Disney has a new old look with "Tangled"

So Walt Disney finally went on the trail Pixar blazed. After holding on to 2D for so long, Disney gives us Tangled, a retelling of the German fairytale Rapunzel. It’s full-on digitally animated, released both in 2D and 3D, voiced by Zachary Levi, Mandy Moore, and Donna Murphy.

I caught Saturday’s last full show with my four-year-old niece Keona, because I had promised her we would go. She called me up earlier that day, asking us what film we would watch. “It’s a film about a princess with very, very long hair,” I said. “I love that girl! I love Tangled!” Keona exclaimed. A baby no more, that girl is.

But there was a tiny concern. Keona has long lashes that always refuse to agree with the 3D glasses cinemas lend to the movie-goers. Her mother had told me to take her to the 2D film instead, but only the 3D version was showing. Half-way through the film, Keona was already trying to take the glasses off. 

We would probably have been better off watching 2D, too. Not only did 3D cost twice as much, but Tangled didn’t really maximize the technology as much as, say, Pixar’s UP did.

That being said, I totally loved Tangled for everything that it represented for Disney. First, Disney spent serious money on making it: P260 million. It’s supposedly the second most expensive film ever made, and the most expensive animated film ever created. It shows, too, because the production values are right up there, 3D or no 3D. This means Disney was putting serious money on computer animation, and that it was saying goodbye to hand-drawn animation.

Second, I applaud Disney’s animators for moving with the times—though I’m sure it was a difficult farewell for hand-drawn art—and yet keeping the unmistakable old-fashioned Disney look and feel. I just adore the rococo-inspired look of Tangled. Every scene is picturesque and romantic. The scene with the lanterns removed some of the sting from paying for 3D. 

According to an Animation World Magazine article, Tangled producer Glen Keane had to deal with the fact that none of the technologies were still available to create the look he had envisioned, so Disney had to create them first. It was like a quest for perfect hair for Rapunzel—a quest worth going on, because Rapunzel’s hair was simply magical. 

Third, Tangled is Disney’s entry into the market of films that both kids and kids-at-heart would thoroughly enjoy. That would be Pixar’s strength, but I was kind of missing Disney’s fairy tales without really wanting to dig up old DVDs. 

Story-wise, Beauty and the Beast is still way up there in my book. Song-wise, it’s still Aladdin. But Tangled was an entertaining watch from start to finish, and it accomplished what I had gone to the movie theater for: Keona kept squealing all the time, and laughing at the scenes involving my new favorite Disney fairy tale animals (sorry, Sebastian), Pascal the chameleon and Maximus the palace horse.

Critics have said that Tangled is not really groundbreaking animation work, but I believe that it is, for Disney. It’s a resurrection—which I hope would lead to a new renaissance.

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