rider (voiced by Zachary Levi) escapes into Rapunzel's tower, the girl with the magical hair finds her means of escape. She knocks him unconcious, hides his body from Gothel, and finds an ornate tiara that Flynn has stolen. Upon regaining consciousness, Flynn agrees to help Rapunzel out of the tower and view the floating lights in exchange for the return of the high-value tiara. Can Rapunzel bring herself to enjoy her newfound freedom -- which is contrary to Gothel's wishes -- and maybe even find one or two other things that've been missing from her life? Tangled may not be the pinnacle of Disney filmmaking, and the film may feel a little stale out of the box given its highly generalized storyline and surrounding well-conceived but ultimately generic elements of adventure, humor, and heart, but the film's success lies elsewhere in the core of the story which speaks on one girl's desire to live her life on her terms, to experience the world around her not through the foggy prism of captivity but rather the clear lens of freedom. Rapunzel is a fantastic character not for her hair's magical abilities but for her want of freedom and sense of self; her true magic lies not in her locks but within her own good soul, a soul that remains respectful even in captivity but that spreads its wings as far as her eyes see and the confines of her tower will allow. She's a person of her own making even if her life has been defined by captivity and satisfying the whims of another; through her paintings, yearnings, and companionship with her chameleon friend, she has found a sense of self-worth that many even living free of the bonds of captivity don't often discover. It's a wonder her captor "mother" allowed Rapunzel the amount of freedom she did; freedom of expression and windows in her tower only beg of her to yearn for a life beyond her prison. Indeed, Rapunzel ultimately becomes as the philosopher character in Plato's allegory of the cave, where individuals are chained to a surface and forced to live their lives starring at a blank wall that is decorated only by shadows reflected upon it by objects passing by a fire behind them. Their reality is merely the shadows, or echoes, of real life; Rapunzel's escape from the tower represents not just her physical freedom but the sudden ability to see things as they truly are, not merely as another wishes her to believe. While Tangled might make for a nice little jaunt into something with a bit of metaphorical and philosophical teeth to it, the picture is ultimately meant to be viewed as a satisfyingly cute little Adventure film that's built around whimsical characters, high-flying family-safe adventure, trademark Disney humor, and an enchanting façade that altogether make it a bright, colorful, and wholesome ride for the kids and a surprisingly engaging outing for the adults in the audience. The picture does have a couple of faults -- it seems dragged out and piecemeal at times -- but Tangled is, generally speaking, a movie that's well-made from the top down, whether in terms of its superb animation, fantastically seamless voice acting, and the truly genuine feel and emotions the characters display. It's the latter that's the real attention-getter in Tangled; Rapunzel is a superbly realized character who is sweet and genuine, caring even for her captor but wanting more for herself. She's torn between satisfying her own wants and needs and pleasing her "mother," even though she does not wish for Rapunzel to see the world in any way that may threaten their one-sided arrangement. Rapunzel's "mother" has done a fair job of creating and playing off the naiveté that has become Rapunzel's way of life, and Rapunzel shows allegiance to her captor as she yearns for and ultimately both enjoys and regrets the freedom she's craved for all her life. Voice Actress Mandy Moore almost magically brings the character to life, finding that perfect balance between loyalty to her captor and want for freedom. The thirst to connect with the world but at the same time show allegiance and obedience to another is at the center of Rapunzel's struggle, and Moore pulls it off seamlessly, giving the character a vibrant heart and well-to-do soul through her perfect inflections and absolute understanding of who the character is and what she wants and needs out of life. Moore's Rapunzel is the heart and soul of the picture; everyone and everything else -- even Flynn Rider and Mother Gothel -- play second fiddle to the film's precision crafting of the Rapunzel character and Moore's seamless voice acing. Tangled is a trademark Disney feature; song, dance, adventure, humor, heart, and underlying themes of individuality, freedom, self-worth, and true love all make this a magical movie that's worthy of being Disney's 50th animated feature film. A few sluggish stretches and a couple of extraneous scenes don't drag the film down too much, and the picture is made complete through both excellent animation and Mandy Moore's superb voice acting work that injects the character of Rapunzel with a palpable lifeblood that's arguably the movie's greatest asset. It's too bad that it took Disney this long to get around to make a Rapunzel film, but the wait was well worth it; Tangled is an enjoyable and traditional Disney picture that's sure to live on as one of the studio's better all-around animated movies. This Blu-ray 3D release of Tangled features a nearly perfect 1080p 3D image and a fantastic lossless soundtrack, but it could use some more extras. Despite the shortage of additional bonus materials, Tangled 3D comes highly recommended. Cast Notes: Mandy Moore (Rapunzel [voice]), Zachary Levi (Flynn Rider [voice]), Donna Murphy (Mother Gothel [voice]), Ron Perlman (Stabbington Brother [voice]), M.C. Gainey (Captain of the Guard [voice]), Jeffrey Tambor (Big Nose Thug [voice]), Brad Garrett (Hook Hand Thug [voice]), Paul F. Tompkins (Short Thug [voice]), Richard Kiel (Vlad [voice]), Delaney Rose Stein (Young Rapunzel / Little Girl [voice]), Nathan Greno (Guard #1 / Thug #1 [voice]), Byron Howard (Guard #2 / Thug #2 [voice]), Tim Mertens (Guard #3 [voice]), Michael Bell (Additional Voices [voice]), Bob Bergen (Additional Voices [voice]). IMDb Rating (03/19/11): 8.0/10 from 25,494 users
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