Tangled is Disney’s 50th animated feature, but while it is pleasant enough, the film is not especially memorable.
This is a retelling of the Rapunzel story. You remember: “Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your golden hair.” Using a title that distances the film from the fairy tale is a break with Disney’s past, and the box office for the film certainly has not suffered for the change.
Tangled is above average for all animated films, but it’s not top-drawer Disney. Naturally, there are some beautiful moments (especially with floating lanterns over the water), but I just didn’t feel the magic of some of the earlier films.
This may sound like a strange thing to say about an animated film, but the characters in Tangled seem one-dimensional. The best animated films engage your emotions to the point that the viewer willingly suspends disbelief and loses himself or herself in the picture.
Think back to a really great Disney film like, say, The Lion King. Those characters aren’t even animated people, they’re animals, but remember how well-defined the characters are?
And, that film works on so many levels. I bet you can even hum a few bars from some of the songs if you think for a moment. There are lots of Disney films with some of this appeal, but for me Tangled is not one of them.